A dark figure loomed in front of me, backlit by two powerful beams.

I drew in my arm and shielded my eyes.

Two muddy boots swam into focus.

“Well, well.” Bogan’s tone was bloodless. “Aren’t you the rugged one.”

I sat back on my haunches. Looked up.

Bogan was a black silhouette. One elbow angled out. Something in his hand. “Guess I underestimated you, little lady.”

Bogan shifted. Spread his feet.

Light glinted off a semiautomatic pistol pointed at my head.

Adrenaline-pumped blood made the rounds of my body. I felt a new surge of strength.

“The police are already searching for us.” To my pounding ears my voice sounded slurry.

“Let them search. Where you’re going, no one will find you.”

“We found Cale and Cindi.”

The razor face hardened into cold stone.

“You’ve already killed three people,” I said. “I suppose you don’t care about one more?”

“You forgetting your buddy over there?” Bogan flicked the gun toward Galimore.

I kept my mind pointed at one thought. Stall.

“Takes a special kind of man to shoot his own son.”

Bogan’s fingers tightened on the Glock.

“How’d you rope Winge in? Threaten to fire him? Appeal to his Patriot Posse loyalties?”

“Winge’s a fool.”

“Don’t have Grady to do your dirty work this time? To lie for you? To bury your dead kid and his girlfriend? You know he’ll break and implicate you.”

“Not if he wants to live, he won’t. Besides, it’s only the word of an accused suspect. There’s no evidence connecting me.”

“Good cover. The stranger in the Mustang. How long did you have to coach him to get it right?”

As we sparred, I tried looking past Bogan. The double beams were blinding. Headlights?

I listened for sounds. Heard no engines. No amplified voices. I assumed the race was long since over. Or else we weren’t at the Speedway.

“Your kind just can’t be happy with what you got.” Bogan’s face was pinched with loathing. “Always wanting more.”

“My kind? You mean women?”

I knew I should quit piling on words. Couldn’t stop myself.

“We scare the shit out of you, don’t we, Craig?”

“That’s it. You’re history.”

Before I could react, Bogan lunged, yanked me to my feet, and spun me into another chokehold. With a gloating laugh, he jammed the Glock into my ribs.

“Now who’s scared shitless?”

Bogan dragged me toward the lights, gouging the muzzle deeper with every forced step. It was the scene at the haulers’ all over again. Only this time my muscles were mush. I was like a moth flailing at a screen.

Rain was still falling. The ground was slick underfoot.

I heard traffic in the distance but couldn’t lower my eyes to check for landmarks.

We passed the source of the double beams. Headlights shone from a backhoe with enormous front and rear shovels.