She twisted around to look at the cars behind them. “Are you okay driving this thing?”

“Yes.”

They shot forward so quickly her head hit the back of the seat. She fastened her seat belt.

Lennon shifted again, pushing them even faster. They were racing down the road at an incredible speed. Maisie gripped the side of the door. She’d never been in a vehicle that moved this fast.

Lennon turned suddenly, practically taking the car onto two wheels.

“Jesus,” she said, giving him a baffled look.

“You know how that news reporter said I was arrested four times?” He turned again.

Every muscle in her body was tensed. “Yeah?”

“Only one of those was for being naked.”

“What were the other three?” She already had a guess.

A car appeared in front of them, and Lennon came to an abrupt stop that made her teeth rattle in her head. He shifted into reverse and hit the gas, grinning at her.

“Street racing.”

LENNON

LENNON WEAVED THE car through the street in reverse, his heart pounding with excitement. He hadn’t been behind the wheel of a car in months. The campaign had insisted that he be shuttled around everywhere by a driver. They said it was for his own safety, but Lennon knew it was because they didn’t trust him.

They were probably right not to.

He hit the end of the street and turned the wheel hard. Maisie yelped as the car spun.

He put the car in drive and raced down the street. His arm burned from where the guy had Tased him, but he could barely feel it through the rush of adrenaline coursing through him.

Another identical black car turned onto the road in front of him, moving very slowly. He floored the gas pedal.

“Uh, Lennon?” Maisie sounded very alarmed.

He looked in the rearview mirror. A car was still following him.

He slowed just slightly as he took a sharp turn into an alley. He heard the crunch of metal as the car behind him slammed into the slow one.

Maisie let out a short laugh, twisting around in her seat to look. “Holy hell, man, that was amazing.”

His lips twitched. It was nice, to impress her.

They flew down the alley and he took a turn north, onto a main road. He kept an eye on the rearview mirror, but no one was following them.

“Damn,” Maisie said, leaning back in her seat with a sigh. “You do all the driving from now on.”

“Agreed.”

“How fast does this thing go?” She leaned over to see the speedometer.

“Seems to top out at about a hundred and twenty.”

“What!”

“Why? How fast do you guys’ cars go down south?”

“Fifty, maybe? And no one actually drives them that fast.”

“Clearly different priorities up here.”

“Clearly,” she murmured. She reached down to dig through the backpack, then seemed to remember something, and straightened. “Are you okay? Did that Taser hurt you?”

He glanced down at his arm. “Not really. Stung a little.”