A Different Kind of Animal

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

Arabelle’s voice trembled a little, putting him on full alert. She was staring intently at the rearview mirror. “Try not to make it too obvious that you’re looking, but isn’t that the same guy that we saw at McDonald’s?”

Leo used the side mirror sticking out from his door to inspect the Jeep behind them. The uneasy dread that filled his stomach made him feel like throwing up again.

He barely nodded, his mind once again troubled by the close confines of the car. New worries wracked his brain: How could he fight from this tiny place? What if they were forced off the road and were trapped in here? How could he adequately protect Arabelle?

That last worry bothered him most of all. Arabelle’s safety was his main concern, and he felt a jet of protectiveness shoot through him. Grinding his teeth and repressing a growl, he said, “Maybe he doesn’t know that we’ve seen him. We could lead him to a place where I could—”

But he didn’t finish the thought aloud. He didn’t want to frighten Arabelle. All he needed her to do was keep out of the way so that he could protect her, and he already knew her well enough that he was certain she wouldn’t just let him willingly fight without trying to help.

“Who is he?” she asked, her voice a little hysterical. “What does he want?”

He wants me, Leo thought, but aloud he said, “Just focus on getting us somewhere where we can be surrounded by people.”

“What?” she nearly shrieked, and he could really hear the panic in her voice this time. “What do you think he wants to do to us?” she yelled, gripping the steering wheel tightly as she gnawed on her lower lip, glancing fervently in the rearview mirror.

“He doesn’t want anything to do with you, so I need you to calm down and focus. Think of a well-populated place. Where’s the closest one?”

“This is freaking Preston County! Unless being surrounded by cows is going to be good enough, we’ve got a long ways to go before we’re near any kind of crowd.”

She’s definitely panicking. “Arabelle.” He said her name softly, gently, concealing his own fear beneath his need to comfort and protect her.

At the sound of her name, she stopped staring at the menacing reflection of Big Ben’s Jeep in the rearview mirror—which Leo was sure was now a lot closer than it had been just a minute before—and stared at him instead, somehow managing to keep the car within their lane on the road. Her eyes were shiny with her fear, and he was afraid that at any moment she’d break down and start bawling, but she surprised him when she sucked in a deep breath and visibly calmed.

“Okay,” she said somewhat steadily, “what do you need me to do?”

He gave her a grim, tight-lipped smile, appreciating her strength, but knowing that she wasn’t going to like what he was about to say. “I need you to slow down and let me out. And then I need you to drive away.”

*     *     *

Arabelle gaped at Leonardo, disbelieving. “I am not letting you out of this car! You’re crazy!”

“You need to stay safe. And I can’t guarantee your safety if you’re around when I confront Big—when I confront him.”

“You don’t need to confront him. We can just make him follow us all the way to the police station and—”

“He’d never let us get that far. Please slow down.”

She glared at him, but he only continued to stare levelly at her, and she could already see in his face that he’d made up his mind. Before he could do something insane like jump out of the car, she reached to hit the lock button—