Lani swerved into the turning lane, almost clipping an innocent driver who honked at her. She kept her gaze glued to the road ahead of her, clocking almost eighty as she careened down the highway. Heart pounding a mile a minute, she couldn’t deny how much it thrilled her to drive that fast. No wonder her mom always loved speeding down the roads in her police cruiser.

“I think we’re okay now,” Audrey said. “They’re gone.”

Lani didn’t let up on the gas. Instead, she reached for the radio and cranked it up. She wouldn’t let some gangsters rattle her up on their night out. Maybe monsters and murderers scared her, but she was in control now. They couldn’t get to them as long as she kept focused and drove.

Mom always teased her for driving like an old grandma when she first got her learner’s permit. It terrified her, being out on the road where others sped by without a care in the world. Other vehicles would ride her bumper, impatiently waiting for her while she took her time. To get over her fears, Mom took her out onto the country roads with instructions to drive as fast as she could.

Looking back, Lani remembered thinking her mom had lost her marbles. But it actually helped her overcome her fears when she picked up speed, learning to reduce it when curves came up, but she didn’t need to be afraid so long as she was behind the wheel.

“Lani.” Audrey raised her voice, turning down the music.

She froze, letting up on the gas for Audrey’s sake. No need to worry her more.

“Sorry, I guess I got a little carried away back there.”

“It’s okay. I understand. That was freaking weird.” Audrey shook her head. “Damn reckless drivers. I bet it was a bunch of drunks.”

“No, I think they did want to run us off the road.”

Audrey frowned. “What? Why would they do that?”

“It has to be someone in those gangs!” Lani exclaimed. “Who else? They’ll never leave us alone.”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions like that yet. Why would they follow us out here?”

“You don’t believe me, do you?” Lani sighed.

“It’s not that. I just think you’re scared and needing to find a scapegoat. Honestly, I feel like it was some idiot not paying attention or just trying to make you speed up. Which worked.”

Lani rolled her eyes. “If so, that was ignorant. We could’ve veered off the road. That’s why I believe it was intentional.”

“How would they know where we’d be?” Audrey asked.

“Who knows?” Lani shrugged. “Maybe they just followed my truck? Or they realized I had the night off when I wasn’t at the bakery?”

“We’ll tell your dad about it when we get home, okay? Just to be on the safe side,” Audrey said.

“Yeah, okay. Good idea.”

Police sirens broke the silence of the night. Several cruisers sped by them on the opposite lane as Lani watched with awe. What happened? Did someone wreck behind them? Lani inhaled a sharp breath and kept driving onward, hoping to get home soon.

                                                                                    🥧

Nocturnal creatures stirred awake as Lani crossed their yard with Audrey trailing behind her. An owl’s cry echoed in her ears, followed by more police sirens in the distance. It reminded her of the truck that tried to run them off the road. Did they cause another vehicle to crash?

Shivers raked her body. As she neared the porch, she retrieved her key from her clutch and unlocked the door. To her surprise, Casey and August sat up on the couch with Wyatt sandwiched between them. The television played on mute, broadcasting a wreck out on the highway.

“Lani!” Casey sprung from his seat, throwing his arms around her. He pulled back, worries clouding his brown eyes. “Why haven’t you answered? We called repeatedly but it went straight to voicemail. Dad was about to drive out on the highway to check it out, see if y’all were involved.”

“We’re fine. I think we barely missed it. I heard something behind us, a little ways back,” Lani explained.

“It might’ve been that guy who tapped our bumper,” Audrey replied, coming up beside her. “When coming home, he stayed right behind us with his bright lights on.”

“For real? Are you both okay?” Casey shifted his glance between them. “Was it someone drunk or did they intentionally try running you off the road?”

“We don’t know. Honestly, I think they wanted to rattle us up,” Lani fibbed, rubbing the side of her neck. “But we didn’t get a good enough look at the truck to report it. We lost them when I sped up.”

Their dad emerged from the garage, expression softening as he hurried over to Lani and Audrey. “Did y’all get stuck in traffic on the highway? I told Casey I was gonna head down there when I hadn’t heard from you. They aren’t showing how many vehicles crashed, but they mentioned a truck and I thought it might’ve been yours.”

“Sorry, didn’t hear my phone,” Lani replied. “And we’re fine. Don’t worry. I think we narrowly missed getting tangled up in the wreck out there.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re okay.” Dad smiled, relief flooding through his expression. “Did y’all have fun? How was the movie?”

“It was good.” Lani nodded, pursing her lips as she wavered on telling her dad about the reckless driver. Why ruin his mood? He was already worried to death over thinking they’d crashed out on the highway.

“Are you hungry? I was just about to fix supper, if you’d all like to stay,” Dad offered.

“Sure, sounds good to me,” Casey replied. “Are you fine with staying, August?”

August nodded from the couch. “Yeah, I’m starving.”

“We had some popcorn, but I still have room to eat,” Lani chimed in.

Lani could tell how happy it made their dad to cook for them. It had been a long time since they all sat together and ate supper, like old times.

They were drifting away in different directions. Lani wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with her life yet. Would she always stay with Mad Batter or branch out on her own? Would she move in together with Audrey?

With Casey living on his own, it left their house spacious. She loved when they came over to stay the night because it reminded her of better times. They all gathered on the couch and loveseat in the living room, letting Wyatt choose his favorite cartoons to play on TV. Anything was better than the news.

Maybe they could do this more often? Lani missed that sense of familiarity and comfort from her family. No matter what happened, they’d always have each other to rely on. Lani would do anything for any of them.