But Becker had ruined all that by putting a huge lump of lead in the passenger seat. I saw the tires give up their grip and the car began to spin, slewing across the road. I braked but not fast enough. Becker’s car hit ours and together, we went spinning towards the edge of the cliff.

77. Erin

77

ERIN

I went silent, too scared to scream. I was on an out-of-control carousel, spinning so fast my head was pressed hard against the side window. Through the windshield I caught glimpses of trees then cliff, trees then cliff, and every time I saw the cliff, it was closer….

There was a crunch of metal, then another one that jolted our car and stopped the spin. We straightened out heading straight for the cliff and now I did scream, crushing myself instinctively back into my seat.

The brakes squealed, there was a rattle of gravel and we slid to a stop a foot short of the cliff edge.

“You okay?” asked Danny.

I nodded weakly. I just wanted to slump there for a while but we couldn’t. Where was Becker?

Danny was already climbing out and I followed, my legs shaky. The air stunk of hot metal and rubber and there were deep gouges in the snow where the Ferrari had slid. It had hit a tree and come to rest on the edge of the cliff, with the driver’s side hanging over the edge. As we approached, we saw Becker climbing awkwardly over the bomb in the passenger seat and crawling out onto the ground. Just as Danny reached him, Becker scrambled to his feet and punched Danny viciously in the kidneys, sending him stumbling.

Danny motioned for me to stay back and I did, watching as the two of them circled each other, Danny wincing and clutching his side. Danny was younger and probably fitter, but Becker had years of experience of hurting people. Danny pressed forward, swinging punches, but Becker dodged and weaved, then stamped down hard on the inside of Danny’s shin. Danny let out a groan of pain and stumbled sideways, and I winced.

That’s when I saw Becker’s car move.

The ground sloped down towards the edge of the cliff and the car was slowly sliding, In another minute or two, enough of it would be over the edge that it would tip and go tumbling over. And the bomb was still in the passenger seat. I peeked over the edge: it was at least a hundred feet to the bottom and there was a village down there. Would the bomb go off, if it fell? Even if it didn’t, if the casing cracked open, it could cover the village with radioactive debris. I had to get it out of there.