Chapter 19: Chapter 19

Ella had waited patiently for the slow woman behind the counter at the car rental place to eventually get her the car she’d rented. While she didn’t want something too flashy, she did want something that would go fast, just in case she needed that. What she ended up with was really neither--a black SUV. Now, she could be the one who looked like she was chasing someone.

When Rome told her he was taking the tram to the parking garage, every hair on the back of her neck stood on end. “What? Why?” she asked, using her Bluetooth.

“Cowboy,” Rome had said.

Ella caught her breath. That was their danger word, the word that was to alert her something was wrong, or that it might be wrong. “Is someone following you?”

It took Rome a moment to answer. “Yeah, I think so. A couple of guys in Hawaiian shirts followed me out of baggage claim. They just hopped into a cab. Hopefully, I’m overreacting, but I don’t know.”

“Can you still see the cab?” she asked, wondering what she might encounter when she got to the tram drop off. She would have to figure out where to go and how to get there before Rome did.

“Yes. They’re right behind the tram.”

“Damnit,” Ella whispered. “What level are you getting off at, do you know?”

“The tram says it’s going to parking level C.”

“Okay.” She would have to wind her way around the parking garage and get back up there. “What are you going to do if they’re still following you when you get there?”

“I don’t know, but I’m not getting off of the tram until I’m sure I can get in with you.”

“Unfortunately, I’m driving a black SUV, so you could be fooled.”

“Honk twice if it’s you. Do you have a hat? We don’t need them knowing what your hair looks like already.”

“Good point.” She did have a stocking cap tucked away in her carry-on. She managed to pull it out while she was driving, not caring about the few odd objects that scattered on the floor when she did so.

“We’re pulling into level C, and the cab is still behind me.”

“What are they planning to do? Force you into a cab?”

“No, there’s another car following behind them. God damnit! How in the world did he know I was going to end up flying into Dallas?”

“Stay calm, babe. I’m not letting them take you anywhere, you can bet on that. I’m pulling into Level C now. I see the tram, and the cab. If I have to ram them, I will.”

“I see you,” he said. “I may have to abandon the bags.”

“Do what you need to do. But I doubt they’re going to grab you in front of the driver. They’re probably banking on you walking to a car.”

Sure enough, she watched the cab slow and the other car drive down the next aisle over, so that no matter which way he went, they’d be on him.

If he had to walk very far.

Ella pulled up right next to the tram and popped the back lift gate.

“Hey! You can’t park there!” the driver shouted.

She waved at the driver as Rome shot out of the vehicle and jumped into the back, bags and all. She pressed the button to lower the lift gate and headed for the closest exit, knowing she’d have to go through the bottom two levels of the garage and there was a good chance the assholes behind her would catch up.

Careful not to squeal her tires, Ella shot down the aisle, watching the taxi try to squeeze past the tram. It wouldn’t quite fit through the narrow aisle, which was to her advantage, even though the other car was moving in her direction.

“Can you duck down below that seat?” she shouted to Rome.

“I think so. Why?”

It was a crazy idea but the only one Ella could come up with. She pulled into an empty spot in a crowded row, one where she could back up or go straight and dropped down into the floor boards, praying the other drivers hadn’t gotten too close a look at her SUV’s license plate numbers.

“I hope this works,” Rome said.

“Me, too. Otherwise, they’ll just catch up with us at the exit.”

“True. How long do we wait?”

“I don’t know.”

Ella could see the cars driving by through the side mirror of the car parked next to her since it was facing the other way. Slowly, a cab drove past the front of her car, and she could see the two men in Hawaiian shirts frantically looking around, urging the driver down the aisle. They didn’t seem to notice the car, but then, why were they going so slowly? Perhaps the other car had gone off looking for them.

As soon as the cab was out of her line of sight, Ella sat up, looking around for the other vehicle. Seeing neither, she placed her hands on the wheel but didn’t pull out yet. She wanted to give the cab a chance to get ahead.

A couple of other cars came by, likely people who were on the tram with Rome. They were going the posted speed limit. Ella fell into line with them, taking off her hat and putting on a different one, wishing she could change something else, but that was the extent of her quick costume changes.

She followed the other two cars down the ramp, a minivan getting in behind her. She could see a frazzled mother behind the wheel, barking at her kids. Once she was in line to exit, it would be really difficult to get out of line.

