Winter Hawk Star Read Online Free

sprinted past her, cutting around the front of the Jeep and sliding in behind the steering wheel as she managed to get in the passenger side.
    The Jeep started with a roar. I gunned it, and we jumped ahead.
    â€œSeat belt!” I shouted. I scrambled to get mine on before we squealed around the first corner.
    The van was a block away.
    I pressed the gas pedal to the floor. We closed the gap to half a block.
    â€œLicense plates,” I told her. Time seemed to be like a slow current. I felt strangely calmand clearheaded. “Get the number. There’s a pen and paper in the glove box.”
    She scrambled to find the paper. I concentrated on the road.
    Now the van was a quarter block away. Close enough to see the plates. Close enough to see we wouldn’t get the number.
    Samantha slammed the dash with her fist in frustration. The back end of the blue van was covered with mud, and the van’s license plate was impossible to see.
    At that moment, the van driver must have realized we were chasing him. A huge cloud of black smoke mushroomed from the van’s exhaust pipe as it started to slip away.
    I glanced at my speedometer. Fifty miles an hour. I thought of the rush-hour traffic on the main roads. He’d be forced to slow down as soon as we got off these side streets.
    Brake lights suddenly showed on the van. It skidded sideways to make a right turn at the next intersection.
    I slammed on my own brakes and wrestled with the steering wheel to keep from sliding out of control. I turned hard to make the corner.
    The van had turned maybe five seconds before we reached the intersection. And five seconds earlier, both lanes had been clear. The van had been able to skid through the far lane and then veer back onto the right side of the road.
    Not us. In those five seconds, a small truck had almost reached the stop sign of the cross street. And we were also skidding into the far lane, a half second away from slamming into it head-on.
    I made a decision without even thinking. Instead of fighting the skid and trying to pull back into our lane, I spun the wheel to the left, aiming for the sidewalk on the other side of the truck.
    For one sickening heartbeat, I thought we were dead. I braced, ready for the crash. And in the next second, we hit the edge of the sidewalk, hard enough for our seat belts to jerk us back onto the seats.
    I kept my grip on the steering wheel, holding tight, trying to keep us on a straight line down the sidewalk.
    Fire hydrant.
    I spun the wheel again, cranking us back onto the street, missing the fire hydrant by less than the thickness of a coat of paint. We bounced off the sidewalk, shot through a gap of parked cars and hit open pavement.
    The van had opened its lead to a full block again.
    I mashed the gas pedal and tried to catch up.
    The van’s brake lights showed red again. It made another turn to the right.
    This time, I was ready for the corner. I eased off the gas, hitting the brakes hard. We rounded this corner under control.
    I stomped the gas yet again, throwing us back against the bucket seats of the Jeep. In the next split second, I almost stood on the brakes.
    We had rounded the corner to see a huge delivery truck angled across the street, backing into an alley. The delivery truck seemed to fill the entire windshield.

chapter four
    I managed to stop a dozen feet from the side of the delivery truck. The blue van had not. It was resting sideways against the truck. The driver must have skidded sideways, trying to stop and turn away from it. The van now blocked the delivery truck driver’s door. The driver stared down at the top of the van from behind his own steering wheel.
    â€œMy brother!” Samantha shouted.
    She yanked at the door handle and poppedthe door open. In her panic, she forgot the seat belt. It caught in her hair.
    â€œDon’t get out,” I said.
    â€œBut my brother! He’s in the van.”
    â€œThe guys who kidnapped him are also in