A Time of Shadows (Out of Time #8) (17 page)

River Run was an historic home turned bed and breakfast now, the Stewart family long since gone. But as Simon turned off the main road and drove under the great wrought iron “RR” gate and up the long drive, it was as though no time had passed.

They pulled off the dirt drive to a designated parking area where the stables had been. Gravel crunched beneath the tires as he pulled to a stop.

Despite the quiet and peacefulness of the former plantation, Simon felt uneasy as they got out of the car. The warm late summer air, thick with the smell of the nearby river, was another sensory memory. He stared up at the big house. In his mind’s eye he could still see the flames shooting out of the upstairs rooms and licking toward the roof.
 

A small hand slipped into his and he looked down to see Charlotte looking up at him. The corners of her mouth were lifted in a sweet smile and she waited patiently for him to collect his thoughts and bring them back to the present.

He squeezed her hand and they started toward the house. The interior had been refurnished, but the feeling was still like stepping back in time. Not needing a guide, they passed through the entry way and down the hall to the back of the house.

He and Elizabeth had discussed just what the clue might mean and where they might find it. In Simon’s mind, “where Mary went” could only mean one place.

They walked out onto the back veranda where lunch was being served and stood at the top of the steps as they had so many times before.
 

“Do you think you should wait here?” Simon asked Elizabeth with a meaningful nod at Charlotte.

Elizabeth held out the small bouquet of flowers they’d brought. “Maybe that would be—”

“I want to go,” Charlotte said. “I’m not afraid.”

Simon wished he could say the same. He kept a tight hold of her hand as they walked down the back steps and into the garden on their way to Mary’s grave.
 

The small private graveyard was tucked away behind a small grove of trees that had grown in the century and a half since they’d been there last. Around Mary’s grave other headstones had grown, too. There was one for Louisa, who died as a young woman. And two side by side, Elijah and Rose.
 

“I guess they’re all together now,” Elizabeth said.
 

Simon nodded, but didn’t speak. It was moments like this that drove home how fleeting life was—his life, Elizabeth’s, Charlotte’s. The men and women they’d met in the past, who fought and cried and tore at the world to stay alive, were long since dead and forgotten by all but a few.
 

Elizabeth held out the small clutch of flowers to Charlotte. “Would you like to place them?”

Charlotte knelt and nestled them up against the granite stone. Next to their delicate white and pink petals, a deep-blue patch of forget-me-nots bloomed.
 

Charlotte plucked away some fallen leaves and then stood. She looked up at Simon and smiled. He pulled her against his side. Nan had called the loss of his child his burden, and he felt the weight of its coming more keenly now than ever before.
 

“Rest in peace, Mary,” Elizabeth said.

Simon repeated the sentiment silently.

After a moment’s introspection, Elizabeth sighed and looked around. “Where do you think he put it?” she asked. “Teddy, I mean.”

Simon had wondered the same thing. Teddy wouldn’t deface a grave even for something as important as this. He looked around and walked toward a memorial bench that had been placed under the shade of one of the nearby oaks. Sure enough, embedded in the back of one of the legs was their moon—full this time.

Simon pried the little tube out of its hole and slipped it into his pocket and rejoined Elizabeth and Charlotte. The three of them stood at the grave a moment longer, each in their own thoughts, until finally they started back to the car.

It had been emotional, but everything had gone as smoothly as they could have hoped, Simon thought, as he started up the rental car. If all was to be believed from last night’s phone call with Jack, he was making progress on his end. Everything was all right, he told himself, and let out a cleansing breath.

Elizabeth turned to take in one last view of River Run as Simon drove slowly around the end of the loop and started down the long drive. When it was no longer in sight, she sat back in her seat and
 
looked briefly, but warmly at him. She seemed as relieved to leave as he was, and the slight shading under her eyes told him she was just as exhausted as he was, too.
 

