John noticed a car pull out of a space and fall in behind them. With the late afternoon sun at almost eye level he could not quite get the make and model of the car, but he had a feeling.
"Take a look," he prompted Tammy.
"Back there? Oh, no."
"I can't tell," he told her, "the sun's not helping."
"I know. Well, he looks to be falling back. It might be the Chevy," she said.
John sped up and shot past a stop sign onto the ring road. He kept his foot on the gas and passed as many cars as he could. "This'll tell us if he's interested."
"I think he is. He's keeping up with us."
John ignored every traffic signal and stop sign. They were finally back out on the main road and headed toward the interstate. "Hold on," he told Tammy as he passed cars and took stupid chances. "I'm taking him to the interstate. Get away from these people in case he rams us again."
"Quite the noble one," the singer remarked. "What about me?"
"I wish I could stop and let you out somewhere, but I can't. He might be after you. Wouldn't want to hand you over on a silver platter."
"Thanks. He's still keeping up."
"He might as well get up on my bumper. He's got to be able to see that we know he's there."
"Like to know who it is."
John sped through a yellow light and took the first on ramp to the interstate. It was the one marked for the resort area and the beach. "Here we go," John said, "let's see what our friend does now."
"He's coming."
"All I can say is hold tight. I don't know what this guy's going to try next."
The interstate was busy. There were six lanes going toward Virginia Beach and six lanes coming out of Virginia Beach. It would have been easy to get lost in the crowd, but their pursuer must have had some experience in the chase. He stayed an irritatingly safe distance behind.
"I don't like this, John."
"You think I'm having fun here?"
"No. I know there's no other way. We're just going so fast."
"I'm trying to get to a place where I can get a plate number and maybe see who's driving. I don't want to wreck and get anybody killed over this."