Chapter 106

JULIA

My heart was pounding a mile a minute, but Lucia seemed so calm, almost as if this was a rehearsal for something which happened a hundred times before. Master had a grim look on his face. He looked like he wanted to bite someone's head off. Lisa had her phone out, her finger poised over the Emergency button. She looked as nervous as I felt. Master handed me his phone and told me to turn it off, so I could connect mine to the truck's Bluetooth. When Marcia called me again, we could all hear her instructions.

The Corolla kept pace with us, never speeding up, never slowing down. It followed us through Bakersfield and I texted Marcia it was still with us. She called about ten minutes later.

"Here's what's going to happen. Deputies want to make the stop before you reach some real populated areas, so about ten miles south of State Road 138, you should pass three or four squad cars sitting on the side of the road. Keep going. They'll pu