Brainrush 04 - Everlast 01: Everlast Read Online Free PDF Page B

Cars stopped. Horns blared.
    Doc’s voice was tremulous. “Dammit, man. What does it mean?”
    It means I’m not the only target, Jake thought.
    Francesca, the children…
    “Jake,” Doc shouted, shaking his shoulder.
    Doc’s touch snapped Jake out of it—just in time for him to
see the black SUV roaring toward them from a side street. A gun appeared from
the passenger-side window and its muzzle flashes were accompanied by several
thunks near the bottom rear of the Mustang.
    Jake stomped on the gas as another car unwittingly steered to
block the SUV’s path. His mind raced as he realized their pursuer’s intent had
been to shoot the tires, not the occupants. They’d killed the professor but it
appeared they wanted Jake alive. That gave him an advantage—and the hope that
his family wasn’t being targeted for murder.
    “Toss the phone!” he shouted.
     “What?” Doc asked.
    “Throw my phone out the window. They’re probably tracking—” Jake
hesitated as they passed a sign indicating they’d just entered Brentwood.
    Doc rolled down his window and cocked his arm.
    “Wait,” Jake said, taking the next corner so fast that the
rear end veered violently onto the curb. He pointed the Mustang north, toward
the tree-studded hills of luxury homes and winding streets that overlooked
Santa Monica. Discounting the risks of the plan that was gelling in his mind,
he said, “Don’t get rid of it yet. Call Tony.”
    Traffic was lighter but he still had to swerve to pass a
stubborn driver. He glanced in the rearview to see Eloise with her face buried
in her hands, her body still hitching with sobs as the car’s momentum threw her
from side to side. “Jerry…Jerry,” she moaned.
    Jake felt her pain as if it were his own, not because he
knew the professor very well, but because he feared her feelings of loss might
assault him many times over in the hours to come. Beyond her he saw the SUV about
four blocks back.
    “I got Tony’s voice mail,” Doc said. “Should I leave a
message?”
    “No,” Jake said, knowing he was breaking every rule by
keeping his phone on. “Hang up and call Marshall. Then Lacey.”
    He pushed the Mustang to its limits around each bend and
turn, hoping to increase their lead as the road steepened.
    “Voice mail again.”
    It’s happening.
     His mind reeled as the tires squealed through a switchback.
The fact that no one answered was either good news—everyone had followed
protocol and ditched their phones—or bad news, meaning they had all been taken,
or worse. He was tempted to call the kids next, but if his phone was being
tracked as he suspected then their location would be identified as well. “What
the hell’s going on, Eloise?” he growled.
    The fury in his words made her eyes grow wide. “I-I don’t
know,” she said, her voice choked. “You must believe me. We had no idea they’d
do something like this. We were placed there for the science, nothing more.”
Her eyes glazed over as if she were recalling a dark memory. Anger crept into
her voice. “The brutality when they grabbed Timmy was unnecessary. And they
shot Jerry…” Her voice trailed off and her eyes pinched closed as she struggled
with her emotions.
    “Who are they ?” Jake asked, one side of his mind
trying to understand while another focused on driving and finding the right
spot. Through the trees he caught glimpses of the roofscape that spilled down
the hills to Santa Monica. Only the first levels of the tiered-lot homes to his
left were visible from the street, while to his right steep driveways
disappeared into a forest of trees.
    His eyes took it all in, his brain analyzing, searching,
calculating.
    Eloise was about to answer Jake’s question when Doc said, “I
just got Lacey’s voice mail.”
    Jake cringed. “Who are they, Eloise? Where are they
taking my fam—?”
    He stopped midsentence, slowing the car.
    Eloise said, “We were contacted a year ago—”
    “Wait a second.” Jake’s eyes