"Who has time to wait around for you? Just hold it—we're almost there!"
Her words lit a fire in my chest. "Is this your car? What gives you the right to talk like that?"
Being snapped at like that turned Kathryn's face red. She spun around and demanded of Ivor, "Ivor, tell me—do I have the right to say that or not?"
Ivor hesitated for a beat, then glared at me with undisguised irritation. "Kathryn and I grew up together. My car is her car. Of course she has the right."
I'd long since stopped expecting anything from him, but watching him take another woman's side at a moment like this still sent a dull ache through my chest.
I'd given him everything. On more than one expedition, we'd stumbled into the path of wild predators, and I'd nearly died shielding him.
Yet none of that measured up to a few pouty words from a woman he could summon and dismiss on a whim.
The thought made me sick at how many years I'd wasted.
I shook my head and looked at Ivor, my expression flat. "Fine. Then don't bother waiting for me. I'll find my own way back."
His lips parted, panic flickering across his face. "Kitty, don't be mad, okay? I—"
I had zero interest in hearing him fumble through excuses. I reached for the door handle.
"Don't move!"
Kathryn seized my arm, then barked at her two friends, "Watch her. Don't let her get out."
Being blocked again and again shredded the last of my patience. I wrenched her hand off. "What is your problem? I can't even get out to use a restroom now?"
Kathryn's expression was pure arrogance. "Please. The second you step out of this car, you'll call highway patrol. Then they'll find out we've been driving the wrong way."
Fury boiled inside me, but I knew a head-on confrontation wouldn't end in my favor.
So I softened my voice and turned to Ivor. "Ivor, tell your friend to let me out. I promise I won't call the police."
Before he could answer, Kathryn cut in. "Don't even think about it. Once you're out of this car, who's going to stop you? One phone call and you screw us all."
Seeing how adamant Kathryn was about keeping me here, Ivor shifted to persuading me instead. "Kitty, I know you're upset that I didn't stand up for you. I'm sorry about that."
"But Kathryn needs to make it to the prairie music festival on time. Can you just… not make a scene?"
Before I could respond, the engine roared to life. He swung the car around and merged onto the highway—going the wrong direction. The doors clicked into lock mode. Even if I wanted to open them, I couldn't.
Highway markers streaked past in reverse, their arrows pointing the opposite way. Cold sweat beaded along my forehead, and a chill crawled down my spine.
These reckless idiots were actually doing it—barreling down the highway against traffic at full speed.
The stretch of road happened to be light on cars, and after a while, they hadn't run into trouble. That only emboldened Kathryn. She started pushing Ivor harder. "Go faster! There's nobody out here anyway. The sooner we get off the highway, the better. I have to get Frenzy's autograph this time."
I spoke up, urging Ivor to at least stay in the emergency lane instead of drifting into the main lanes. Kathryn and her two friends clamped their hands over my mouth and refused to let me say another word.
Over the next stretch, oncoming cars appeared several times. Each time, the other drivers had enough warning to swerve into a different lane, narrowly avoiding catastrophe.
After a few close calls that ended in nothing, Kathryn grew even more smug. "See? I told you it'd be fine. Even when cars are coming, they just get out of our way like good little—"
The words hadn't left her mouth when a black sedan came tearing around the curve.
