“Cody Radu,” I said.

“Drive,” Adam said.

“Like hell.”

Cody had pulled back and was idling, waiting. I reached for the door handle. Beside me, Adam cursed as he tried to get his open. The rear impact damaged the frame, making the doors stick. Mine came free first. Cody was driving up alongside the Jeep, moving fast. Making a break for it. An energy bolt in his back tire would stop that.

I started opening the door.

“Savannah!” Adam yelled. “Watch—”

Cody swung the SUV into the side of the Jeep. The door crunched shut, metal squealing as the SUV sheered along it.

“Goddamn it!” I said. “God-fucking-damn it. What the hell is he—?”

“Put it in reverse and go,” Adam said. When I didn’t answer, he grabbed my shoulder. “Go, Savannah, or I’ll yank you over here and do it myself.”

“I’m not running away,” I said as Cody did a three-point turn in front of us.

“I didn’t say that, did I? Drive in there.”

Adam pointed down two ruts that led into a field. “You want to get him? You can’t do it here where anyone can drive by. He’s got a four-by-four. He’ll follow.”

I nodded and turned the ignition key. The Jeep clunked as we started forward, but still ran. I turned onto the makeshift road just as Cody roared up.

I hit the gas. The Jeep flew along the path. Jarred a few of my fillings loose, but I kept my foot down, hitting the ruts and sailing over them like a Jet Ski going against the tide.

When I tried to look in the rearview mirror, Adam said, “Eyes on the road. I’ve got it.”

“Can I get a play-by-play?”

“You’re winning.”

The track crossed a field and continued toward a patch of forest.

“Head in there,” Adam said as if reading my thoughts.

“And Cody?”

“Trying valiantly to keep up, and battering the shit out of his fancy SUV.”

I smiled.

“I don’t think he has the four-wheel drive engaged,” Adam said. “If he even knows how to engage it.”

I floored it when we hit an open patch. We sailed over a streambed and came down with a crunch that made Adam clasp the grab bars.

I eased off the gas as we hit the forest—a spotty stand of trees with another field visible on the far side. Branches scraped the Jeep and Adam winced, but said nothing.

“I’ll cover the damage,” I said. “Even throw in a new top.”

He didn’t smile at that, just kept his gaze on the path behind us. “It’s not the Jeep I’m worried about.”

“You think I should have gone back to town?”

“And let him think he’s spooked you? No. Whatever his problem is, it ends here.” He glanced in the mirror. “And it ends now, apparently. Stop the Jeep. He’s stuck.”