Backtracker (59 page)

"
Just go
!
"
commanded Billy.
"
Go left!
"

"
What if he turned
off
somewhere
?
"
wailed Dave.
"
God, we
'
ll
never
find him!
"

"
He
'
s probably goin
'
for the bypass
!
"
flung Billy.
"
Just go for the
bypass
, man!
"

Heart walloping like a fish dying on a dock, Dave felt his panic swiftly burgeon toward an unmanageable eno
rmity.
Not only had he lost sight of Larry, but he
couldn
'
t
move forward; though no cars were coming from the left, a long line from the right impeded the Torino
'
s progress.

"
Shit
!
"
flared Billy Bristol.
"
Just go,
willya
'
?
"

"
I
'
m
trying
!
"
returned Dave.
"
There
'
s too much traffic!
"

"
Go
!
"
ordered Billy.
"
Just ram your nose out
there! Make
'
em move!
"

"
You want me to
wreck
?
There
'
s no room!
"

"
Make
room
!
"
blasted Billy.
"
When
I give you the word, just
go
!
Larry
'
s gettin
'
away, man!
"

Gripping the wheel like a shipwreck survivor gripping a life preserver, Dave got ready to comply. The line of traffic was tight, and he
didn
'
t
believe that he could merge with it without colliding with another vehicle...but he hunkered down and prepared to move anyway, for he knew that Billy was right. Larry was escaping, perhaps for the final time; already, he might be out of range, irretrievable, soaring up the bypass or winding through the honeycombed streets of the city. Though a wreck seemed imminent, Dave realized that
he had
to take the risk...and hope that the catastrophe that he feared Larry had foreseen
wasn
'
t
his own death in a car crash and pileup.

"
Hold it...,
"
said Billy, leaning forward, watching the advancing stream of vehicles.
"
Hold it...hold it...,
"
he chanted, the words like a countdown.

Dave sat stiffly, waiting for the cue, primed but fearful of the leap which Billy had prescribed. He
didn
'
t
see any break in the traffic which he believed he could exploit, no favorable gap into which he could wedge the Torino.

"
Okay...,
"
said Billy, holding onto the dash with one hand, pointing through the windshield with the other.
"
After that truck...okay...
"

Sucking in a deep breath, Dave looked to the right, saw the tractor trailer to which Billy was referring. A tight formation of cars was strung behind the truck; Dave
didn
'
t
see much of a gap between the trailer and the vehicles which followed it.

"
Okay...,
"
continued Billy, his index finger tracking the truck as it approached and rumbled past.
"
And...
GO
!
"
he shouted, smacking his hand on the dash.

Wincing, Dave drilled the accelerator to the floor and cut the wheel to the left. Peeling away from the corner, the Torino erupted toward the rear
-
end of the tractor trailer...but the car behind the truck was still too close.

Dave punched the horn and chucked the wheel more sharply to the left; the Torino skewed violently into the empty lane, the lane from which oncoming traffic could pulse at any instant.

Still blasting the horn, Dave glanced quickly to the right, saw the black Chrysler shunting toward the curb. Tires screaming, the car jolted and veered off, finally separating from the tractor trailer.

As he socked the wheel right, sent the Torino careening into the lane behind the truck, Dave heard more screaming tires...then a crash, a booming impact. Straightening the Torino, continuing to accelerate, he gaped at his rear
-
view mirror, saw that the Chrysler had run up over the curb and collided with a lamp
-
post.

Nerves dancing like bees in a box, Dave plowed onward, staying so close to the tractor trailer that the Torino
'
s front bumper almost touched the truck
'
s mud flaps.

"
Good
!
"
cheered Billy.
"
Way to
go
, man!
"

"
Oh God,
"
groaned Dave, his voice hoarse and quivering.
"
God, that other
car
.
We should go back.
"

"
Don
'
t worry about it
!
"
shouted Billy, glancing over his shoulder.
"
You didn
'
t
kill
anybody, okay? Two guys just jumped out.
"

"
It
'
s my
fault
!
"
stammered Dave.
"
We should go back!
"

"
It was just a fender bender,
"
returned Billy.

