Need for Speed (15 page)

Nineteen

THE SUNRISE OVER
the Utah mountains was like something from a postcard.

Julia was still driving; Tobey had fallen asleep a long time ago. All was quiet inside the Mustang. No iPhone chat. No police scanner. No Monarch.

Julia felt good—and was feeling fully confident behind the wheel of the supercar.

Until disaster struck.

One moment she was driving along in high-speed contentment; the next, the Mustang was hit violently from behind.

The supercar went sideways from the impact. Julia saw that a huge Hummer-like vehicle had come up behind them and she knew instinctively it was the Flyin' Hawaiian. But she was terrified to see his right-seater hanging out the window, aiming a shotgun at her.

Tobey woke up in an instant. The Mustang was out of control, and Julia was screaming.

“
Jesus!
” she bellowed. “That was
on purpose
!”

Tobey realized what was happening in a microsecond.

He yelled, “Yeah—thanks to Dino's bounty!”

Julia regained control of the car, but suddenly, a glossy chrome Hummer and a muddy Bronco appeared from the opposite direction. He was never one to fight fairly—the Flyin' Hawaiian and his goons were trying to trap them.

“They're going to seal us off!” Tobey yelled to Julia. “Drift onto the shoulder.”

“Nope,” she said to his surprise. “I've got a better idea.”

“And that is?” he yelled at her.

“I'm going for the Hummer,” she said. “He's a pavement prowler.”

Tobey was confused. “Pavement prowler?” he repeated loudly.

“Show car with a big lift kit,” Julia yelled back. “Helps make up for the inferiority complex.”

Julia held out her pinky finger and let it droop—Tobey got the idea. Small package. Frightened turtle.

She hit the gas hard, accelerating mightily toward the oncoming vehicles. In an instant, she swerved into the wrong lane, aiming right for the Hummer. It was a game of chicken. A very deadly one. Tobey grabbed the dash and door, holding on for dear life, just as Julia had done so many times earlier in the trip.

He heard his own voice screaming, “Are you
crazy
?”

But Julia didn't lift her foot off the gas. She kept driving right at the Hummer. Only at the last possible instant did the big truck swerve to miss her. But in doing so, it piled up on the highway's median, hitting a rock wall head on. The impact caused the big truck to flip, end over end in midair. Julia simply drove under the airborne wreck and kept right on going.

This got Tobey's heart rate pumping, maybe like never before.

“Wow—you
are
crazy!” he yelled.

Julia looked over at him and smiled. Her expression said it all. She was quite impressed with herself.

Then came the shotgun blast.

Tobey heard it clearly above all the commotion and the roar of his Mustang's mighty engine.

He turned to see the Flyin' Hawaiian's Baja pre-runner right on their tail. His right-seater was leaning out the window, an enormous twelve-gauge in hand. A second later he fired another shotgun blast.

The back window of the Mustang exploded in a shower of sparks and glass. Both Julia and Tobey ducked just in time to avoid getting hit by the flying shards. But the Mustang was suddenly swerving uncontrollably.

“Keep it straight!” he yelled to Julia.

“I'm trying!” she yelled back.

Tobey looked out the newly windowless back and saw that the Flyin' Hawaiian was on the radio even as he was bearing down on the Mustang. His right-seater was back out the window, aiming another shotgun blast. This time it seemed the Mustang's rear tires were his targets.

Suddenly Julia was urgently tapping Tobey's shoulder. He looked straight ahead and saw two cement trucks driving at full throttle, coming down the highway, aiming right at the Mustang.

Tobey quickly grabbed his radio.

“Liar One!” he yelled for Benny. “You got your ears on?”

Then Tobey saw a dirt road off to the left. It was coming up fast.

He yelled to Julia, “Take your foot off the gas when I say so—and then go hard left, okay?”

“Okay,” Julia said, concentrating as best she could.

“Your instinct is going to be to let go,” Tobey warned her.

“Just do it!” she yelled back at him.

Tobey yanked up on the emergency brake and Julia took the hard left. Amid the smoke from the tires and exhaust, the Mustang drifted perfectly onto the dirt road.

But the Flyin' Hawaiian followed—and was suddenly driving with even more confidence than before. In his mind, the Mustang had just taken his bait—and fallen into his trap.

There was a fork in the road up ahead and the Bronco took it, disappearing from view. The Mustang continued on the side road and began climbing up the side of a mountain, going through a series of hard lefts and rights—all at extremely high speed.

But then they came to a scary hairpin turn. Julia was trying her best, but she turned too quickly, and then tried to overcompensate, almost bouncing the car off the cliff wall.

