Seven Days Grace (A Grace Rose Novel Book 1) (22 page)

What she needed right now was one of JJ
’
s energising specialty drinks to pull her out of this slump. Unfortunately
,
she was on the wrong side of the bridge. She hadn
’
t heard from Kate today after their confessions and movie which was only last nigh
t.
Jake hadn
’
t returned her call and Nick constantly gave her grief. He was relentless and it was wearing thin. She wondered why men like Jock even deserved to live on the same planet as the rest of the human race. And had she led Adam on during the flight?
Not likely.
One minute she felt like everything was coming together and the next she felt like everything was falling apart.

It was all too much. She sat down at a small table at the back of the café and inhaled deeply. She could feel beads of sweat starting to break out on her forehead
,
her palms were sweaty and her neck was beginning to seize up. She thought she was going to faint or was she having a panic or an anxiety attack? She hadn
’
t experienced either before but she was sure she was experiencing the symptoms of one of them.

‘
Are you all right
,
Ma
’
am?
’
a waiter asked.

‘
Yes
,
I think so. Could I have a glass of water
,
please?
’

The waiter rushed off to get a glass of water and was back in an instant. Grace gulped it down and then looked at the menu.

‘
Is there something else I can get you?
’

It was then Grace remembered she hadn
’
t eaten all day. No wonder she felt dizzy. The morning meeting with Jake had her enthralled and she forgot about having breakfast and her morning meal was akin to a religion. She was in such a rush to get to Sleen
’
s office
,
again
,
she didn
’
t stop to think about lunch. And taking the flight had probably not helped. The nerves
,
the lack of air
,
the noise.

‘
Could I have a chicken and salad sandwich on grain bread and a small
,
strong cappuccino
,
please?
’
she asked the kind waiter who looked at her worriedly.
‘
Thank you
,
I
’
m sure I
’
ll feel much better after I eat.
’

She ripped open the package and saw it was another memory stick. Without her computer she couldn
’
t do anything. She picked up her phone to see if Jake had called and to check the time. No calls and it was already four o
’
clock.

The waiter placed her meal in front of her along with the coffee. She devoured the sandwich and drank the coffee in one hit. Her pulse slowed and the beads of sweat on her forehead disappeared. She felt more alert as the food and caffeine did their jobs
,
giving her the boost she needed.

Back in the car
,
Grace was desperate to talk to Jake. She called him. No answer again. She wanted to see if he had discovered anything further about the maps and tell him she thought she knew the location of some of them. Not to mention the incident at Sleen
’
s office. There were too many loose ends and she wanted them tied up. There
’
s no doubt he could help. She also wanted to open the latest package with him and to discover its contents together.

She turned the key in the ignition and pulled out onto the road. Having driven the city streets for many years
,
Grace didn
’
t bother to program the GPS for her trip to the airport. She was confident with her driving ability and good sense of direction. She steered the sports car back toward the north side as she would have to do a loop to gain access to the entrance of the Sydney Harbour Tunnel.

As she descended into the tunnel
,
she enjoyed a good start to the trip. The fluorescent lights illuminated the underground and sped past as she hastened her way to her final errand of the day. She was careful not to exceed the speed limit as this recently-built structure was riddled with speed cameras and not even taxi drivers knew where they were located.

Grace checked her rear view mirror and to her surprise saw a large
,
black 4WD wanting to climb into the back of Nick
’
s car. It gave her a fright as she hadn
’
t noticed it. She pulled into the left lane to let him pass. However
,
the large vehicle pulled in behind her.
Hmmm
,
what
’
s he up to?

The grill of the car and the number plate were now visible through her rear mirror.
Good
,
he
’
s backed off.
She recognised the grill as one from a Hummer.

As Grace kept an eye on the road in front of her
,
she sharpened her wits
,
especially as the vehicle was at least twice the size as the one she drove. It now travelled beside her at the same speed. The nose of his vehicle was slightly ahead of hers yet their doors were level. Grace kept her cool and tried to look inside to see who was driving. The windows were tinted as black as the paint on the car itself. As she surveyed the vehicle in all its glory
,
she noticed it edging closer to Nick
’
s car. Then she heard Nick
’
s voice in her head. Oh no
,
she knew if she put a teensy scratch on his precious jewel he would go into hysterics.

