Chapter 22

Ten minutes after Lilith left, the phone rang.

It was Lilith. “Mark, can you come downstairs right away? They’re outside – the Elysians – they’re in a car out front.”

“Where are you?”

“Come down the elevator and turn left and then go down the hallway to the left. I’ll be outside the first window. It’s open.”

Mark pulled on his clothes. Five minutes later, he was in the car with Lilith.

“I was afraid they might spirit you away from me,” she said.

Mark smiled. “I think it’s you they want.”

“That too, but you’re suddenly not popular either. They must have a camera trained on the entrance and caught me on it as we went in -- facial recognition. I should have been more careful.”

“How did you know they were there?”

“I stopped on the second floor and did a quick scan. I recognized the driver. He’s one of Robert’s crew.”

“Jesus.”

“I’m their number one priority, right now, and you’re guilty by association.”

Mark nodded. “Are we going to the hospital?”

“No, the hepatologist will have to wait. We have to ditch this car and find you a place to hole up.”

They drove east, with Lilith frequently checking her mirrors.

“We’ll just get a rental car and leave this one. Then we can...” She stopped. “How the fuck?”

Mark looked at her. “What’s the matter?”

“Don’t look at the mirror or turn around for a little bit, okay? Just face forward for the moment. I’m going to tell you something. Got it?”

“Okay.”

“Lean forward a little as if you’re reaching for the glove compartment. Don’t turn your head but look out of the corner of your eye into your side mirror.”

Mark complied.

“You see that silver sedan two cars back? The one with two guys in the front?”

“Yeah?”

“That’s them.”

“They’re on our tail?”

“Yup.”

“Shit!”

“Don’t worry.”

As she spoke, Lilith turned onto one of the avenues.

Mark bent forward again. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the silver sedan turn.

They proceeded about 15 blocks down the avenue. The sedan was moving slowly and there were now three cars between them.

The traffic light ahead of them had just turned orange. Lilith slowed. The car ahead of them went ahead. Just as the light turned red, Lilith rolled into the intersection and stopped. As their light turned green, cars coming from the left started to move into the intersection but were blocked by Lilith’s car. They started honking at her. She waved and then raced off. She turned right at the next corner.

“Whoa!” Mark said.

She was driving quickly now. She turned left, went six blocks down and then turned right again, heading, in a zig-zag pattern toward the edge of town. As they reached it, Lilith pulled into the parking lot of a derelict building, drove into the back lot and pulled into a parking space facing the building. There were weeds growing up between cracks in the pavement.

“We’ll just chill here for a little bit,” Lilith said, taking out her phone. She searched for a minute or two and then dialed a number.

“Hi, we’re heading over your way and wanted to make sure you had cars available.”

Mark heard a man’s tinny voice.

“Oh, maybe a Malibu or a Chrysler 300.”

There was a pause.

“Fine. Can you hold it? We’ll be there in about ... fifteen minutes.”

Another pause.

“Jennifer Norton. Thanks,” she said, and hung up.

“Our new car?” Mark asked.

Lilith nodded. “We can stay in a motel for a day or two till we can find...” She stopped, her attention drawn by a car that had just pulled into the lot. Mark followed her gaze. It was the silver sedan. It sped toward them and then stopped behind their car.

“Fuck! Mark, listen to me,” Lilith said urgently. “We’ve got to run. When I say go, open the door and run around their car and follow me into that field, ok?” Mark nodded. “Go, ” said Lilith, flinging the door open. Mark did the same. As they raced past the car behind them, doors were starting to open.

“Run!” Lilith said, streaking across the lot and into the overgrown field behind it. As Mark ran after her, he could hear the sound of pounding feet behind him. “Don’t look back,” Lilith cried. “Just run. Keep your head low.”

Lilith ran directly across the field toward the woods. Mark had played Division II soccer in college and was fast, but he could barely keep up with Lilith. He heard a crack and felt a sharp pain in his left buttock. He staggered for a moment but managed to stay up and quickly resumed the pace.

The grove was about two hundred yards from the edge of the parking lot. About fifty yards from it, Lilith began to swerve to the right and they were soon running parallel to the trees. Mark hadn’t looked back and had no idea where their followers were but was relieved not to hear running feet behind them. They kept going for another two or three hundred yards where the angle of the tree line started to diverge to the left.

“In here,” Lilith said, darting into the trees. Mark followed. Lilith kept going at as fast a pace as was feasible through the sycamores, moving perpendicular to the tree line. After about a hundred yards, she bore left, so that they were now heading at an angle away from the tree line. She slowed the pace somewhat but continued to move briskly. After a few minutes, she bore left again and they proceeded back the way they had come, roughly parallel to the tree line. Mark had no idea what her strategy was but wasn’t about to ask questions. His ass hurt like hell but it didn’t seem to impair his mobility.

Lilith slowed to a walk. “Okay,” she said in a whisper. “Now we stay as quiet as possible but keep moving, okay? But let’s wait here a second and listen for them.” Mark nodded and listened. Blood was pounding in his ears, but he could make out the distant hum of traffic. Other than birds, he heard no nearby sounds.

“All right,” Lilith whispered, starting to walk briskly. “Quiet as possible, okay?” Mark nodded again and followed her.

They walked, quickly and quietly for about fifteen minutes. Lilith seemed to be heading back toward the tree line, but Mark wasn’t sure; he’d completely lost his bearings.

“Where are we headed?” he whispered.

“Back to the car,” Lilith said.

“The car?!” Mark said. “Why?”

Lilith put her finger to her lips. “There’s something in there they can’t have.”

Mark shook his head but didn’t protest further.

They reached the tree line and Mark could see the parking lot and two cars directly across the field from them.

“Now we run like the wind back to the car, okay?” Lilith said.

“Okay,” Mark said, shaking his head again.

“Ready? Go!” Lilith said and began racing across the field. Seconds later they were back in the parking lot. Lilith had somehow extricated the key while they ran and the car beeped as they reached it.

“Mark, I need you to watch the tires on the wheel stops, ok? I don’t want to go over them, or we’ll get stuck. Give me hand signals, okay?” She jumped in the car and started it. Mark saw the front windows going down.

The front tires were up against the wheel stops with less than two feet between the rear bumper and the car behind them. Lilith turned the wheel and pressed gently on the accelerator. Mark watched the tires slowly climb the wheel stops, making come-hither and stop signals with his hand as the tires reached the top. When they did, Lilith swung the steering wheel in the opposite direction and backed off the stops. They’d completed two of these maneuvers when Mark saw movement in the corner of his eye.