Getting in the carpool lane was a mistake. It was single lane so Rob could only go as fast as the car in front of him and the white pickup was closing in fast. He’d noticed the truck following him 20 minutes ago, hanging back at first and being subtle about it, but once he’d decided to try to lose it the truck had gotten more aggressive. It hadn’t yet gotten close enough to get any idea who was behind the steering wheel but at this point Rob wasn’t interested in letting it get closer. No time to wait for the next break in the double line separating the carpool lane from the rest of the freeway, there was an opening in the other traffic and Rob took it. He swerved right into the fast lane and could see in the rearview the truck did the same but without waiting for the opening. Other cars swerved and honked barely avoiding hitting each other. Rob could feel his heartbeat almost double in a second, this wasn’t just a curious situation anymore. It was suddenly very real and horrifying.