The driver jolted towards her as if he wanted to run her off the road. Unfortunately
,
there was nowhere to run. She kept driving
,
half-scared to death. No turns
,
no exits
,
no side lanes. A two-lane tunnel where the edge of the lane met a wall. There was no room for error. The car jumped back into its own lane without having touched Nick
’
s car. Grace let out a series of loud
,
panting sighs and an
,
‘
Oh
,
help me
,
God
,
please? Now would be a good time.
’

The two cars travelled for two hundred metres before the large
,
black Hummer veered into Grace
’
s lane again
,
this time it jammed Nick
’
s sports car between the concrete wall and itself for what felt to Grace like a small eternity. Sparks flew and horrible screeching sounds filled the cabin of the car.
I
’
m sure Nick will be thrilled he loaned me his car.
‘
Someone
’
s trying to kill you
,
stop worrying about the car
,
Grace. Help me
,’
she said out loud and momentarily closed her eyes.

The Hummer then sped ahead and pulled sharply in front of Grace
’
s car. It slowed down to the point where the traffic behind them started beeping their horns repeatedly as cars started indicating to turn into the other lane and overtake them. With many cars trying to get past
,
Grace could do nothing other than sit behind the unpredictable driver. She felt trapped. Her mind raced. Perhaps they wanted Nick
,
after all she was driving his car and she knew he
’
d ticked a lot of people off over the years. Or could it be they were after her? Who? Sleen? How would he know she was in Nick
’
s car? She hadn
’
t uncovered anything
,
she didn
’
t know anything. They acted as if she knew exactly what she was doing so they had decided to shut her up.

Think
,
Grace
,
think.

Who could be following her? And from what point had they been on her tail? Where else could it have been except after her pickup from The Voice? She searched the Hummer for a sign of something
,
anything. She found nothing.
Great.
And it was one of those cars where all identifying badges had been removed. Perhaps it was a seventeen-year-old gang member who drove out for a joy ride and didn
’
t like the look of Nick
’
s BMW Z4 Roadster. She looked for lowered wheels and large pipes coming out of its rear undercarriage. No
,
all normal.

As they started to come to the end of the tunnel the Hummer pulled into the left lane and Grace knew this would stop her from exiting into Wooloomooloo. It was an inner-city area full of trendy restaurants
,
a marina and expensive apartments overlooking the harbour. And it was the way to her home. She would love to be there right now instead of fighting for her life with some maniac.

She tried to speed ahead in Nick
’
s turbo sports car but the sheer size of the Hummer blocked her way. It was a brief window of opportunity for her to drive across traffic to the exit and she would have to side swipe several cars and put peoples
’
lives at risk to do it. It infuriated her that he knew her plans. What would she do now? She had another short tunnel to go through before another exit or she would be stuck on the two-lane thoroughfare meandering its way to the airport before another opportunity for possible safety.

The caved in
,
gouged out and scratched sides of Nick
’
s car would have to be explained later. Meanwhile
,
she decided to speed ahead of the Hummer. He kept up with her. Weaving in and out of traffic they began a cat and mouse game. Grace was terrified. He slammed into her side several more times and the driver
’
s side window smashed. The window tinting held some of the shards in place though others flew into the car and into the side of Grace
’
s face. She screamed again.
‘
God
,
where are you?
’
I know I
’
ve ignored you most of my life but I
’
ll make sure that changes immediately.

A sudden brain wave hit her. She would take the Bondi/Randwick exit. It was coming up to the left. This exit then led to a forked exit where the driver had to choose either the Bondi or Randwick exit. She would determine the traffic flow when she arrived at the juncture and decide then. However
,
the Hummer was right behind her as she pulled into the left lane to take the escape route. He slammed her hard from behind. Grace
’
s neck flew back into the headrest of the seat. She put her foot down even more. He thumped her from behind again. She spun ninety degrees and his front bumper was now pushing her car along against Grace
’
s driver door. The height of his grill was at eye level and it was all she could see out of her driver
’
s window.

‘
Oh
,
crap
,’
she yelled.

Then he backed off. Grace might escape this horrifying predicament after all. The fork in the road appeared in the distance. She was still travelling sideways when she saw the Hummer come towards the front driver
’
s side of her car where he rammed her again. The slamming caused her car to turn almost head on. Grace sighed with relief and thought God was looking out for her finally. She caught a glimpse of the Hummer screaming past her
,
leaving a trail of rubber and avoiding any real damage to his own car.

Then she looked up. The two exits were looming larger yet she failed to control the steering of the car. The wheels had locked. She had no choice except to place her hands in front of her face. She was headed straight for the middle of the exits where there was a giant wall of pointed concrete. Nick
’
s car annihilated several forty gallon drums full of water and the air bags exploded. Instantaneously
,
the front left corner of the car smacked into the concrete wall causing her to come to a crashing halt.