I can't help but stare at August as he drives us. He probably knows that's all I've done since we got back in the car but like I said, I can't help it. What did I do to deserve such a human being to come into my life and fix everything? Because of this man, I can leave all the mess I created behind and move on to better things with my little girl who deserves the world and much more.

"Are you just going to keep staring at me?" He finally chuckles.

I quickly turn away and look back out of my window, my arms folded and my lips stubbornly pursed. "I don't know what your talking about."

"Sure." A smirk is evident in his voice. I chose to then not talk and a few moments of silence later he suddenly throws a hand into one of my jacket pockets, the one closest to him, and pulls out the USB. "Hey, what are we going to do with this?"

I snatch it off of him and tell him to get back to driving, then I stare at the USB and begin to wonder the very thing he asked. He's right, what will we do with it now?

"We have to get it to the police and convince them to use it." I muse so August can track my train of thought.

"Exactly, but how do we do that? I bet they get dozens of calls about all the shenanigans that D.A.R.E and E.I.O are causing in just one day!" August notes a little distantly as he concentrates on driving when we head onto a roundabout and he glances in the rear mirror. "Oh great." He then grimaces.

I begin to feel a little on edge. "Don't tell me." I have to restrain myself so I don't go and look behind, making it even more obvious.

He takes another subtle glance in the mirror and sighs heavily. "I'm afraid it's true."

My next immediate thought is I need to get into the back of the car where Mae is so I can protect her. I had stupidly decided to take a seat in the front with August when we stopped at a petrol station a few miles ago. I had been getting car sick in the back but I regret it now.

August notices my panic. "Don't worry, Willow. I've got this under control." He softly promises with that hand of his briefly on my knee like he had done before. It's then gone as quick as it had been placed there, back on the gear stick but I feel calmer now. I take a deep breath.

"We're about to hit a town full of side roads. I can lose them, I'm sure of it." He reassures me looking very confident. I still have to hold myself back from turning around, though the urge becomes stronger.

"What if they start shooting?" I warily ask.

"They'd be stupid to do so. If they're as good as we give them far too much credit for, they'll know about the USB and that's why they're so desperate to stop you." He explains with a hard thinking look on his face. I give him an uncertain one. "So they need you alive to get their hands on it."

I nod in understanding. "Oh." I should've known that. Why am I letting all of this cloud my judgement further?

He goes back to trying to casually lose them without them knowing we've acknowledged their presence. August tells me there's at least three cars tailing us, when he notices a fourth he begins to sweat a bit and becomes more impulsive in his driving. "Right." He finally stammers when the pressure hits him. "Just and only just in case, we may need a plan B."

My heart rate spikes a little but I still fully trust in him. Even if whoever is tailing us does catch up and gets us, I know he'll be able to get us out of there. I turn my head ever so slightly and glance at Mae who's happily sitting there quietly just playing with a small doll that August had given her when we first left Anne's place. I find myself smiling to myself briefly before I turn back to August. "Agreed. Any ideas?"

"Not as of yet. All I know is we need to get out of this country as soon as possible and we can't leave until the police have the USB safely in their hands." He explains with another glances in the mirror and his face pales a little. "Willow, there's three more of them now."

"How do you know, surely there aren't that many?" I ask him with a desperate tone.

"Because as clever as those idiots are, they must have sent a real idiot to buy the cars because they're all almost identical. Also from what I can see through the tinted front windows, all the drivers are dressed up in dark clothes with and brief light reflections tell me they have sunglasses on." He sighs. "Could they be any more stereotypical?"

"Yes, they could have guns." I bluntly add with a forced smile, hoping he'll take it as a joke but he doesn't.

"They probably do." He says in a monotone. "Anyway, back to plan B."

"Yes." I quickly agree, glad to change subject. "Where's the next police station?"

"I have no idea, though this town is quite small, I doubt they have anything here that can seriously deal with what we're about to lay on them." He concludes, deep lines setting into his forehead as he thinks hard. I notice that he's trying not to look into the mirrors anymore because it's probably not good news if he does. "I think the next town over is where one of my cousins used to live, it's bigger for sure but we can't just pull up at their station. We can't pull up anywhere, in fact!"

"Why?"

"If it's D.A.R.E following us, they'll have the place surrounded in minutes and then we'll never be able to get away!" He exclaims, his jaw gritted tight. Now is my chance to return the favour of calming me down all those times. I slowly take my hand and lay it on his arm with a calm smile on my face.

"It'll be okay. We have good on our side, August." I softly promise with my own hope shining through and he does visibly calm down. I watch as his hands ease on the steering wheel and he quickly turns to me, carefully looking into my eyes.

He sighs. "You're right."

"I've got it!" I suddenly cry out when I get an idea. The thought initially came when I wondered whether we could call the police about being tailed but obviously that's not such a good idea. With such a giant car chase, too many innocent people would get caught in any crossfire. "What if I call the police to meet me?"

He doesn't reply straight away but does look like he's considering it. "Right now, I don't think we have much of a better choice." He finally says.

I whip out my phone and after finding out what the closest station is, I dial their number. It turns out this is one of the towns where I did a little bit of work experience in the police department before I moved onto E.I.O. It was actually a place I would have taken a job had I not been offered one at the agency I'm with now. Well not anymore but was with.

They pick up pretty fast and greet me quickly. "Hello? I need to speak to the head officer please, this is really important."

"In what way, ma'am?" A voice asks curtly.

I immediately don't like her tone but push past it. "It's life or death at the moment and I have evidence on the biggest case you'll have to deal with for the next decade."

"Really?" Her tone is almost bored. "Please hold, then."

