Damn Good Reasons **DISCONTINUED - SEE NEW VER!**

32 The Ice Cracks

Thanks again for all the support guys!  As previously warned, we'll now be heading down a dark part of the road in our journey.  What else can I say without giving anything away?  It is what it is.

My mind kept wandering back to that night in Irby's. I didn't like the sly way Kyle looked at me. I didn't like the way he chased me through the streets of Chamberlain the night Ace stole his Chevy. I didn't like seeing the pure fear in June's eyes, knowing she'd have to face him again.

Kyle Jefferson scared me. I felt like he had it out for me. But I couldn't bring myself to express my concerns to Ace. Not because I was embarrassed about it; I didn't want to raise any red flags when I didn't even know for sure that Kyle was a real threat. Ace and Eyeball were on talking terms again, Ace was finally getting all the help he needed with the mechanics, and the workshop was running smoother than it had in weeks. I couldn't unnecessarily disrupt that. And I couldn't stop boosting. No way could I stop. In fact, I needed to push harder if I were to make payment on time that month.

And so, I pushed. I went out almost every night, stretching myself to the farthest reaches, finding fresh areas to harvest so I wouldn't saturate any one particular place. I'd sneak out of The Rock by train and then go by bus and get off at random destinations. And I was cautious. I'd take trains leaving at different times. I would wait, hide and scout for at least half-an-hour to make sure I wasn't being followed before boarding. Night after night nothing happened. For two weeks, everything was as dark and as quiet as it always was.

And I admit it – I got complacent. I started arriving later and didn't scout around as well as I could have. Maybe all that wouldn't have helped me anyway. If he really had it out for me, he would have gotten me one way or another

I heard shuffling in the leaves behind me and then a single twig snapped. I looked over my shoulder, but he moved so fast that I didn't have a chance to see him. I felt a hand strap over my mouth, and he held it tight. So tight I couldn't breathe enough to scream. I struggled and I bucked and I tried to bite his hand, but I couldn't get my teeth in. He brought one of my arms up behind my back and I could feel the pull of my shoulder nearly popping out of its socket.

"You stay shut up," he seethed into my ear. "Squeal and I'll snap your arm. Nod to say you understand."

I quickly nodded. I had to.

He lifted the finger covering my nostrils and I sucked in a relieving but stressfully slow lungful of air. He backed me out of the bushes and onto the road where one of his buddies was waiting for him. It was the same guy that had been with him the night Ace and I stole the Chevy. The white Ford that I had run and hid from finally found me.

I was ushered into the back seat, and Kyle took his hand off my mouth but continued to restrain me as the driver put his foot down and took us away into the night. Boy, I struggled. I wouldn't consider myself strong at all, but I gave him a hard time keeping me under control. I didn't feel afraid of him now. The only emotion I had in me was hate and I was gonna physically scream it at him. I must have seemed like a psycho feral on steroids. I even snarled at him like one.

Until he hit me.

He gripped the back of my neck and shoved my head into the driver's seat, banging it hard on the leather and giving me an instant headache. I ceased my struggle and felt woozy.

"Hey, go easy on her!" the driver protested.

"Me go easy on her? She fucking bit me!"

"She's Ace's girl – what did you expect? Some easy little patsy?"

"At least she's docile now. And if you start up on me again, bitch, you're gettin' another one – you got it?"

We must have only driven for ten minutes or so, but it seemed like an hour. I don't know where we pulled into, but we bumped around on unsteady ground, and I could hear gravel crunch under our tires. There was no road noise and it was really dark like we were well away from streetlights. This wasn't good. It wasn't good at all.