No Ordinary Day , Tate, Harley [ebook offline .TXT] 📗

her away. When they were out of ear shot, she shook her head. “Those people are crazy.”

“Maybe. Maybe not.” He steered her down the road to another group. “We need more information.”

She balked. “After that crew? You really want to stay out here?”

He pointed up ahead at what appeared to be a family with small children. A pair of school-aged boys were waving at all the cars from the roof of a Suburban while a man leaned against the fender. “They seem normal.”

Emma tugged her arm out of his grip. “Fine. But that’s it and then we check on Holly.”

John nodded and plastered on a smile as he walked up to the vehicle. “Hi, there. Wondering if you all have heard any news lately?”

Emma smiled at the woman who was trying not to fall while a toddler wrapped around her knees. “We haven’t been able to access anything.”

“Neither have we.” The woman smiled with gratitude. “I can’t imagine what’s taking so long here. We’re headed up to Patrick’s parents’ place for the week. We’ve been stuck in traffic for ages with no radio.”

A thud sounded from the roof of the SUV and she turned. “David and Andrew, you two calm down. I can’t have you falling off the roof now!”

“Yes, ma’am!” the boys called out.

She turned back to Emma with a smile. “Where was I? Oh, right. We’ve already watched half the movies we brought and little Sadie here is two minutes away from an epic two-year-old fit. If this doesn’t clear soon—”

“We’re going to be in a world of hurt.” The man pushed off the fender and joined the conversation. “I tried talking to the trucker up that way,” he pointed at a tractor trailer a few cars ahead, “but he blew me off.”

“The group back there—”

“The crazies? Yeah, we tried them, too.” The man rubbed his shoulder as he glanced in their direction. “What a bunch of nonsense! They must be conspiracy theorists or something.”

Emma smiled. “That’s what I thought, too.”

They fell into comfortable conversation, trading details on where they were from and what brought them to the highway, all while the kids swarmed around like overgrown ants, yelling and laughing and crying when they fell.

After a few minutes, Emma smiled, about to beg off, when a crack startled her. Everyone turned toward the sound.

Chapter Ten

Holly

“I said, I’m coming!” Holly swatted at the alarm clock and pain radiated through her hand. She groaned and tried to roll over, but her face hit something cold and hard. “What the heck?”

She blinked her eyes open and it all came rushing back. Her dad. The killer on the loose. The endless traffic. She rubbed her hand as she sat up, the horror of the morning smacking her full force. Her life as she knew it was over. Nothing was ever going to be the same.

A horn sounded in front of the SUV and Holly eased between the front seats. John and Emma were gone. She frowned. How long have I been asleep? After rooting around on the seat, she found her phone on the floorboard. Seven already? Wow.

Another horn blared, this time more insistent. Holly slipped on shoes and opened the door.

“Get out of my way! Move or so help me God!” A man’s voice carried down the line of cars and an engine revved to life. What’s going on? Holly walked between the cars and trucks, all with their engines off, waiting for the who-knew-what traffic jam to clear. Some people were sleeping, but most were peering out the windows, squinting to see the commotion.

The engine revved again and as Holly kept walking, she made out a crowd gathered in the distance.

“I wouldn’t go up there.” A boy not that much older than herself spoke as she passed.

Holly paused. “Why not??”

He pushed himself off his perch on the hood of a hatchback and nodded at the road. “Some jerk in a truck wants everyone to get out of his way so he can cut across the lanes and get out.”

“So why don’t they?”

He snorted. “You see how much room there is between bumpers? Where are they going to go?”

Holly glanced at the nearest cars. She couldn’t squeeze through most of the spaces. As she began to respond, a gunshot pierced the quiet. A woman screamed. The kid beside her ducked inside his car and locked the doors.

Holly spun around. Where was Emma? If something happened to her, Holly would be all alone on the highway with a man she didn’t know. “Emma!” Holly shouted the woman’s name. “Emma!”

“Over here!” A shock of red hair emerged from the crowd and Emma waved.

Holly took off in a sprint, almost crashing into Emma as she stuttered to a stop. “What’s going on?” The words came out hot and quick.

“What are you doing out here?” Emma took her by the shoulders. “You should have stayed in the car.”

“I woke up and you were gone. I came to find you.” Holly pulled back. “What’s happening?”

John motioned for them to break away from the crowd. Only when they were alone and out of earshot, did he speak up. “There’s a man hell-bent on getting out of the line. He’s demanding people move their cars, but there isn’t any room. A few managed to pull over, but there’s one woman in a sedan who just refuses to move. She won’t even make eye contact with him.” John glanced up. “He’s fired two warning shots. I don’t think he’ll fire another.”

Holly’s tongue turned to cement and her spit to paste. “What’s going to happen?”

As John opened his mouth to respond, another gunshot boomed. A woman screamed, followed by another, and another.

“He shot her! He really shot her!”

Holly’s hand flew to her mouth as John took a step toward the commotion. Emma reached for his arm. “What are you doing?”

He reached for his belt buckle, and for the first time Holly noticed the pistol tucked beneath his waistband. “Diffusing the situation.”

“You’ll get yourself killed!”

“No, I won’t.” John