Dave shook his head woefully, glanced at the rear
-
view mirror...but he
didn
'
t
slow the Torino.
"
What if they got my
license number
?
"
he wailed.
"
What if the
cops
come after me?
"

"
They
won
'
t
,
"
declared Billy.
"
Don
'
t
sweat
it, man.
"

Dave again looked to the mirror, but the Torino had rolled around a bend and he could no longer see the site of the wreck.
"
My God
!
"
he blubbered.
"
I can
'
t just
do
something like that and drive away!
"

"
Cool it
!
"
burst Billy, and his voice was stern and inflexible.
"
You
'
ve got more
important
shit to worry about! You
'
ve got your
family
to worry about!
"

"
I know,
"
Dave said meekly,
"
but...
"

"
Just
drive
!
"
ordered Billy.
"
Get to the bypass!
We don
'
t have any more
time
, man!
"

Though he was loaded with guilt for having caused the wreck, though he worried that a police car would roar up behind him at any second, Dave kept driving. He knew that Billy was right, that
he had
to catch Larry, that it might very well be a matter of life and death for his mother and father and brother.

After traveling a short distance more, the Torino reached another intersection, but the line of traffic kept moving; this intersection, at least, was regulated by traffic lights, and Dave was lucky enough to get a green signal. The vehicles leading Dave and Billy smoothly flowed up to the light, then went their separate ways, some gliding left, others straight ahead...but most swung right, toward the access ramp for the bypass. The tractor trailer in front of the Torino lumbered toward the ramp, but that
wasn
'
t
surprising; the bypass conducted a great deal of truck traffic, providing an unobstructed link between downtown Confluence and the main highway.

As the Torino followed the slow
-
moving truck, Billy stomped his feet and jabbed an index finger at the windshield.
"
Get around this guy
!
"
he blurted angrily.
"
We stay behind him much longer, we
'
ll
never
catch up with Larry.
"

"
How
'
m I supposed to do
that
?
"
yelped Dave.
"
I
'
ve only
got
one
lane
here.
"

"
Over there
!
"
belted Billy, pointing to the right, indicating a gas station that they were approaching.
"
Just
go
!
Zip around him!
"

Glancing at the gas station, Dave saw that there was a narrow strip of pavement between the cluster of pumps and the edge of the street. He
wasn
'
t
sure if the Torino could squeeze past the truck and dive back into the lane before hitting the curb and sidewalk which terminated the open strip.

"
Go
!
"
ordered Billy.
"
Go!
"

Teeth clenched, hands clamped like lobster claws on the wheel, Dave forced down his fear and obeyed his partner
'
s command. Nailing the accelerator, he snapped the car abruptly to the right; engine roaring, the Torino shucked off the street and flashed between the tractor trailer and the gas station. A second later, Dave raked the car back to the left, shouldered it back into the lane just before the open strip of pavement met the curb.

To Dave
'
s surprise, he
wasn
'
t
rammed by the tractor trailer. The driver of the truck let loose a long, angry blast of his horn, but the maneuver had succe
eded; the Torino sailed up the
on
-
ramp, racing unimpeded toward the bypass.

"
Good
!
"
whooped Billy, slapping the seat.
"
Now open
'
er up, man! God only
knows
how far ahead he is by now!
"

Eyes wide, heart galloping, Dave shot the Torino onto the bypass and launched it immediately into the left of the two lanes aiming away from Confluence. As soon as
he'd
made the move, he realized that he
hadn
'
t
checked his mirrors for approaching traffic; he was startled by his carelessness, grateful that the lanes that
he'd
crossed had been fortunately clear of other vehicles.

The Torino hurtled onward, surging past car after car, truck after truck. Dave bolted up behind anything which intruded in the passing lane, tailgated and flashed the Torino
'
s headlights until the impediment nipped out of his way. If the bypass
hadn
'
t
been an uphill grade, Dave could have goaded the car to higher speeds...but as it was, the Torino still managed to maintain a greater velocity than anything else around it.