Need for Speed by Brian Kelleher Page A

Little Pete’s rear end. Little Pete reacted immediately, swerving wide. He avoided colliding with Dino, but he was suddenly sent spinning onto the grass.
    For that one long moment, Pete came very close to losing it. But with another sharp turn of the wheel and a boot of the gas, he was quickly back on the pavement and running straight again.
    All this bizarre high-speed maneuvering had put Tobey in the lead—the only problem being he was traveling on the wrong side of the highway. He was madly weaving back and forth, getting out of the way of oncoming trucks, cars, and vans, all while still going nearly 200 mph.
    All the while, he was desperately searching for an opening in the median, a spot where he could get back on the right side of the road. But the median strip was lined with trees, rocks, and bushes—and no openings. He had no choice but to press on in the wrong direction.
    Over on the right side of the road, and with very little traffic ahead of them, Dino and Little Pete had accelerated up to 210 mph. This allowed both cars to gain serious ground on Tobey. Realizing what was happening, Tobey buried his gas pedal as well. But then he saw another car coming straight at him.
    The driver swerved before Tobey could, crashing over the median strip. Immediately losing control in the high grass, the civilian slid through a clump of trees . . . and right into the path of Dino and Little Pete.
    Luckily, their instincts took over. Little Pete swerved inside the careening car while Dino went to the outside. It was close, but their driving skills got them by the hapless driver in a flash.
    Tobey was watching all this from the other side of the highway. Finally, he spotted an opening in the median strip ahead. With a quick jerk of his steering wheel, he slid through the gap and was suddenly back on the right side of the road.
    But another civilian car that had swerved to avoid Tobey was now right in Little Pete’s path. Little Pete went left and got around the car, but then it moved over and went right into Dino’s path. Dino hit his brakes again, swerving wildly to the right. He avoided a collision, but when the smoke cleared, he found himself in last place, looking at the butt ends of Tobey’s and Little Pete’s hypercars.
    The three Koenigseggs roared up to another intersection. This one was clear. With incredible precision, all three drifted onto Freedom Parkway. They were now in the final stretch of their race.
    The parkway was conveniently devoid of traffic. Up ahead, all three drivers could see a bridge all lit up.
    They were roaring along now at their fastest speeds yet. Tobey was in front, Little Pete right on his bumper, with Dino riding Pete’s bumper in turn. Maintaining this tight bunch, all three accelerated to an incredible 250 mph.
    Little Pete looked up to his rearview mirror to see Dino drafting off him. This told him Dino was about to make one last desperate move before the race was over and he lost $2 million. But Pete was ready for him.
    The bridge was right up ahead, and their speed was now more than 260 mph. Suddenly Dino made his move, trying to pass Little Pete on the outside.
    But it was not a clean maneuver—and Dino violently clipped the back of Little Pete’s car.
    Suddenly Little Pete was airborne, and not by a few inches. All four of his tires left the ground, hurtling him ten feet above the pavement.
    Still moving at tremendous speed, Pete landed hard, hitting the bridge’s concrete foundation nose first. The impact caused the hypercar to begin a series of sickening cartwheels. Pete tumbled over and over, smashing through a light pole, and then against a cement barrier. The multimillion dollar car was disintegrating with each bounce, leaving a cloud of glass, metal, and rubber behind.
    Tobey saw it all. Looking through his rearview mirror, he saw Pete’s car, now in flames, careen off a bridge support, go clear over the railing, and disappear