After Rast had left them both in the car park and melted into the night, Red was still wound up tight and instead of allowing Luke to drive, she got in the driver’s side and fired the engine. Luke had only just managed to fasten his seat belt when she screamed out of the car park, tyres squealing their protest at the amount of rubber she peeled off them.
“Calm it Red!” Luke said, not worried about her driving abilities, concerned more about the attention she could draw to herself.
The traffic lights were against them and she stopped. “I’m ok Luke. I’m a little angry is all. He got away, but he attacked me from behind – again! I am sick of him doing that to me.” She was beginning to calm herself and a Subaru Impreza WRX ST1 pulled alongside them, the four lads in it talking and looking at the Porsche.
As the lights changed, she showed them what the rear-end of a Porsche GT2 looked like, but slowed to the speed limit when she’d given them their lesson in Public Road Drag-Racing. Red’s anger evaporated for the time-being, she laughed as Luke said, “Boy racers hey?”
The road narrowed to single lane and the Impreza overtook, all passengers watching from the side windows as they passed. Red’s amusement turned to irritation as the car slewed in front, too close for safety, causing her to brake. She pulled back further to allow him to go with the comment: “Knob head.”
“Chill Red, don’t wind up. Bloody boy-racers don’t know what they’re messing with,” Luke said.
Red slowed even more to increase the space between the two cars. The Impreza slowed too. The two back passengers were watching, turning round often to give instructions and comments to the driver and front passenger. Luke could see the face of the front passenger through the wing mirror too, but he figured Red didn’t need that information.
Red slowed more, so did the Impreza. They were almost at crawling pace when Red decided enough was enough and stopped her car. She mimed putting on the handbrake and taking the car out of gear, but she put the car into first and kept her foot on the clutch and back brake.
The Impreza stopped too. As the driver and passengers opened their doors and climbed out, Red dropped the clutch, took her foot off the brake and onto the accelerator and swerved her Porsche around the Impreza. As she roared off, she left the boy-racers half out of their car, scrambling to get back in.
“Now what were they up to do you think?” Luke said.
“I don’t know, but when they catch us up, they’re going to regret it.”
“Oh dear, you’re going to let them catch us then?” Luke said reaching for his phone.
“Too right I am, on the back lanes between here and Chesterfield.”
Luke pressed the ‘search’ button on his phone. ‘Cruentus Nuntius’ – known as ‘The Crew’ - was sought and dialled. “Yeah, we’ll need clean-up and recovery in the vicinity of Junction 29 M1 in about 20 minutes. Exact location TBA. Yeah. Sentinel.” A pause, then; “Yeah, I’ll let you know exactly where and when closer to the time. No, car-jackers by the looks of it. Four aggressors. Two wolves. She’s given them opportunity. Yeah.”
“You’ve done that before.” Red grinned as he ended the conversation by closing his phone.
“Once or twice.” He grinned back. “You’re doing this alone?”
“No, cover me; make sure they don’t get away. I can’t afford escapees.”
“I’ll just steal their keys then.”
“That’s a good enough plan.” Red laughed, the prospect of a hunt doing wonders for her disposition.
The two cars roared through silent streets. Red slowed as they approached speed-cameras, but accelerated right after. They drove over a large island, almost attaining top speed along the next stretch of open road, not giving the older, but still very quick Impreza a chance to overtake. As they approached another built-up area and therefore another Forty mph limit, Red slowed, but wherever possible, stuck to the dead centre of the whole road, not allowing the pursuing car a chance to overtake. Luke watched with amusement at the animated argument in the Impreza using his own side mirror. All four were very excited and he salivated as he imagined how their meat would taste.
Red raced her car down onto a dual carriageway towards Junction 29 of the motorway. As they approached the island for the junction, Red indicated left. The Impreza was so close to the rear of the Porsche she wondered if the driver would see the indicator. Instead of taking the turn she had indicated for, she went straight on. The manoeuvre almost fooled them; they almost turned down to the motorway. Red watched in the rear view mirror and smirked; “Clever boy, that’s gonna cost you,” she muttered.
“I saw that! Are you going soft? You gave them a chance to get away then,” Luke said.
“Yeah, didn’t I? Don’t forget to write that in your report, as you’ve claimed it,” Red said, making reference to the call to the clean-up squad Luke made.
Luke glanced over at Red and noticed the light in her eyes that had been missing for a long time. Her teeth were just elongated enough to be visible and her tongue tip was playing with the points. She was relishing the tension.
Red pulled the Porsche closer to the inside line of the island. The car responded to her lightest touch, she pressed the accelerator and continued right around the island, past the turn off to go back the way they’d come, past the motorway again, ignored the next turn and shot off at the next, along another dual carriageway towards Chesterfield. She hammered the accelerator to the floor and the Porsche flew without wings.
“Steady Red, you don’t want to lose them,” Luke said.
“If I lose them, you can call The Crew back and call those boys lucky fucks!” Red snarled.
She hadn’t lost them however, they followed her off at the turn, left at the slip road exiting the dual carriageway then she jinked right at the turn towards Tibshelf.
This road had far more bends and turns and was not as wide as the roads before, they raced between hedges, past lone cottages and over the uneven road surface, every bump and dip accentuated by their speed and the harder suspension of the high performance car.
Red allowed the Impreza to close, and then just as they came to the Shoulder of Mutton, she braked hard and took a left. The Impreza was very close to overshooting the turn. The driver squealed the tyres as they tried to grip. He was lucky – or unlucky – that he managed to make use of the entrance to the pub car park and kept control of the car, then powered off in pursuit of his quarry.
Down lanes where passing was difficult under normal conditions and impossible under race conditions, they roared their mechanical steeds. As they approached the motorway bridge, which took hundreds of cars a day over the little road, Red allowed her pursuer a concession; she slowed a fraction and moved over to her left. He took the opportunity and overtook her, forcing her to slew into a turn-off that opened into a field-cum-parking spot. Red knew there was a lake a little further on.
Killing the engine and taking the keys, the two of them were out of the car and away as the Impreza roared in behind them. Red locked the car as she ran using the remote, making both her and Luke wince as the alarm system was activated. Luke split off to his left as soon as he could, doubling back to the cars.
Luke found the keys to the Impreza still in the ignition and he took them, then he made his way back to watch his wife work.
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