Her instinct told her she shouldn’t stop the car. Otherwise, she would be doomed.
However, Genevieve knew she had to stay calm. After turning the steering wheel abruptly to avoid the car in front of her, she turned right after bypassing the car to arrive at a junction.
She then drove the car closer to the side of the road so her wheels would grind against the curb. I should be able to slow the car down by doing this.
To her surprise, she heard a beeping sound the moment her wheels came into contact with the curb. She immediately raised her gaze and saw a bobblehead sitting on the dashboard. When did I have a bobblehead here?
The bobblehead was holding a timer in its hands.
When the wheels were scratching against the curb, the red numbers on the timer began to tick away even faster.
Seeing that the car had slowed down by quite a bit, Genevieve thought about unfastening her seatbelt. However, it was jammed. No matter how hard she tried to pull, she couldn’t unfasten the seatbelt forcefully.
Genevieve was engulfed by a creeping sense of dread when she realized she couldn’t stop the car, nor could she unfasten her seatbelt.
She then gave up on trying to unfasten her seatbelt and turned the steering wheel to drive the car to the left.
The moment the wheels stopped touching the curb, the timer only ticked once every two seconds. As for the car itself, it was cruising at a speed of around forty miles per hour.
Genevieve breathed a sigh of relief inwardly. After steadying the car with one hand, she tried to reach for her phone on the passenger seat with the other.
To her dismay, she dropped her phone, and it fell under the seat.
The phone was too far away, and she couldn’t unfasten her seatbelt. Hence, there was no way she could retrieve it.
Frustrated, Genevieve smacked her steering wheel twice. Moments later, she remembered she hadn’t turned off the voice assistant feature after she bought the new phone.
Immediately, she tried to get the voice assistant to call Armand.
“Calling. Please wait.”
Armand didn’t seem like he was busy because he picked up the phone fairly quickly. “Genevieve? What’s up?”
Genevieve grew less anxious after he answered the phone.
She then looked around her car and uttered calmly, “Someone messed with my car when I was at the karaoke bar with my colleagues. I can’t hit the brakes, nor can I unfasten my seatbelt. When I tried to slow the car down, a timer in the car started counting down even faster. I guess there are two bombs in my car. One is timed, and the other one can be triggered instantaneously.”
Armand’s breathing grew erratic when he heard that.
“Where are you now?” As he was talking to Genevieve, he was already heading out the door in a rush. “How much time do you have left on the timer?”
“I’m on Glenry Street, and I’m heading toward Shellpon Street because there are fewer cars there.” Genevieve was disheartened when she saw the bobblehead with the timer. “I have twenty minutes left, according to the timer.”
As she talked to Armand on the phone, the car was getting further away from the place she stayed.
It was almost impossible for Armand to get to her in twenty minutes’ time.
Genevieve pursed her lips after realizing that she couldn’t stop the timer. In fact, she knew her chance of survival was slim.
“Armand, can I ask you for a favor?”
“No.” Armand knew what she meant. His breathing became heavier, and he said, “Genevieve, pull yourself together. Stay on the phone with me, okay? I’ll get to you in time.”
“There isn’t enough time. My car is still moving forward as you drive.”
Even if Armand were to run all the red lights in his sports car, her car would still be moving further away constantly and speedily.
Indeed, twenty minutes wasn’t enough for him to get to her.
After changing lanes and avoiding the car in front, Genevieve said, “Armand, I know you’re just using me, and I know you’re very protective of Marilyn. If you still have a conscience, could you destroy the Wood family in revenge for me losing those two children? Would you help me murder Marilyn?”
When she recalled how Patrick had died in her arms, his body turning cold, her hands on the steering wheel started to tremble uncontrollably. “Patrick died because of me. I can’t let him die in vain.”
