He screeched to the left, this time without hitting the blinker.

'Faster!' Mia cried. 'Faster!'

Thomas hit the blinker and yanked the SUV right.

'Jeeesuz fucking Christ!' Mia howled. 'Tommy, I love you like a neighbor, but I will so fucking tear you another asshole if you don't. Fucking. Speed. Up,'

'I can't help it! I'm a little neurotic when it comes to driving.'

'A little? You make OJ look like Jimmy Dean!'

'So I'm a lot neurotic.'

'But you're a psychologist!'

'What? You think I went to school to figure out why other people are so screwed up?'

'Pull into that alley there! Pull into there!'

At least this time he didn't hit the blinker. The alley was narrow—too narrow to open doors. Thomas drifted into the left wall, cried out as the mirror exploded from the side of the Toyota. The exit neared.

'Brake!' Mia was shouting. 'Brake! Stop the fucking car!'

Thomas stomped on the brakes. The police cruiser screeched to a halt behind them.

'Now pull forward until our doors are clear,' Mia said. 'Pull forward!'

Thomas did as he was told. When the doors were clear Mia opened his. 'Get the fuck out,' he cried. 'Switch seats! Quickly!'

Thomas popped from the driver's seat, glanced back at the cops stranded behind them. They looked thunderstruck in a shaft of streetlight. He rushed past Mia in the headlights, rounded the hood, grabbed the door only to have it yanked from his hands. He heard a crunch and squealing tires, then toppled to the pavement. The cops had decided not to wait, had bulldozed the SUV clear. Mia pulled the Toyota to the right. Thomas stood just in time to get knocked onto the cruiser's hood.

Frankie, something inside him cried.

He rolled off the hood as the cruiser braked. He scrambled to his hands and knees, ready to dash off on foot. But there was a thump, the whish of exploding glass, and the cruiser's headlights were replaced by the Toyota's profile.

'Get in! Get in!' Mia was crying. 'Get the fuck in!'

Then he was in the passenger seat, his whole body shaking, the whole world flashing past the windshield. Another cruiser screeched into the intersection before them, blocking it. Mia gunned the SUV.

'Noooooooo? Thomas cried.

The impact threw him against the dash, but for some reason it seemed miraculously minor. The Toyota wobbled, then barreled down the street, stable as a spinning pigskin.

'Frankie!' Thomas cried, nearly diving into the back. Frankie had slipped through the belts, fallen onto the floor behind Mia's seat. He was still unconscious, but seemed otherwise unhurt. Thomas sat him upright, did his best to buckle him in. He glanced through the rear window, saw flashing lights through dark, canyon streets.

'Fuck,' Mia was saying, 'they're green-lighting us!'

'What?'