It all happened so quickly that it wasn’t even clear, at least at first, what had happened, other than he’d slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting the creature and caused the police car to ram them from behind—like a wrecking ball, it seemed, knocking them forward.
And then there they were, stalled at the side of the road in front of a partially accordioned police car (while parked over an almost certainly dead cat, possibly a rodent) and feeling their necks; even as Coup glanced in the rear-view mirror and saw the officer storming toward them—his service weapon drawn.
“Oh, not good,” said Tess, shrinking down in her seat, as Cooper held up his hands and offered assurances. “It’s okay—everything’s going to be fine. There’s nothing to—”
“Get out of the car and get on the ground! Now!”
“
