THE THREE TIMES WRITTEN IN BLUE INK

I slammed my foot on the gas pedal.

I wasn’t going to stop. If he wanted to shoot, he would have to stand his ground and be crushed.

Nathan’s eyes widened in the headlights. At the absolute last second, his self-preservation kicked in. He dove into the muddy ditch beside the driveway.

The car tore through the open iron gates, tires squealing as we hit the paved mountain road.

“Are you okay?!” I yelled to Owen in the passenger seat.

“I’m okay!” he shouted back, gripping the door handle.

I grabbed my cell phone from the center console. No service. Of course.

We had to make it to the bottom of the mountain to the main highway.

The road was slick, winding sharply around the edges of the steep cliffs. I drove as fast as I dared, my hands shaking on the steering wheel.

In the rearview mirror, a pair of headlights suddenly appeared.

They were coming fast. Too fast.

“He’s following us,” Owen said, his voice dropping to a terrified whisper.

Nathan’s heavy SUV rammed into the back bumper of my smaller sedan. The impact threw me forward, my seatbelt locking hard against my chest.

“Hold on!” I screamed, fighting the steering wheel to keep us on the road.

He rammed us again. The back window shattered, raining glass onto the backseat.

“He’s trying to push us off the edge!” Owen cried.

I looked ahead. There was a sharp hairpin turn coming up. The guardrail there was old and rusted. If he hit us there, we would go over the cliff.

I needed a miracle.

Then, I saw it. An old logging road branching off into the thick woods just before the turn. It was steep, unpaved, and incredibly dangerous.

But it was our only chance.

I slammed on the brakes, cutting the steering wheel hard to the right.

My car skidded off the wet pavement and bounced violently onto the dirt road, crashing through thick brush and low branches.

Nathan wasn’t expecting the maneuver.

His SUV, carrying too much speed to make the sudden turn, skidded uncontrollably on the wet asphalt.

I watched in the rearview mirror as his heavy vehicle smashed completely through the rusted guardrail.

The screech of tearing metal echoed through the mountains, followed by a terrible, echoing silence as the SUV disappeared over the edge of the ravine.

I slammed the brakes, bringing our car to a shuddering halt in the mud.