Red Bullets in June

Chapter 17: Speed Chase

Without warning, the back door to the box truck flies open and 2 brawny Black men accompanied be an equally thick White man emerge behind boxes of what must be trafficked drugs. They're all wearing Los Alacránes' uniform and they begin interrogating us with fully automatic rifles.

Crap!

Ducking behind the steering wheel for cover, I lift my foot off the gas as bullets pelt our windshield.

If they hit our tire, I don't want to lose control.

Tiny glass spears slice through the air in every direction, tearing at our exposed skin, but somehow I manage to stay in the lane and our battered windshield stays intact. When the round of fire is over, I glance at Jaxon.

He's okay.

Jaxon glances at me. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I nod.

"Their aim is worth ****," Jaxon laughs. "Lucky for us."

"Yeah," I laugh nervously, clearly shaken.

"I need you to get up as close as you can. It'll be only a minute before they shoot us with another round."

I look back at the road in front of me. The distance between us and the box truck is growing significantly larger. I've slowed down to 30 MPH.

"What're you gonna do?" I ask.

"Shoot them."

"With what?"

Jaxon opens the glove compartment and pulls out a black revolver. "I put this in here for you. For protection."

Of course he did.

"Charlotte, now!"

I floor the gas pedal, rapidly closing the large gap between the box truck and my Elantra. The 3 men rise from behind the boxes again with their re-loaded rifles and I briefly wonder how in the heck they haven't gone flying into the road?

We're now going 100 MPH and are a good 10 ft. away from the box truck.

We're in perfect shooting range.

How the heck is Jaxon gonna take them out with just a revolver though?

Jaxon rolls down his window, points the revolver outside and aims for their back tire.

Oh crap.

With the speed they're going, this isn't gonna end well... for any of us...

"Get ready to dodge them, baby."

I grip the steering wheel with anxious anticipation.

Jaxon is swift, moving at the speed of light. Before any of the men can fire, he nails their back tire with a single bullet and it explodes into a shower of rubber.

The box truck swerves out of control and tips to the right, launching those 3 men into the air. I swerve in the opposite direction into the lane on our left and fly past the box truck as it flips outside of its lane and crashes into the freeway barrier.

"Keep driving," Jaxon grounds me with his instructions.

I continue driving forward, trying not to be traumatized by the heap of wreckage and blood that's gradually fading away in my rear view mirror.

Holy crap.

I killed them!

Bile rises in my throat and I swerve inside my lane.

"Charlotte, try to stay calm. It's okay."

"I killed them!" My vision is hazing over and I'm beginning to hyperventilate.

"No Charlotte." Jaxon's hands encompass mine on the steering wheel to steady us. "I shot the gun. I killed them. You didn't do anything wrong, okay?"

I nod but my head is still reeling and I still can't breathe.

"Take a deep breath."

I inhale a shaky gulp of air, then let it all out with a nervous hiss.

"Good. One more."

I repeat the exercise and feel myself regaining balance. Jaxon leans closer to plant a soothing kiss on my trembling cheek. "Now, I need you to keep driving until the next off ramp, pull over and switch me seats. Can you do that for me?"

All I can manage is a nod.

At the next off ramp, I pull to the side of the road and step out of the car to let Jaxon drive. He takes hold of my waist, eases my quivering body into the passenger seat and buckles my seatbelt. He presses his lips to my cheek again to calm me. "I'm glad nothing happened to you. You did really good, Charlotte. I couldn't have done that without you."

I nod.

Jaxon shuts my door, climbs into the driver's seat and begins driving. "Looks like I'll have to buy you a new car again..." he thinks out loud. I remain mute while the faint whirring of sirens behind us is the only audible sound. He takes a long and slow journey home using the vacant back roads while I stare blankly out the window.