A quick survey of the area let her know exactly what she was up against. The other car, a dark sedan, was parked a few rows over. As Ella headed toward an exit lane that only had one other car in front of her, she noticed the sedan pulling out of its spot. Another car cut between them, but it was back there, and they would be exiting the airport parking garage nearly at the same time.

She wished she had someone to say, “Cowboy,” to, but there was no one coming to help.

Rome had to keep his head down, even though he wanted to peek out the window and see where the cars that had been following them were. “What’s going on?” he whispered to Ella as she approached the toll booth. He could see her behind the wheel without lifting his head far enough to be noticed by anyone in other vehicles.

“They’re two back from us,” she said, rolling down her window and crushing a twenty dollar bill into the person’s hands. “Keep the change,” she said.

The bar raised, and Ella shot out of the parking lot, going right because she could merge into traffic that way, even though Rome was pretty certain they needed to go to the left.

“How the hell did this happen?” he muttered. What were the chances that his dad would be monitoring every damn airport in the nation?

“Maybe he just has someone at every big airport. I mean, DFW is pretty big. A lot of international flights arrive there each day.”

“True, but I don’t even look like myself, do I?”

She didn’t answer for a second, and when he looked back at her, she was doing her best to get as many cars between them and the vehicle following them. Or were there two of them on their tail now?

They came to a stop, and Rome looked up to see they were sitting at a red light.

“Shit,” Ella muttered. “I don’t see them anymore, but I also don’t know where we are.”

“That’s okay. That’s what phones are for.” Rome climbed up out of the back of the car, figuring if she didn’t see the other cars anymore, there wasn’t much chance of them being spotted at the moment, and if they already knew he was with her, what was the point in hiding?

From the driver’s seat, he took a look around and saw the sedan about three cars back in the lane on their left. “Okay, they’re back there, but my dad’s not going to authorize them to shoot at us, especially not in a crowd. We just need to get on the highway and then maybe we can lose them.”

“But what if we drive out of the city, and they’re still on our tail?” she asked, looking in the rearview mirror. She pulled the ball cap she was wearing down a little lower.

“We’ll figure that out when it happens. We lost them before, remember? Did you learn anything from Gus’s crazy driving?” He laughed, trying to get her to laugh, too.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Just remember this highway cuts through the middle of the airport, so we don’t want to turn around and get stuck back in there because it’ll give them more of an opportunity to get us while we’re stopped.” He was a little surprised no one had jumped out of the sedan and tried to force their way into the SUV at the long light. Rome made sure the doors were all locked, just in case. “I’d stay out of the middle lane,” he murmured.

“Right.”

The light changed, and Ella waited for the car in front of them to go, then she switched lanes as soon as he could, to get into the left lane and took the on ramp to the highway, the one that led back to the airport--if she were to go the other direction.

Ella flew around another car, her foot mashed to the gas pedal as she swerved around a passenger van and got back on the highway, headed out of Dallas-Fort Worth--to where she wasn’t sure, but they could straighten that out later, after they lost the sedan.

“Do you see the other car?” Ella asked.

“No, just the sedan. It’s pretty far back there, but they could just be waiting for traffic to thin out.”

“What do you think I should do?”

“Uh… let’s see what happens,” Rome said. He pulled up an app called Waze that would tell him not only what direction they needed to go to head to California but also if there were any cops spotted on the road by other drivers. The last thing they needed at the moment was to get pulled over. Actually, that might help--if he could tell the police he was being followed by some henchmen sent by his father to track him down and kidnap him…. That probably wasn’t the best idea either.

A couple of eighteen wheelers slowed in front of them. Ella tried to go around them but was blocked in by a minivan. Rome glanced out the back window to see the sedan getting closer to them. “Damn it!” she shouted.

He drew in a deep breath, trying to decide what to do. The sedan went around another car, and now they were right behind the minivan. In another few seconds they’d be even with them, on Ella’s side. What if they didn’t have any qualms about shooting after all?

“What do I do?” Ella asked. They were hemmed in by other cars with no place to go.

“I don’t know,” Rome replied. There had to be a way to put some distance between them on the crowded highway….

Before he realized what she was doing, Ella had her window rolled down and was gesturing for the large man in the passenger seat to roll down his window, too.

“What the hell are you doing?” Rome asked her.

“Last resort,” she said over her shoulder as the man next to her rolled his window down.