Whatever the next destination, he was looking forward to getting some rest before they moved on. They’d been on the move, virtually non-stop, for nearly ten days now. A yawn overtook him; a day of rest was definitely in order. On the other hand, Charlotte looked like she could go on for another ten days without taking a breath. She played with the silver canister, rolling it around in her hands and twirling it like a miniature baton.

The long country road was quiet and the drive was peaceful, with trees and meadows passing by the windows. He glanced to his right and saw that Elizabeth had closed her eyes, but kept her face forward toward the sun that streamed through the occasional canopy of trees sheltering the road. The tires of the rental car hummed as they wound their way back toward town, lulling them into a state of hypnotic calm.

The peace was short-lived, however. They’d barely gone half a mile before some idiot started tailgating them. Simon had no idea what they were on about; there was plenty of room for them to pass on the two lane road. They were at a long straightaway and visibility was clear. Simon slowed slightly to make it easier for them, but the car remained stubbornly behind them.

He waved for them to pass, but they made no move to do so. He was just starting to grow concerned when they finally peeled off to the left and moved to overtake them.

“About bloody time,” he grumbled as he caught sight of the car in his side mirror.

What was it about this particular stretch of road that hated him so much? This was nearly the exact spot he and Elizabeth had been waylaid the last time they were here.

He glanced over as the cars were even and his heart leapt in his chest. Instantly, he recognized the two men in the car. They were the men from the Shadow Council; the men who had chased them in the subway.

“Dear God,” he said as the men stared back at him.

Elizabeth sat up and inhaled quickly. “Oh my God. Is that—”

Simon gripped the wheel tightly. “Yes.”

“What do we do?” Elizabeth asked, and the men pointed toward the side of the road. She grabbed his arm in alarm. “You’re not going to pull over, are you?”

Simon shot Elizabeth a glare. “Make sure your seat belts are tight.”

Elizabeth turned around. “Charlotte?”

He saw her nodding in the rearview mirror. His breath was already coming fast and hard as he tried to come up with a plan of escape. They were miles from any help on a deserted country road.
 

Simon slowed again and the men in the other car kept pace with him. He sped up, and they did the same. Finally, an oncoming car forced them to drop back and get in line. Simon didn’t waste the opportunity and gunned it. The Cadillac he’d rented was not only big; it was powerful. They broke away, but only for a moment. The other car caught up to them easily and pulled alongside again. What he wouldn’t give for his 6-Series now. In this, he couldn’t outrun them.

The men pointed angrily at the wide dirt and gravel shoulder. Simon clenched his jaw and tightened his grip on the steering wheel. Like hell he was going to pull over.
 

But what could he do? He glanced over at the other car just in time to see it veer towards him.
 

“Hold on!” was all he had time to cry out before the other car smashed into the side of their car.
 

The force of the impact pushed them off the road and onto the soft shoulder, and for a split second, Simon lost control. Both Charlotte and Elizabeth screamed. The right-side tires spun and slipped on the soft earth, spitting gravel up behind them in a rooster’s tail. The back end of the car fishtailed to the right. Simon kept it from sliding completely around and it kicked back and gripped the pavement again.

“Holy Crap!” Elizabeth cried out. He glanced over at her. She was all right, just in shock. Behind them Charlotte started to cry.

Knowing he had to do something, anything, Simon moved back alongside the other car and turned his wheel sharply toward them. He rammed into the passenger door. The metal crunched and screamed as they scraped along side each other. Bits of side panel and metal littered the highway behind them, bouncing in the distance before he wrenched the wheel back to the right and straight again.

He’d seen police perform the PIT maneuver before and knew it was their best shot. He might be able to force them off the road with sheer power, but it was far more dangerous. Simon tried to slow just enough to be able to clip their rear panel and spin them, but they pulled ahead too quickly.
 

Instead of pulling ahead in the right lane, they stayed in the left, in the path of oncoming traffic. They continued to pace then, right alongside, and just as he was about to wonder what they were doing, the man in the passenger seat lean out of his window. He didn’t need to see the gun to know it was there.

