Die for You

Chapter 7

I picked up the tail as we drove up towards the expressway; it was innocuous enough, a plain white Transit van. There was something about the way it was being driven that made me suspicious. It seemed to close on us then drop back suddenly as if the driver realized he'd got too near and tried to evade notice. It was probably nothing but I was still suspicious.

I turned down the stereo and adjusted the rear view mirror until I could see both her and the van.

"Miss Armstrong, does your father often have you followed?"

She snorted scornfully, "My father trusts me, Miss Sarocha, he would never stoop so low as to have me followed."

"Interesting," I replied, "hold on tight."

I floored the accelerator and pushed the overweight 4x4 to the limits of its acceleration. I heard a short squeal from the back as I flung the car around corners, attempting to put as much distance between us and the van as I could in the shortest possible time.

As soon as I got back to the highway, I slowed slightly and made a call.

"Secure365, Jones speaking."

"JJ, it's Sarocha. Listen to me," I hurriedly continued before he could reply, "I'm on the M4 heading back to London and we've picked up a tail. I've got Miss Armstrong in the car with me and there's a white transit van following us."

I knew it was definitely following us, I could see it in my rear view mirror and I pushed the accelerator a bit closer to the floor.

"Hang on a second, Sarge, I'm going to punch in our operations team," there was a slight click on the line and a second voice spoke.

"Freen? It's Mel in Ops, do you have a registration on the van?"

"Yeah, it's a white Ford Transit registration Kilo November 5 6 Echo Charlie Zulu."

"Ok, hold on... Freen, according to the Insurance database, that's registered to a green Ford Focus."

"Shit, JJ, this doesn't look good, the van is definitely on my tail and we're coming onto traffic. It won't be long before they catch up with me."

"Ok, guys, listen up; Mel, get in touch with the Police and alert them to our situation, Freen, do your best to stay out of their way just in case. Stay on the li..."

I looked across at the screen only to see the words 'No Signal' displayed. Shit.

"Miss Armstrong, can you do something for me quickly, please?" I asked glancing back at her. She'd obviously heard everything I had said and she didn't look quite as cocky as she had previously. I saw her nod in the mirror, eyes wide.

"Good, I need you to undo your seat belt, get into the middle of the seat and put the lap belt on, can you do that?" She didn't ask questions, much to her credit; she must have heard the hint of tension in my voice and she complied with my request immediately.

"Cool, now I want you to lie down on the seat, pull that lap belt as tight as you can. and make yourself as small as possible, can you do that for me please?"

She nodded again and vanished from my eye line. I adjusted the mirror once again to see the white van approaching at a rate of knots. I was weaving in and out of the traffic, lights flashing at every opportunity.

"Are we gonna be alright?" I heard her ask from the back seat.

"We are if I've got anything to do with it. This may be nothing Miss Armstrong but let's not take chances, ok? Keep your head down, hold onto something, and we'll be fine."

I honked and braked hard as a car and caravan cut me off. The van took advantage and blocked me in. The door opened and I saw the gunmen. I ducked as bullets shattered the glass. The only things that saved us were my brakes throwing off their aim, and the fact that firing from a moving vehicle with a high velocity assault rifle is difficult at best.