Brainrush 04 - Everlast 01: Everlast Read Online Free PDF

reached into her purse for her phone, the pharmacist poked his
head over the counter and said, “All set.”
    Rising, her eyes went to the slanted mirror running along
the top of the back wall. It allowed an unobstructed view of the store’s
interior, discouraging shoplifters. Three smartly dressed Asian men wearing
tinted glasses had just walked in. That in itself wasn’t odd, but when two of
the men remained stationed at the front entrance while the third walked a quick
track across the front of the store, systematically glancing down one aisle
after the next, it put her senses on alert. She turned her back on the hunter,
keeping an eye on his movements with the mirror.
    “Restroom?” she asked the waiting pharmacist. Her grimace
and hand on her abdomen sent the silent message that she needed a quick reply.
    He pointed down the small hallway to his right. “Through
there, ma’am,” he said. He held up her prescription bag. “Whenever you’re
ready.”
    She nodded appreciatively, hesitating a moment as if waiting
for a cramp to pass, all the while tracking the movements in the mirror. She
knew she was in trouble when her pursuer stopped abruptly as he reached the aisle
that provided a view of her position. He stared in her direction for only a
brief moment before nodding to the two men at the door. One of them ambled
toward the checkout counter to stand behind the only other customer in the
store, while the other placed a phone to his ear and exited toward the parking
lot. The hunter assumed a casual stance, scanning items on the shelf as he
maintained his sight line to her. Whatever they wanted from her, it appeared as
if the trap would be sprung when she left through the front door. She doubled
over slightly and moved toward the bathroom.
    The moment she turned the corner down the hallway she heard quick
footsteps behind her. The hunter wasn’t taking any chances. It had finally
arrived—the moment she’d prayed would never happen. Fear for her children and
Jake sent her muscles into overdrive. She kicked off her heels and ran, moving
past the restroom and pushing through a swinging door labeled Employees
Only . The small warehouse space consisted of two short rows of partially
filled pallet racks. The roll-up door at the opposite end was closed. The pedestrian
door beside it had a push bar labeled Emergency Exit . She sprinted to it and
shoved it open.
    Any doubt she’d had about the validity of the threat was
washed away when the third man stepped into view to block her path. His mocking
expression dared her to try to get past him, but she yanked the door closed and
pulled out the only weapon she had—her cell phone. She ignored the first man as
he burst into the space from the hallway, her focus on the group text message
she composed.
    She hit Send just before he grabbed her arm and ripped
the phone from her grasp.
Santa Monica Hills
    Jake ignored the yellow light,
swerving around the two cars that slowed in front of him, and spinning into a
hard turn up the intersecting street. A quick check in his rearview mirror
confirmed no one was tailing them.
    Yet.
    Traffic on the four-lane street was heavy, but he refused to
slow. He weaved the Mustang between cars as he sped forward. “Quickly!” he said
to Doc, who was struggling to steady himself as he fumbled with Jake’s phone.
    “I’m try—ing,” Doc said, his voice breaking as Jake spun
into another turn.
    “Look in my Favorites list. The group’s called Doomsday,”
Jake said. He floored the gas pedal on a straightaway, his mind flashing on Marshall’s
insistence on the dire name when they’d hatched their evac plan a year and a half
earlier.
    “Got it. Wait, a text just came in from Francesca. All it
says is now .”
    Jake slammed the brakes, a vague part of him registering the
startled grunts from Doc and Eloise as they were thrown forward against their
seat restraints. Tires squealed as the car behind him swerved to avoid rear-ending
him.