“Get down!” Simon cried and jammed on the brakes.

The bullet ripped through the windshield, spidering the glass. Simon ducked down, as best he could, as two more shots rang out.

Behind him, Charlotte screamed.

Simon quickly looked over at Elizabeth and their eyes met in a panic.
 

“Are you hurt?” he said as he sat up and swerved the car back and forth in a serpentine, keeping the other car’s passenger side as far away as he could. Another bullet shattered their headlight and two more missed completely. “Charlotte?”

Simon looked into the rearview mirror. He couldn’t see Charlotte now, but he could hear her crying.

“Charlotte!”

Next to him, Elizabeth unclipped her seatbelt.

“What are you doing?”
 

She ignored him and climbed over the front seat, flopping into the back just as another shot rang out, barely missing her and piercing the headrest where she’d been just moments ago.

Simon swallowed the bile in his throat and fought against his nerves. He needed a clear head. He had to stay focused.
 

In the back, Elizabeth spoke to Charlotte in an urgent voice, asking her if she was hurt. He couldn’t hear anything other than sobbing, and his heart felt like it was going to explode from his chest.

There was a brief pause in the gunfire, probably so he could reload. Whatever the reason, Simon knew he had to make a move now. And there was only one to make.
 

“Is she all right?” he asked.

“I think so,” came Elizabeth’s breathless reply.

The road ahead had a gentle curve toward the river. He remembered passing it many times in the past. It was a scenic outlook and he had just the people he’d like to recommend it to.
 

“Stay down!” he said, his voice tight with anger and fear.
 

He waited a few more seconds—he had to time this just right—and then made his move.

Stomping on the gas, he drove hard onto the left shoulder and pushed the other car back toward the center of the road. They hadn’t expected the move, and he had their attention now. The man in the passenger seat turned and leveled his gun at him. The driver leaned back to give him a clear shot.

Simon looked ahead and saw the curve. He clenched his jaw and turned the wheel sharply to the right, harder than before. Metal ground against metal. And another shot rang out.

Simon flinched, unsure for a moment if he’d been hit. But the shot had been off the mark. It blew a hole in the other car’s windshield, spidering the glass badly in front of the driver, obscuring his view.
 

Just a few more seconds, Simon thought, as he rammed their car again, this time, keeping his car pressed up against theirs, muscling it to the side of the road, grunting with the effort. Their car might be faster, but his was heavier. And he used every ounce of steel in it.

“Come on,” he urged.

With one last wrench of the wheel to the right, Simon pushed their car off the road. In slow motion, he saw them veer off to the right. The driver struggled for control and the passenger fired wildly. The car swerved back and forth on the shoulder, the back end kicking out and then back. The driver fought the wheel and nearly had the car back, but he’d run out of room. On a straight, he could have saved it, but the curve took away his chance. The car hit a small berm at the apex of the curve, then launched into the air.

Simon pulled his car to the left and around the curve. Through the shattered remains of the back window he saw the car flying briefly, nose up. It seemed to hang in the air for a moment before its back end swung downward, flipping the car over backward and sending it crashing upside-down into the river below.

S
UDDENLY
,
THERE
WAS
NOTHING
. No gunshots, no ripping of metal. Nothing, until Elizabeth heard Simon’s strained voice.

“Are you all right?”

She lifted her head and looked up at Simon. His face was tight and pale. He looked back to the road, then back to her. She nodded quickly, the terror not fading, only frozen, for now.

“Charlotte?” Elizabeth asked, sitting up. “Are you all right?”

Elizabeth had checked her quickly when she’d jumped into the backseat, but she had to be sure.

Charlotte turned her head toward Elizabeth and nodded.

Elizabeth scanned her for injuries, but didn’t see anything. “You’re sure?”

Charlotte nodded again and slowly sat up.

“We’re all right,” Elizabeth told Simon as she pulled Charlotte into a hug.

She could hear Simon’s audible release of breath.