Chapter 10 - THE ESCAPE
Jason drove too fast.
Sydney gripped the passenger door.
“Slow down.”
“Shut up.”
“You’re going to get us killed.”
“I said shut up.”
They were fifteen minutes outside the city when Sydney realized they were not heading toward Jason’s apartment.
“Where are we going?”
Jason ignored her.
She looked behind them.
A dark SUV remained three cars back.
“Are they following us?”
Jason glanced in the mirror.
His jaw tightened.
“Maybe.”
Sydney began to panic.
“I want out.”
“No.”
“Jason.”
“You wanted us to be together.”
“Not like this.”
Jason laughed.
“You told Terrence you’d leave him.”
“I was scared.”
“You were pregnant.”
Sydney stared at him.
“I still am.”
Jason slammed one hand against the steering wheel.
“This is exactly the problem.”
Sydney recoiled.
The words changed everything.
For months, Jason had whispered about their future.
A house.
A fresh start.
A family.
Now his voice contained nothing but resentment.
“You don’t want the baby?”
Jason did not answer.
Sydney’s face crumpled.
“You said you loved me.”
“I said what I needed to say.”
Sydney suddenly understood Meline.
Not completely.
But enough.
Jason had done the same thing to both sisters.
Different promises.
Same purpose.
“Where are we going?”
“Airport.”
“You have passports?”
“I have mine.”
Sydney stared at him.
“And me?”
Jason finally looked at her.
“You weren’t supposed to come.”
Her stomach dropped.
“What?”
“You followed me into the garage.”
She remembered.
Jason had been carrying a duffel bag.
He had told her they needed to leave together.
Now she realized he had said it only after she saw him.
“You’re abandoning me.”
“I’m trying to stay out of prison.”
Sydney reached for her phone.
Jason snatched it from her hand and threw it into the back seat.
“Stop.”
Sydney screamed.
He grabbed her wrist.
The car swerved.
A horn blared.
Jason corrected hard.
Sydney’s breathing became frantic.
Then the SUV behind them activated hidden lights.
Federal agents.
Jason cursed.
He accelerated.
Sydney looked at the speedometer.
Ninety-two.
“Jason, stop the car.”
“No.”
“Stop.”
He pushed faster.
Then Sydney did something she would never have believed herself capable of doing.
She reached across.
Pressed the hazard lights.
And yanked the steering wheel toward the shoulder.
Jason shouted.
The vehicle skidded across two lanes.
Tires screamed.
The sedan spun once.
Then stopped against a concrete barrier.
Airbags exploded.
For several seconds, neither moved.
Sydney tasted blood from a bitten lip.
Her first instinct was her stomach.
The baby.
She pressed both hands against herself.
Jason shoved the airbag away.
“You idiot.”
He reached for the door.
Federal agents surrounded the car.
“Hands where we can see them.”
Jason froze.
Sydney began crying.
Not because they had been caught.
May you like
Because for the first time in years, she understood exactly what kind of man she had chosen.
And she knew she had destroyed her marriage for someone who had never planned to choose her.