What she lacked in skill, though, she made up for with pure aggression.

“Dammit!” she yelled. “I should be better at this!”

“Don't let up!” Tobey yelled back at her. “You're doing good!”

Julia took his advice and stood on the gas pedal.

Nearby, but out of their sight, the Ford Bronco was blasting up a parallel dirt road. It was rough, but the truck's suspension was more than a match for it. In fact, it was actually gathering speed as it went uphill.

At the same time, the Flyin' Hawaiian was right behind the Mustang and gaining on them. His right-seater fired another shotgun blast. This one hit off a huge boulder right in front of the supercar, showering it with rock fragments.

The Hawaiian's right-seater was being bounced around a lot as he tried to reload. As a result, most of his shotgun shells had fallen to the floor of the Baja.

Still, the Flyin' Hawaiian was just a few feet off the Shelby's bumper.

The mad chase continued, the Mustang going extremely fast, kicking up dirt and gravel, the Baja getting closer by the second. Then the road abruptly turned from a two-track dirt path to almost no road at all. Suddenly the Mustang was going over some very rough ground—not its best trait.

Tobey searched a map on his iPad. “We've got to find another road!” he yelled to Julia.

“Up here?” Julia yelled back. “There's only one road—or there was . . .”

Tobey grabbed the radio and starting shouting into it again. “Liar One—Liar One! We need you.”

The Flyin' Hawaiian was right on the Mustang's ass now—just inches away. This kind of driving is what he had built his truck for: spitting dirt and rock, all four barrels wide open. As they raced up the side of the mountain at breakneck speed, the truck was gaining on the Mustang with every second.

The biggest problem was, the Mustang was not built for off-roading, and its undercarriage was seriously bottoming out. Julia was driving as fast as she could without tearing the wheels off the car, but it was no use. They were nearing the summit of the mountain, and their pursuers would be on them in seconds.

But then came . . . a miracle of sorts.

And it was all thanks to an angel named Benny.

Suddenly the Mustang's windshield was filled with the sight of an enormous CH-53 Super Stallion helicopter. The gigantic aircraft rose above the Mustang and floated to a position right over it.

Tobey was immediately on the radio.

“Liar One?” he yelled. “Is that you?”

Suddenly, drop lines from the helicopter fell to the ground and dragged along both sides of the supercar.

Then Tobey and Julia heard Benny's voice fill the car.

“Hook up!” he was yelling. “Hurry!”

Benny was in the copilot's seat of the massive U.S. Army chopper. An army pilot was in the seat next to him.

“Sergeant!,” the man was yelling at Benny now, “this is
not
what we discussed.”

“It will be fine, sir,” Benny told him. “Don't worry.”

Still driving as fast as they could, Tobey and Julia ran the helicopter's lift hooks through the open windows of the Mustang. Then Tobey connected them together inside.

Benny's voice came over the radio again.

“Tell me you believe I can fly an Apache helicopter,” he yelled at Tobey.

Tobey couldn't believe what he was hearing.

“
What?
” was all he could reply.

The Mustang and the Super Stallion helicopter were now hooked together, attached by the drop lines. Suddenly, up ahead, Tobey and Julia could see the Bronco coming right at them. A collision was imminent.

But Benny wasn't lifting them yet.

“I'm serious,” he called down to Tobey. “Tell me.”

Julia yelled at Tobey, “Say whatever he wants!”

Tobey relented quickly. He yelled into the microphone, “Okay, you can fly an Apache helicopter!”

“And my handle is Maverick,” Benny responded. “Call me Maverick.”

“Okay,” Tobey yelled back. “You're Maverick—you're a fucking maverick!”

They could hear Benny laughing over the radio speaker.

“Now was that so hard?” he asked.

The Bronco was seconds from penning them off with the Flyin' Hawaiian still glued to their rear. But the edge of the cliff was also coming up fast.

Julia had no other choice. She drove the Mustang off the cliff . . .

And at that very instant, the Super Stallion's straps went taut, catching the supercar and suspending it underneath.

Tobey and Julia couldn't believe what was happening.

“Holy shit!” she yelled. “This is crazy!”

The Flyin' Hawaiian and his right-seater watched in disbelief as the enormous helicopter flew the Mustang up and out of their grasp.

But there was one problem. The Mustang was hanging almost straight down over the vast gorge below. The bottom of the gorge suddenly filled their windshield. Julia and Tobey were pointing straight down even as the helicopter began to gain altitude.

