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scuffle
ended with raucous laughter when Gemma finally allowed Harrison to
pin her to the ground and wheedle the keys out of her hand.
    “It’s not like
we’re taking your Stingray!” She protested with a door slam as she
slid into the passenger’s seat next to Sam.
    “ Tell you
what, babe,” Harrison started the engine of the swanky pick up
Bryan had just purchased, “you let me ride that bike of yours and
you can drive to Daytona and back.”
    Gemma tipped
her head to consider him for a moment before wrinkling her nose.
“Not worth it.”
    He grunted and
ignored her smug smile as he headed towards the I-95.
     
    Forty-five
minutes later the trio were pulling off a main street and onto the
forecourt of a run down gas station.
    Sam’s incessant
talking had dominated the entire trip. Harrison felt his nerves
fraying as he pulled up alongside the building and cut the
engine.
    “… and
you wanna know why?”
    Harrison
gripped the wheel and muttered through clenched teeth. “No Sam. No.
I don’t want to know why Joey Berrillo keeps his boogers in a jar,
okay?”
    He let out a
frustrated sigh as he watched Sam’s face melt into a pout. Lowering
his tone, he patted his brother’s head.
    “Just stay in
the car. We won’t be long. Here, I’ll even leave some music playing
for ya.”
    Turning the
key, he set the radio to Sam’s favorite station and got out of the
car. Gemma’s hand slid around his sweating back as they walked into
the air-conditioned store.
    “That has got
to be the longest trip of my life.”
    “Thanks for not
making me stay to find out why Joey keeps his boogers. I really
wasn’t looking forward to that story.”
    They both
chuckled as they approached the counter and Harrison pulled a piece
of paper from his back pocket.
    “Yeah, hi. I’m
looking for…” He glanced at the paper again. “Simon Baker. I’m here
to see him about a car.”
    The man’s
eyebrows rose in greeting before tipping his head towards the door.
“It’s out back.”
    Harrison laced
his fingers through Gemma’s as they wove their way around the
counter and out into the cluttered back yard. The black Mustang sat
old and dejected in the dirt, grass sprouting from beneath its
axles.
    Harrison pasted
on a smile as he opened the door and popped the hood. The car
groaned with the movement, making him even more dubious of what he
might find. His spirits were lifted on closer inspection as he
studied the details of the engine. It looked solid and workable,
nothing a few new spark plugs and fan belt couldn’t fix.
    “Gem, jump in
and start it up for me, will ya?”
    She took
the keys from the man and slid into the driver’s seat. It took a
few spurts and starts, but the engine eventually spluttered to
life. Harrison watched it move into action, casting a critical eye
over each working part.
    “Okay that’s
good!”
    Gemma cut the
engine and got out of the car. Harrison noted the way the gasman’s
eyes traveled over his girlfriend’s sleek frame and shot him a dark
look.
    “What do you
think?” Gemma murmured into his ear.
    “ Well,
the engine’s pretty good. Bryan was right about the rust though.
I’m a little worried about that front axle.” Harrison crouched down
to look under the car, reaching his hand beneath and feeling around
the frame.
    Standing tall,
he brushed his hands on the back of his pants and looked over at
the man.
    “Would you take
two hundred?” he said with a smile.
    The man was
looking dubious and shaking a no when Harrison felt it sweep over
his body. A sense of dread started at the base of his spine and
shot up each vertebrate, exploding in his head with warning.
    “Sam!” he
whispered, bolting from his spot and back into the store.
     

 
    Chapter Seven
    Daytona Beach, Florida
- 2011 AD

    Gemma watched Harrison wrench the door open
and fly through. Her muscles were tight as she chased him out to
the forecourt. She arrived just in time to see Bryan’s new truck
screeching away with a