5:38 p.m.

Melanie laid on the horn but the SUV in front of them didn't budge, adhering to the sixty-five-mile-an-hour speed limit. In the rearview mirror, she could see cars and trucks pulling to the roadside, like waters parting, for the flashing cruiser. He'd be on her tail in seconds. There were hills, inclines, not enough room for passing zones. Yet when Jared yelled, "Go around the motherfucker," Mela-nie didn't hesitate.

Sure enough, on the other side of the hill was a truck headed straight for them. She'd never make it. In front of the SUV was a blue compact she hadn't anticipated. She jerked back to the right, scraping against the SUV, shocking the driver into pulling to the side of the road. Now in her side mirror she could see him driving through the ditches before smashing into a fence.

"Serves him right," Jared said. "Maybe the others will know to get out of our way."

But even as he said it, Melanie had to weave around the blue compact. A pickup truck with a trailer was up ahead, and Melanie knew she'd never make it around him before the curve. And from what she could see, it looked as if they were coming to another bridge and another town.

"Don't slow down," Jared warned her. "Use the shoulder."

"Are you nuts? It's not wide enough."

"Sure it is. Just do it." He was turned in his seat again with the gun aimed at the back window. "Do it now, damn it."

She wanted to close her eyes. The curve was impossible at this speed-eighty-five at her last glance-and she might not be able to keep control.

"You can do it, Mel." His tone was somewhere between soothing and a yell.

She held her breath and twisted the steering wheel to the right. She heard the tire hit the edge and felt the pull. The car bounced, the steering wheel jerking out of her grasp. Before she could maneuver the car back onto the pavement, her hands were slick with sweat. So was her back, the T-shirt fabric stuck to her like a second skin. Her heart pounded loud enough to keep her from hearing Jared's continued instructions. She barely pulled the car back onto the highway before the bridge. A few more yards and they would have been flying into the water.

The bridge slowed down the cruiser. With no place on the sides for cars to pull over, the flashing blue and red lights stayed behind the pickup and trailer. Melanie floored it despite the REDUCE SPEED signs and despite entering the outskirts of Louisville.

More curves. More inclines.

"Turn up ahead," Jared instructed her, and she wouldn't have noticed the tumoff except for a sign with an arrow for Platte River State Park.

She followed his directions, only seeing his wisdom after she took another curve going seventy-five. With all the inclines and curves, the cruiser hadn't been in sight when she turned. He couldn't see her now, either. He would automatically think they'd continued on Highway 50.

"Did we lose him?" She almost didn't want to know.

"Keep going."

"I am. But is he still coming?"

"Up ahead. Off to your right is the state park. Pull in there." He was already pointing but she couldn't see it. "It's a long road into the park. There should be a sign."

"I can't see him." She watched the rearview mirror, her eyes trying to take in all angles. She was tempted to turn around, just for a second or two, to look.

"It's there. It's right there," Jared yelled.

But it was too late. She was going too fast. She saw the park entrance. Perhaps she felt cocky after all the stunts she had pulled off. She thought she could make it despite not slowing enough. She thought she had judged the distance, the angle. She twisted the steering wheel too much, too quickly, and suddenly the car was airborne, flying over the deep ditch, scraping through the barbed-wire fence-the screech of wire against metal-before slamming hard, the chassis rocking. They skidded through the tall cornstalks, a sound like wind whipping against the glass. The smell of antifreeze and gasoline filled her nostrils along with hot, stale air.

When they finally came to a complete stop all Melanie could see through the windshield were cornstalks and bulging gray thunderheads.