Sang's Freedom (Original And Rewritten)

Chapter 96: Chasing Cars- Part 2

-Chapter 96-

Matthew Eli's POV:

I couldn't answer the phone when Sang called. I had one hand on the wheel and the other trying to yank on my leather jacket.

Another call came through and I ignored it, expecting her to hang up, but was surprised to see a notification indicating she had left me a voicemail.

I'm one of those people who listen to voicemails right when I get them. Especially voicemails from angry little blonde women who are likely pissed that I had to leave without notice. The suspense was killing me.

"Hey, Matt, it's Sang." There was screaming in the background. 'How much ammo do you have?' someone snarled. "I understand you bailing on us, but uh, I guess the people after you already know about us." There were three giant bangs as someone shot a firearm. "North has a gun and is firing bullets at the car behind us and Victor's pushing 100 miles per hour down the highway and I'm really not sure what we should be doing right now..."

Oh, for fuck's sake. I looked in my own rear-view mirror to see some masked SOB in a black sedan without license plates. He had been on my ass the last ten miles and I thought I had been leading him away from the Blackbourne team and Sang.

"Anyhow. Please give me a call when you get a chance because..." There was the terrible sound of glass breaking and Sang screamed and to be honest, my fucking heart stopped beating until Sang's voice came back onto the line. "Oh. Our back windshield just shattered. Call me. Bye."

As if the mother fucker tailing me had heard the voicemail, he chose then to rear-end me and send my jeep careening forward into an intersection.

A car smashed into my passenger door knocking the wind out of me as my chest pressed painfully against the steering wheel and then the airbag went off, slamming my head against my seat. I flailed, reaching for the knife tucked into my boot and stabbed the airbag. The air rushed out obnoxiously loud as I gasped for breath, jerking my seat back with my free hand just as another car slammed into me smashing my head against the driver's window and shattering the glass.

There were screams and radios turning down as people called for help and a sudden BANG BANG as bullets were fired into the air. My heart began pounding as the warrior in me took life.

I no longer felt pain as I shoved open my car door, ignoring the hot liquid running down my face. What did it matter? I had both my eyes this time.

Distantly I could hear combat boots on asphalt...

***

Sang Sorenson's POV:

I screamed as a bullet flew through the gaping hole where the rear-view window once was and slammed into the windshield causing a spiderweb crack.

North forced my head back down as he emptied his handgun at the black impala on our tail. "IS EVERYONE ALRIGHT?" North roared over the sudden howling of the wind. He ducked down to shove more bullets in the gun.

"I never should have signed up for this," gasped Gabriel. The top of his head rest was torn away where a bullet had struck.

Victor's knuckles were white as he clasped the steering wheel as he swerved through traffic down the busy highway. We were making some distance, losing our pursuer through the maze.

"We need to call the police!" I yelped.

"No. They can't get involved. They'll ruin our investigation," snapped Victor. He was terrified, I realized. "You're a ghost bird. Matthew is too. We're Academy and if we get the police involved it could ruin us. We could lose our chance of finding out who operates the sex ring. They could disappear."

North began to fire out at the car behind us. More than anything I wanted a gun in that instant. North wasn't the best shooter here. I was. "Give me the gun," I ordered him, and North glanced at me, eyes dark with worry.

"No way in hell, Sang."

"I've done worse, dammit. Give me the gun. You're going to get someone killed."

"Yeah! Him." North emptied another clip. And I gave him a shove.

"Seriously don't treat me like some baby! Give me the gun."

North grabbed me by the arm pressing me roughly to the seats and then proceeded to claim my mouth with his. The kiss was rough, filled with emotion and the answers to questions half-asked. He kissed me again at the corner of my lips. "Trust me," he practically growled. "For the love of god, trust me and put your fucking seat belt on."

***

Matthew Eli's POV:

I practically fell from the Jeep, sliding out a second handgun from under the driver's seat. I caught myself on the door, looking through the wreckage to the smashed in end of a black sedan. The driver was missing from the car.

A ringing was building in my ears, louder than the people shouting or sirens building in the distance. Where are your parents? A memory called to me. What happened here? Why are you all alone?

I shook my head, taking stance as the man from outside my classroom approached me looking like something out of The Matrix. He had a long black leather coat that went to his knees and...no...this wasn't the guy from before. The guy from outside the classroom had been wearing a leather jacket with a high collar. He had been wearing shades, too, but this guy went as far as to wear a motorcycle helmet over his head, black with a sharp red A on the side.

My head felt dizzy, but I knew this guy's physique was wrong. His was broader in the shoulders. Taller. And his grin was especially sharp in the canines which I could see glinting through the slightly tinted visor of the helmet.

"Are you Matthew McBane?" The voice was distorted somehow. It sounded like a robot. Mr. Matrix had a gun aimed at my chest and worse still the fucker knew my real last name.

Hearing it brought physical pain to my heart. I wanted this man to die. That was my only coherent thought as my face twisted in rage and I stepped forward. "Don't know anyone by that name," I said, "though it appears to me that you owe me a new car."

"Don't lie to me." Mr. Matrix tilted his head to the side. "I know who you are."

"Well how's you take off that helmet and let me see who you are." Matthew took a step forward. There was barely five feet between them.

"I think not. As far as I'm concerned this right here." He motioned to the scene of the accident. "This is checkmate. My brother will never believe how easy you went down. I didn't even get--"

BANG! BANG!

Two bullets slammed into the place above the man's heart.

BANG!

Another struck him between the eyes and the man dropped sideways.

I smiled wickedly as screams filled the air. That helmet he's wearing would do me nicely, I thought reaching down to pull it free. This guy wasn't too much trouble, but from the sound of it, he had a brother.

A brother who was after Sang and the others right now.

I yanked the helmet free only to find myself jumping back in surprise. There was no mark on the man's head where the bullet had struck through his helmet...meaning the helmet was bulletproof and the rest of him as well, most likely.

But the part that got me the worst was when the man opened his eyes. Because even though nearly seven years had passed, I still recognized those eyes and that sharp-toothed smile, and now that I thought on it, I recognized the red A detailing the black field that was his helmet.

Brandon Cross coughed once before his lips spread out into a wide grin. "You fucking twat. Why would you shoot me three times?"