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Nathanup, ready Volto wanted to have it out here? He was fine with it He already knew he had smoke boht he could throw one at him and then lose him to turn around

With Nathan following, the Jeep went down the slope and crossed a s lot Then the lane continued into a dark area surrounded by trees so close that Nathan thought branchesthe sides of their vehicles

What was this place? A development that hadn't been built yet?

The Jeep bolted forward Its lights went out With rain splashing at the windshield, it became nearly impossible to see

Nathan still had his lights off He debated turning the brights on now, since they were alone

He hesitated to turn the to kill Volto or hurt North's Jeep by blinding hi, he couldn't turn around here

The BMW rocked hard as the lane beco into the dark, soht of the Jeep sihts off, it blended in If he stopped, he could crash into him on accident

When it looked like the Jeep was speeding up, Nathan punched the gas pedal He didn’t want to lose him in the dark

The Jeep veered off to the right ahead of him, too fast and stopped

To not hit him, Nathan turned the car a hard left, and smashed his foot on the brake

Not fast enough

The car careened down a narrow lane

It splashed down into a body of water

Shit

Panic overwhelunned the engine

But it was too late The nose of the BMW was in the water and going down There was no traction below hione full speed down a boat rah the car In the angle he’d drove the car in, the water was co up fast

He turned the engine off quickly and dove against the door, trying to open it, but water pressure kept it shut He rolled down theDark water flooded in He reached for his seatbelt still enclosing hiers slipped on the button to release it

He took one last breath before water went over his head

The Illusion of Normalcy

Sang

I found a trash can in the back near the meat displays I dropped the cell phone into it and walked away

It wasn't any good anymore Volto could use it to track e of tracking me now

There was no way I'd leave here to go to him I needed a backup plan of some sort The woman on the phone had said to keep it onthat wasn’t the case anymore

I pretended to shop some more as I tried to think what h aisles, examined items, checked prices and labels I absently put a box of crackers in my basket

And then I realized I probably didn't have any rocery store I would have to check the backpack and hope I found some there, or set the basket somewhere and just leave

But what if that’s what he wanted? Volto kneas here Was it better to stay where he knew

I was, or try to leave and hope he couldn’t follow?

He also kne to manipulate those phones Whoever I had connected with at the Acadeed position if Volto messed with the GPS?

I nervously scratched at the plastic of the basket I was carrying, going over my options One, stay in the store, pretend to shop Hope that someone was on the way and that Volto wouldn't dare come while I was in front of other people like this

Or two, leave, but I risked running into Volto or the others being unable to findet into a vehicle with him

The woman had said not to leave Since this was the last place she knewas I could

I refined h the store I needed to take o unnoticed by anyone else until soot here