"No!" I cry down the phone. I know exactly what technique she's about to use on me, making me hold the line for as long as she can. "I need to speak to him, right now or so help me I will make sure you're fired by the end of the day." I don't really have the power to do that but surely knowing the head officer means I can at least complain about her.

She's silent for a moment and I panic she's about to hang up. Maybe rightly so, I hadn't spoken with the most respect that's probably deserved. I hang my head and quickly think about what to do next.

"Tell him it's Willow Calendula here and it's urgent."

The line is still silent but then there's some static noise and a deep voice comes onto the phone. "Do excuse Carrie, she's new here. Now, Willow? Is that really you?" It's my old boss from working there, Smith.

I breathe the biggest sigh of relief. "Yes sir."

"Wow! What a treat to have you call. How are you?" His voice is jolly and it brings his happy face to mind. His voice also brings back so many memories from my time there with Jack when we first had training and I close my eyes to stop them from taking over.

I have to force myself to skip his sweet questions. "I'm sorry sir but I'll have to tell you another time. I have another pressing matter."

"Anything for you, Willow."

I actually smile as I go to tell him, glad that something is going according to plan at the moment. "I don't know know if you've heard of the gang D.A.R.E but I have some crucial info on them that you have to see."

"Of course, their dealings in this town are worsening by the day." His tone becomes darker and more serious. "What do you have?"

"A USB with possibly everything you could ever need. My agency... they've been keeping it to themselves and working alongside them." I finally get off my chest and feel relieved when I say it. Smith gasps a little and stutters as he steadies himself.

"Right. Where are you now?"

I go to tell him that I have no clue when August shoves a map into my lap that he just quickly grabbed from the glove box and points to a town name after a second of searching for it t the same time as trying to drive.

"That's not too far!" Smith exclaims when I tell him the town name. "And I know that gang, Willow. You're not safe so we have to meet right now." He adds seriously.

"How? Stopping somewhere is too dangerous, at the moment I think we're looking for a hiding place to let this blow over." I try to explain without letting panic come across.

"I understand. What we usually do in these situations is find somewhere to meet so plainly in sight that even they miss you." He suggests. "So not a super market or gas station, the usual in plain sight places."

"What place then?"

"Well one that we haven't done too much is a chip shop."

I pull a face. "Really?" I ask uncertainly.

"Yes. Check your map but I believe there's one only ten minutes from where you are. Park out the back behind their van and then head inside. Just order as normal and then take a seat away from the window, okay?"

I nod. "Okay."

"Excellent. See you then." He adds before the line is suddenly cut dead. I stare at the phone, confused at the sudden end to the call.

"He probably doesn't want D.A.R.E to track the call and then follow us to the meeting point." August explains and I slowly nod in agreement. "So anyway, I believe I heard something about a chip shop? I know which one it is, I grew up round the corner from there getting chips every weekend with my mates and cousin when we visited." He laughs fondly at the memory, his face suddenly going hard when he glances in the mirror again. I long for him to smile again but he doesn't. I'll probably have to wait until after all of this is over to see him smile.

"Mama!" Mae suddenly cries out, making my stomach do a front flip. I turn to her faster than lighting to find her looking very distressed. "I dropped my dolly!" Her small voice is heart broken and I look to the floor where her doll is resting on the floor.

I give her a small smile. "That's okay, baby. I'll get it." I say before I then lean down, outstretching my arm as far as I can until my fingers finally brush against the soft material of her doll. When I'm about to come back up and giver Mae her dolly, August cries out and I jump, making me drop the doll again.

"Stay down!" He shouts, throwing his arm onto my back and holding me down.

Less than a second later several gun shots are fired and I smack my mouth shut so as not to cry out. Mae instead, gasps and then starts softly whimpering, the panic in my gut then intensifying as I can't help but worry that she's hurt. I don't sit back up but I throw my hand up to her and she takes a hold of it tightly. "It's okay, Mae. Mummy is here."

Augusts hand then releases me and a sudden increase of speed sends me further into the back of the car. I have to fight against all the forces just to be able to sit up when I'm thrown back into my chair harshly. My hand is forced out where I grip hard onto Augusts arm which is when I realise and fully take in that he wasn't hurt in the gun fire, as far as I can tell anyway.

The car takes a tight turn around a corner and then another in a different direction. My ears are still loudly ringing from the gunshots so when I cry out to August, I can hardly hear myself.

After a few more hard turns and the car surely going faster than 90mph, August begins to slow down the car. My grip on his arm and the handle on the car door eases and I feel my heart beat finally start to soften a little. He takes one last turn and then the car comes to a slow stop. I look out the window and see that we're in a rather dark alley way with dust bins and floating shopping bags but no sign of any of the cars that had been tailing us.

Finally letting out the breath I had been holding in for far too long, a stray tear suddenly cascades down my cheek so I stubbornly push it away. I then look to August who's leaning back in his chair, his head rather limp.

I panic and jump towards him, both hands shaking him lightly when he then lifts his head and looks at me with those charming eyes. The ringing in my ears begins to subside and his soft voice murmurs. "I think we're safe now."

I breathe a sigh of relief and shove at him. "You scared me!" And he shoots me a cheeky smirk before his eyes catch on the head rest of my chair and they go wide. I follow his gaze and also become shocked at what's there. My head rest has three very direct gun shots through them, one that's gone all the way through though it hasn't gone through the front window and I wonder where the bullet is.

"I'm cold, mummy." Mae's small voice suddenly tells me and when I go to face her I realise that the back of our car no longer has a back window. No wonder she's cold.

"August, look."