Veto Power by John Whitman

Author:John Whitman [Whitman, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Published: 2012-02-22T10:23:02+00:00

* * *

11:35 A.M. PST

Washington, D.C.

Juwan hadn't seen the car, but he'd felt the impact rattle his head so that it nearly came off his shoulders. In the same instant his vision was overwhelmed by a huge white blur that scraped his skin, and he realized that the air bag had inflated. It began to deflate almost instantly. Juwan was practically standing on his brake pad. He slammed the car into park, though he wasn't sure it was still running anymore, and unbuckled his belt.

The other car had rammed into the passenger side. Juwan was able to open the driver's side door and get out, standing on wobbly legs. He just had the presence of mind to reach back into the car and lift the copies he'd made. He stuffed them back into his breast pocket and stepped away from the car. He looked around. He was on a quiet side street in D.C. The other driver had knocked his car sideways, so that he was pointing from sidewalk to sidewalk. A few heads poked out of windows to see what had happened.

Juwan shook his head to clear the cobwebs out of his vision. The other car, a black Bonneville, was still connected to his side of his vehicle. People were getting out of both the driver and passenger sides of the Bonneville. They were two men.

"I'm all right," Juwan said from his side of the car. "I'm all right."

Only after he'd repeated it twice did it occur to him that the two men hadn't asked after his health. In fact, they hadn't said anything. They each walked around one side of the car, advancing steadily on Juwan. Their faces looked neither worried nor surprised. In fact, to Juwan Burke they looked very much like the faces of corners and free safeties who had tried to take his head off at the University of Alabama.

He backed up a few steps. One of the men growled, "Where do you think you're going..."

"Roll tide," Juwan murmured. He turned and ran.

They were chasing him. He could hear their footsteps, but he never looked back. That was the cardinal rule: never look back to see how close they are, because it only slows you down and lets them get closer. Keep your eyes front, focused on your goal, and fly.

"Fuck!" he heard behind him.

"Shoot him!" the other one yelled.

"Here?" the first yelled, angry and incredulous.

Juwan gritted his teeth as he ran, but no gunshot sounded. The footsteps faded a bit. He kept his eyes on the street ahead. He was only a few blocks from the Capitol Building. It was just two or three football fields away. He would make it.

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