up when I reached the door, guilt and shame twisting me to my marrow. I wrenched the door open. The key was waiting in the ignition.
I looked through the rain-soaked windshield to Charlie's slumped figure on the porch, wishing more than anything that I could explain everything to him right then, knowing I would never be able to. I gunned the engine and peeled out.
Fredward reached for my hand.
"Pull over," he said as the house, and Charlie, disappeared behind us.
"I can drive," I said through tears pouring down my cheeks.
His long hands unexpectedly gripped my waist, and his foot pushed mine off the gas pedal. Before I knew it, he'd lifted me up, wrenching my hands free of the wheel, and deposited me in the passenger seat. He smoothed his hair back before grabbing hold of the wheel. The truck didn't swerve an inch.
I threw myself at him, beating my fists against his rock-hard chest. "You asshole! Fredward, you butt!"
"You wouldn't be able to find the house," he explained.
Lights flared suddenly behind us. I stared out the back window, eyes wide with horror.
"It's just Alice," he reassured me. He took my hand again.
My mind was filled with the image of Charlie in the doorway. "The tracker?"
"He heard the end of your performance," Fredward said grimly.
"Charlie?"
"No, the tracker."
"But what about Charlie?" I wailed.
"The tracker will follow us. It's what they do. He's running behind us now."
My body went cold.
"Can we outrun him?"

396

Chapter 19

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