secrets // h.s.

chapter twenty-two.

"Buckle your seatbelt."

I swallowed hard as I sat back down in the passenger seat, facing the windshield once again and quickly jerking my hand up to tug my seatbelt down. My eyes were wide, my knuckles white as I gripped the sides of the seat, gaze on the man driving beside me.

What the hell was going on?

"Harry, who was that?" I asked him, watching as his gaze once again shot up to the rear-view mirror, the back down again with a small hiss of irritation. He jerked the wheel to the right, speeding around a BMW that gave him quite the honk in return as he swerved back over in front of it, dodging his way through traffic.

"Someone you should hope doesn't catch us," Harry answered me through gritted teeth as he yanked the steering wheel sharply to the left, turning off down a side street. We were bathed in darkness for a short moment before another set of headlights spun down the side-road, in pursuit.

I tried to stay calm, though that wasn't exactly easy as of late. "What do they want?"

"Me," Harry answered instantly, his voice cool as his Rover gained speed, tires skidding across loose asphalt. My heart was in my throat as I chanced another look behind us, the black SUV having gotten even closer.

"I've gotta lose them," Harry then muttered under his breath, glancing from one street to the next, looking for a good opportunity. I began searching too, and upon inspecting my surroundings realized that we had weaved our way through the outskirts of town and were now nearly back to the university. At least I knew where I was.

Horns were honking, other cars and busses swerving to get out of our way as Harry sped through traffic, hands steady on either side of the steering wheel. His eyes were locked ahead of him, only occasionally shooting up to keep track of the car following us from a few car-lengths back.

"There!"

Harry jumped and shot his head over to me, his eyes blazing.

"What? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Turn right up here!"

Harry's eyes narrowed as he looked head of him, glancing at the street in question. He looked back to me, then to the road again.

"Arabella, are you s-"

"Just do it!"

Tires squealed as Harry yanked the car to the right at the very last second, his Rover shooting up a short incline into the central parking deck. His car sped through the first level, sparking around the corner on only two wheels, beginning the incline to the next floor.

"Why the fuck would you tell me to go into a parking deck? You realize there's no way out of here, right? Once we get to the top floor, we're screwed," Harry cursed, just as the SUV made its arrival inside the deck, the sound of rubber against cement able to be heard from below.

"Just keep going," I told Harry, now leant forward in my seat. He shook his head, and I could tell that if he hadn't been driving he would've thrown up his hands in anger.

But I knew what I was doing.

"When you get to third floor," I told him, since we were rounding the corner at the end of the second, "go all the way to the end of the first straight-away, then just keep going."

"Keep going?" Harry snapped, shaking his head. "What - off the side of the goddamn building?"

"Just trust me," I urged him, shaking my own head in return. "You won't be able to see it because its closed off and there's no lights above it, but there's an exit ramp down from the third floor - I used to use it every day before they decided they wanted to tear it down."