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shot?”
    “I’m fine. This is almost over but I need you to strap in, now. ” He gritted his teeth.
    Without questioning him, she brushed glass off the seat and scrambled back into it. She did as he said, then sank lower against the seat.
    The SUV couldn’t close the distance enough to slam into him. Maybe if he forced the guy’s hand, Hunter would get an advantage. Something had to give. He was running out of time.
    And out of road.
    He had a gun, but the chance of hitting the guy from a moving vehicle was slim. And he was sure the SUV had bullet-resistant glass. His hands tightened around the steering wheel. The stretch of road deadened into sand and beach, leaving him nowhere to run. Keeping his foot heavy on the gas, he waited until the needle pointed above ninety.
    Then he tapped on the brakes, careful not to depress too hard.
    The SUV gained rapid ground. Hunter took the only chance he had and smashed on the brakes. Glass and metal crunched sickeningly as the guy collided into the back of them.
    As he jerked forward, Hunter tried to gain control, but the brakes refused to cooperate. He yanked the wheel. The vehicle whipped around into a one eighty, forcing the back of the vehicle to crash into a wooden telephone pole. The impact of the collision jarred him straight to his bones.
    At least they hadn’t flipped. And somehow, the engine still ran. When he’d rented the vehicle, the first thing he’d done was disable the airbags. His head slammed back against the headrest, jarring his focus. Without the airbag deploying he didn’t risk being knocked out. The chance of it happening was slim, but he was glad he’d taken the extra precaution.
    As he gathered his bearings, he watched the other vehicle spin out of control. The SUV jerked sharply, then toppled on its side. It skidded into a ditch, and smoke billowed out from under the hood.
    “Are you okay?” He assessed Alexis from head to foot. No wounds, no bruises, but she held a hand to the back of her head and winced.
    “Fine, I guess.” Her voice shook.
    “Alexis, I’m…sorry.” Again, he hated that he’d brought this to her. Hated himself.
    Ignoring the searing pain in his shoulder and the massive guilt he felt that she was with him, he shoved open his door and jumped out. As soon as he hit the dirt, he drew his gun and chambered a round.
    Thirty yards away, there were still no signs of life from the other vehicle. Could be a trap. Gun drawn, he crouched and rushed toward it.
    A small fire blazed in the underbelly. Inching closer, he covered his mouth to block out the fumes and smoke.
    Even if the driver was dead, Hunter needed to get some identification or something from this guy. The fire was spreading, though, and limited his options.
    Through the windshield, he saw only one man behind the wheel. He fired a few shots at the glass, but it was a useless effort. The glass was bullet-resistant. If he shot it enough times and weakened it, he’d eventually do enough damage to kick or punch his way through, but he didn’t have time for that. A small pop from underneath the hood propelled him backward and into action.
    He didn’t feel like getting barbequed for a man who’d just tried to kill him. He might not know who the guy was, but he knew damn sure who’d sent him.
    Hobbling back to his vehicle, he surveyed his surroundings. The oversized vacation homes stretching down the road showed no signs of life. Other than the distant sound of the ocean, it was eerily quiet.
    The wind whistled, but there were no birds in the cloudless sky. Like nothing had ever happened.
    As he slid into the front seat, he couldn’t believe the engine hadn’t died yet. “Thank God for British engineering,” he muttered as he kicked it into Drive.
    It made wheezing, gasping sounds but at least the thing worked.
    Alexis grasped his arm as he steered back onto the road. “There’s something I haven’t told you. I have a son and we’ve got to pick him up from Gwen’s