But because Julia was terrified of heights, this was her worst nightmare.

“Oh my god!” she screamed again.
“Oh my god!”

She was so terrified that she was holding her breath, which was turning her face beet-red. She was freaking out and trying to cry, but she couldn't because she had no air.

Tobey grabbed her by the shoulders.

“Julia—look at me!” he yelled.

She did as he asked, but was still red in the face and still not breathing.

“Focus on my eyes,” he told her. “Now . . . breathe, Julia.
Breathe!
”

Julia exhaled and started gasping—but it was a start.

Tobey continued to soothe her.

“Good,” he said. “Now breathe . . . relax . . . and focus on my eyes. What color are they?”

“Blue,” Julia managed to reply. “They're
really
blue . . .”

“A little bluer than yours,” Tobey told her.

“No, they're not,” she said. And for one fleeting and crazy moment, they were lost in each other's eyes.

Then finally, Julia smiled broadly. She was breathing again. Tobey had successfully talked her down.

At that moment, the huge helicopter banked to the left and flew on, the Mustang hanging safely below.

Twenty

EVERY RACING CAR
enthusiast in the world knew about the Bonneville Salt Flats.

A giant, flat piece of desert located in northwest Utah, it was, in reality, a gigantic dry lake bed, surrounded on all sides by picture-perfect mountains.

This was the place where many race car records had been broken over the years, and where many experimental cars and motorcycles had been tested.

Sitting here now was the Beast, with Joe Peck and Finn lounging in the back, waiting for the prearranged meet-up with the Mustang.

Suddenly, they were aware of something flying over the mountains and heading right for them. They stared at it silently for a long time.

“Is that our car?” Finn finally gasped.

“Under a helicopter?” Joe added.

It was the Mustang and it
was
being carried by an enormous helicopter.

But they couldn't believe what they were seeing.

“Do they put something in the water out here?” Finn asked. “Mormon acid or something?”

The helicopter went into a hover right above them. The downwash from its blades kicked up a blizzard of white dust and salt. But still, Joe and Finn could see that while it was the Mustang, its undercarriage was heavily damaged.

The car was slowly lowered to the ground. The front end touched first, fairly gently. But then the back end came down hard, crashing to the ground like a heap of junk.

The car was immediately detached from the copter's cables. Suddenly the doors opened and Tobey and Julia emerged from the mangled racer. Joe Peck and Finn ran over to them, still fighting the copter's massive downwash.

“Jessuz!” Joe Peck exclaimed. “What the hell happened? Are you guys okay?”

They both answered at once. Tobey said, “Yes,” while Julia replied with a resounding
“No!”

Meanwhile, the huge copter rose in altitude, with its hook cables dangling. Then, from another direction, came another thunderous noise. It dwarfed any racket that the Shelby had ever made.

Suddenly two F-16 fighter planes roared overhead. The four of them watched in awe as the two jets screamed by.

“Something tells me they want their helicopter back,” Julia said, looking up at the fierce warplanes.

The Beast's radio came to life. A very authoritative voice boomed: “One Alpha Bravo Victor Charlie—this is the United States Army.”

Then they heard Benny's voice. “Hope everyone is okay down there,” he said. “I might have to go away for a bit.”

They all watched as the helicopter turned east and sank behind some hills.

“Godspeed, boys,” they heard Benny say before the copter disappeared for good.

Suddenly, they were all alone out on the expansive salt flats. The wind was blowing, but everything else was quiet. No one said anything for a few moments. It had been a strange turn of events, to say the least.

Finally Tobey told them a quick version of the story and then nodded toward the banged-up Mustang. He looked at Joe as if to say, “What do you think?”

Joe just laughed.

“Yeah, we can make her run again,” he said. “But . . .”

“Just do your best,” Tobey told him.

Joe and Finn didn't move, though. They had to have a serious talk with Tobey.

“We heard about your cop friend getting chained back in Nebraska,” Joe told him.

“And Benny is going to be in the brig in about ten minutes,” Finn said.

“Plus, there's an APB out for your arrest in at least ten states right now,” Joe added.

Tobey just shrugged. “So what's your point?” he asked them.

“Maybe we should rethink the plan,” Joe finally suggested.

Tobey just stared back at his two friends.

“Dino took everything from me,” he said to them. “From us. Including Pete. Pete got put in the ground and Dino went to sunny California like nothing happened.”

A long pause ensued. The wind was blowing fiercely across the flats. No one said a word.

“You guys do what you think is right,” Tobey finally told them. “But I'm never going to stop.”