Remember Me

Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

Skye

N ot looking over my shoulder, I race to my car, fumbling for the key in my purse. I find it and unlock my Prius. Click . Fingers quivering, I fling the door open and jump inside, having no time to fasten my seatbelt. I start up the car, shift into drive, floor the gas pedal, and do a screeching hairpin U-turn out of the driveway, almost knocking down the two guards as they leap out of my way. Keeping my foot slammed on the gas pedal, I speed down the driveway at close to one hundred miles an hour. In my rearview mirror, I glimpse a monstrous black SUV careening down the asphalt behind me. I curse under my breath. They’re after me. My heart thudding, I reach the security gate.

“Open, open, open!” I mutter out loud. As if the massive iron structure has heard my desperate plea, its lotus wings spread apart, and I fly out of the property. I blow out a hot breath of relief when the gate closes behind me before the two henchmen can get through it. A little leeway!

My pulse in overdrive, I race down the private road and then make a sharp, screeching left onto Benedict. As I tear down the canyon, an unexpected obstacle suddenly gets in my way. A parked moving van clogging the middle of the two-lane road, blocking traffic in either direction. I blast my horn to no avail. No one’s inside it. My mind spins. Getting to Sunset is no longer an option. I have no choice but to do a quick U-turn and head back up the twisty, dimly lit canyon. Crap. I’ll likely pass my assailants. My heart slams against my ribs so hard it hurts. I’m as good as dead.

My heart in my throat, sure enough, I tear past the black SUV. Will they notice me? I’m about a hundred feet ahead of them when they realize I’m going the other way. They whip around, and in hot pursuit, they trail me.

Without slowing down, I grip the steering wheel so tightly I can see my knuckles turning white. Adrenaline flowing, I navigate the sharp curves of the canyon like a stuntwoman. The goons are still behind me. Then, as I turn right onto Mulholland, I hear something that resembles firecrackers. A terrifying, vise-like reality seizes me. Gunshots! Oh God! They’re firing at me!

Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop. Bouncing off my car, shot after shot ricochets in my ears. Somehow, they keep missing. Maybe the sharp curves of the desolate, poorly lit road are my saving grace. God bless legendary Mulholland Drive. For a split-second as I zoom past one of its scenic lookouts, my mind wanders. It’s where Finn and I made love the first time we set foot in Los Angeles, beneath the starry sky, overlooking the twinkling lights of the San Fernando Valley below. One of the most magical nights of my life. But tonight, a thick cloud of fog shrouds the earth, and my life hangs in jeopardy. Another shot is fired, and a fear like none other shoots through me. I silently pray to God that I’ll escape unscathed. After this is all over, I promise to spend more time with my husband and baby. God has a weird way of putting things in perspective.

Another shot is fired as I swerve around the next hairpin curve. But that’s not what makes my eyes pop and my heart almost stop. In the beam of my headlights stands a creature. Oh God, it’s a deer! As still as a statue. As frightened as a child. In all my years here, I’ve never encountered one. His frozen wide-eyed gaze meets mine as I slam my foot on the brake. Everything comes to a screeching halt, but not soon enough. Time freezes.

“No!!!” I wail like a siren as my vehicle approaches the poor, helpless animal. He disappears. I don’t think I hit him. And then smack! The SUV slams into the back of my car, and before I can take my next breath, the road vanishes. My car rockets over the edge, flying into the air. My hands grip the wheel as if I can steer it to safety while my foot slams the brake, with so much pressure my ankle aches. Not wearing a seatbelt, I use all my strength to stay put. Every organ lurches forward, about to jump out of me. Terror fills my every cell, every molecule as the Prius plunges down the steep, jagged cliff. Somersaulting. At least three hundred feet. I squeeze my eyes tight, shuttering my horrible destiny. My ear-splitting screams clash with the grating sound of metal against rock as the velocity of the car accelerates with the force of gravity. A heavy metal symphony fills the air. The air I may never breathe again.

I want to cup my ears. Cover my eyes. Block it all out. But paralyzed, my hands stay glued to the steering wheel as if they’ve been welded together. Then bam! The car hits rock bottom, tumbling over and over, my stomach rolling with it.

My air bag explodes in my face, but not before my head goes crashing through the windshield. Splat! The glass shatters into a million tiny pieces. My face on fire, my head cracked open, every rib in my chest smothering my lungs, my pelvis crushed, I experience the most horrific, bone-crushing pain I’ve ever felt in my life. The car, no longer moving, is upside down, the fog peering at me through my cracked window like a peeping Tom. The insipid taste of rust seeps through my mouth. Warm liquid leaks from the corners, drizzling down my chin. Blood. Am I bleeding internally? I roll my tongue over my teeth, dipping the tip into wet, gummy chasms and over ragged enamel. Shards and daggers. I’ve lost several teeth and broken others. I attempt to spit out the pool of blood in my mouth, but it hurts too much to purse my lips. I think my jaw is fractured. A groan stays trapped in my throat while bitter bile rises and mixes with the metallic blood. I can’t swallow and I can barely breathe.

With the last ounce of strength and consciousness I have left, I peel off the tattered airbag from my skin, then feebly reach for my door handle and crank it open. Leaving behind the rancid smell of gunpowder, I tumble out of the car and claw my way along the rough, prickly terrain on my elbows as far away from the battered vehicle as I can, my limp, useless legs dragging behind me, my lacerated purse trailing alongside me. The cruel earth scrapes my broken body. Tearing my skin. Shredding my dress. My breathing labored, desperate, I battle the excruciating pain that consumes every inch of my being, from my head to my toes. Hot tears, like acid rain, scald my burning, raw cheeks, then salt the earth. Oh the pain! How I wish could magically make them stop falling! Make this whole night go away!

Then, boom! A deafening blast bellows in my ears. A burst of flames surges behind me. The navy-gray sky lights up as a fiery heat sears my flesh. The nauseating scent of burning rubber, gasoline, and metal wafts in the damp night air. One more heartbeat, one more breath. Stretched out, anchored on one elbow, I clutch my treasured good luck locket—the one with the three of us—that still dangles around my neck. Oh God, please take care of Finn and my beautiful baby! Please!

Another thundering explosion. Embers fly, dancing in the dim sky like the fireflies I remember from my childhood. My life passes by as if it’s a slideshow projected against the screen of dense fog. My childhood with my parents traveling from country to country. Their untimely death. Then, fast-forwarding to my college years... my marriage to Finn... then our baby. Without warning, darkness cuts the memories short. Claims me. The screen fades to black. All the pain evaporates.

I remember it’s my birthday. My last?

Finn . . . Maddie, I love you.

The world subsides and so do I.