Chapter 6 - Shadows on Highway 9
The realization was a punch to the gut. The attackers hadn't just followed the girl; they had infiltrated the transit line's system, or someone inside the company had handed over his roster. Every bus had an onboard GPS tracker mounted beneath the front chassis. They didn't need to guess where he was going. They were watching every turn on a digital monitor.
""Lily,"" Thomas called out softly, keeping his voice as steady as an anchor. ""Can you open that leather bag on the floor?""
Lily slid down onto her knees, reaching for the bag. Her small hands rummaged through the contents before pulling out the worn leather wallet. ""Paper, Mister Bus Man. Lots of paper.""
""Is there a small plastic card with a picture on it?""
She pulled out an old driver’s license. Thomas glanced at it quickly as she held it up. The woman in the photo had the same hazel eyes and delicate jawline as Lily, but her face was tense, her eyes shadowed with exhaustion. Sarah Vance. The address listed was in Blackwood, on an industrial street called Foundry Lane.
A sudden flash of high beams behind them signaled the SUV was now less than fifty yards back. It surged into the left lane, creeping up along the side of the bus.
Thomas saw the passenger window of the SUV roll down. A man leaned out, holding an iron bar wrapped in cloth, aiming straight for the bus's front-side tires.
""Hold on to the seat, Lily! Don't let go!"" Thomas barked.
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Instead of swerving away, Thomas yanked the steering wheel hard to the left, using the immense weight of the bus to sideswipe the trailing SUV. The metal-on-metal collision shrieked through the night air, sending a shower of bright orange sparks cascading across the rainy highway. The SUV violently lurched toward the median ditch, its tires losing traction on the wet mud.
For a brief second, Thomas thought they had cleared the danger. But as the SUV righted itself, a second pair of headlights appeared ahead on the highway—blocking the narrow bridge crossing the Black River.
