CHAPTER 1 engine every roar I've ever chronicled Shaking my head at last I let out a frustrated snarl For the first time in ages I cannot figure out what kind of plane this is I shield my eyes from the newly risen sun and look up to behold a yellow biplane with blue and red accents As the plane soars overhead I commit every stunning curve and throaty rumble to memory I will find out what kind of plane it is I fold myself into the driver's seat through the open window the driver's side front door has been busted for months now buckle up and turn the key in the ignition The engine hums to life as I skim the directions directions I'd written out and compare them against my dog eared map tongue poking between my teeth in concentration as I trace out the remainder of my route It'll take me another thirty minutes to get there and I will still be about two hours early I tuck my creased directions under the guide turn on the radio and begin the delicate dial dance of finding a good station to listen to for the rest of the drive Whether I'll be able to get good reception on these mountain roads is anybody's guess Just as I think I've found a promising station that plays top forty hits a black blur followed by a huge
HIGHER FURTHER FASTER wake of dust nearly sideswipes me I grip the radio dial and watch as the black blur speeds off down the vacant stretch of highway followed closely by a little blue Honda A ping of curiosity radiates through me then the unmistakable feeling that something is wrong Leave it alone Danvers my inner voice warns You're so close Don't mess this up like you mess up everything else Can't hurt it check it out though right The radio station crackles through just as I'm putting putting the car into drive the opening chords of a hit song clear as a bell I check to make sure there are no more little blurs closing in on me and take off after the two cars my chase now inconveniently sound tracked by some soapy ballad about the pitfalls of love So not the vibe I need right now radio As I close in on the little blue Honda and pull up alongside it I can see big scrapes of black paint along the now crumpled driver's side of the car it looks like they extend all the way to the front end The girl behind the wheel flicks her gaze over at me I try my best to gesticulate Are you okay and What happened She thrusts her arm forward revealing a wrinkled and stained fast food uniform and mouths He hit me She then runs her little fingers in the air between us a gesture I'm pretty sure means the black blur hit her car
CHAPTER 1 and ran Her face morphs from anger to worry as her car begins to slow and sputter from the damage She bangs the steering wheel over and over while her car continues to slow Oh hell no If there's one cause I'm hopeless against it's the little blue Hondas of this world that get sideswiped and ditched by big black blurs It's on I honk the horn and roll down my window She looks at me I point to me and then toward the black blur Her face dissolves into sobs as she figures out what I said Can you keep up I yell over the smooth tunes of the ballad She nods and swipes at her newly determined determined tear lined face I give her a big thumbs up She valiantly returns it I gun my Mustang and roar down the road I see a sign for a highway on ramp in about three miles and suddenly I know exactly where the driver is headed And thanks to the map resting on my front seat that I've studied for hours on end I figure out how I might be able to cut him off at the pass I bank right and make a sharp turn onto a winding mountain road The little blue Honda is way behind me When I speed around the next curve I can see the black blur hurtling toward the upcoming freeway on ramp I look from the blur to the gas station signs
cropping up on the horizon and slam my foot down on gas pedal That's right about the time I hear the sirens Good I say looking back to see that my driving has attracted the attention of a state trooper I skid around the last curve and begin the descent to the frontage road sirens wailing behind me I finally get to the base of the mountain just in time to see the black blur pull up to the final stoplight before the freeway on ramp Up close I notice that the black blur is in reality a rather expensive black Jaguar and that it has been scratched and damaged and has scrapes of blue paint all down the side The man driving the Jag actually actually has the audacity to rest his arm languidly out his open window as he takes a long drag off his cigarette My eyes dart from the Jag to the empty intersection to the freeway on ramp to the corner gas station and take a quick peek back at the now closing in state the HIGHER FURTHER FASTER trooper There is only one thing to do I floor it and hurtle down into the empty intersection intersection approaching the Jag head on and squealing to a stop just centimeters from its front bumper I turn off my car silencing the ballad climb out my open window window and hop down
