Chapter 8 #3
At Sully’s shout, Elena dropped the phone and grabbed the handle above the door.
Sully accelerated and aimed the sedan at the space between the truck and the tree line.
The space that really wasn’t space. He cranked the wheel hard to the right, trying to squeeze through.
Elena held her breath. They would have made it if the pickup hadn’t swerved in an attempt to cut them off. Metal screeched against metal.
Then the sedan spun, tires squealing. They careened toward the edge of the road. Sully fought the wheel, and all Elena could do was brace for the second impact. Instead, they hit the edge of the shoulder and went airborne. Elena bit back a scream and shut her eyes.
She didn’t want to see it.
The impact when they hit the ground snapped the seat belt taut against her from shoulder to waist. She threw an arm up just as a loud pop split the interior. The airbag slammed into her left forearm and pain radiated up into her shoulder while the smell of acrid chemicals filled the car.
“Elena! Are you okay?” Sully’s voice came through the foggy air.
“Yes.” She gasped, choked, and reached for the door handle. Maybe. “Get out, Sully. They’re probably going to be coming.”
“I know. I think my door is jammed.”
“Come this way.” Elena shoved hers open and rolled out onto the slanted forest floor.
The cold seeped into her jeans and every pore as the shakes set in.
Pine needles and frozen leaves crunched beneath her hands, the earthy scent of the forest floor and clean air a blessed escape from the chemical haze inside the car.
She pushed to her feet, then scanned what she could see of the road above.
They’d shot over the edge of the asphalt and somehow landed right side up between two trees. Thank you, Jesus. She took inventory. Her chest hurt, but she figured that was from the seat belt. Her right knee throbbed and her left wrist ached, but she didn’t think she had any broken bones.
Shadows moved above and voices reached her.
They were coming down to find them. Elena turned to warn Sully and found him sliding across the console toward the passenger door, Ollie’s meds clutched in one hand, his weapon in the other.
She took the bag of meds in her right hand and stepped back so he could join her.
Then she reached into the vehicle and grabbed her phone and the small backpack she used as a purse. “You okay?” she asked.
“Banged up, but nothing’s broken.” His gaze held hers for a moment longer than necessary, his eyes dark with concern and something deeper she wasn’t ready to name.
“Same.” She flexed her left wrist with gentle movements, and while it ached, there wasn’t anything to indicate a fracture or worse. “Just a sprain.” And most likely a bruise.
“Your wrist?”
“Yeah. The airbag got it, but it’s okay. Let’s get out of here.” Her breath formed small clouds in the frigid air between them.
“We’re almost to the ranch. Maybe a mile or so.”
“It’ll be a cold hike, but we can make it. We don’t really have a choice. They’re coming.”
Voices reached them. “. . . grab . . . girl . . . him . . . dead.”
Sirens sounded in the distance and the men above paused their descent, then scrambled back up to the road and disappeared. “Think they’ll leave?” she asked, moving closer to Sully, drawn to his warmth and strength.
“Probably.”
The sounds of fading engines confirmed that. Thank you, Lord. She looked at Sully. His jaw was clenched, a muscle twitching beneath the skin. Without thinking, she reached up and brushed her fingertips against the blood on his temple. “Let’s catch a ride in a cruiser. With the heat on.”
“I’m good with that if you can climb up there.
” He caught her hand before she could pull it away.
The warmth of his skin against her frozen fingers sent a flutter through her stomach that had nothing to do with their narrow escape.
What in the world? She was losing it. They’d almost died and she was acting lovesick over a guy.
Or maybe she was just grateful to feel alive after escaping death. She was going to go with that because she was willing to admit she’d been terrified. Still was.
“I can.” She hoped she could anyway. Her knee was protesting the idea, though. She’d have to wrap it when she got back. And the wrist that had blocked the airbag from hitting her face. She tucked the bag of meds into her shirt. No sense in risking losing that precious item.
He took her right arm and together they made their way back up to the two-lane road.
The wind bit through her clothing, carrying the sharp scent of pine and the distant smell of exhaust. Officers climbed from their cruisers, including Sheriff Donovan.
“Sully! Elena! I heard the call on the radio. What happened?”
“You just missed the guys that ran us off the road.” He pointed. “That way.”
“Mark, Taylor, go after them.”
The deputies took off and the sheriff turned back to them. “You two need a hospital?”
“I don’t,” Elena said, though the throbbing in her wrist had intensified. Once it was wrapped, it should calm down. Some ibuprofen wouldn’t hurt either.
“I’m good,” Sully said.
“You got blood running down the side of your head, son. You’re going to the hospital.”
“I can’t. We need to get these meds to the ranch ASAP.”
“I’ll have a deputy deliver—”
“Sorry, sir, but we’re not letting these out of our sight.” He paused. “Well, I’m not. Elena, you might need that wrist wrapped.”
“I have the stuff at the ranch. I’m good.” She looked at the sheriff. “Could we get a ride, please?”
He sighed and nodded. “Of course. And you can dictate your statements on the way.” He muttered something that sounded like stubborn kids, and she bit her lip on a smile even while she was hit by the pain in her wrist, her knee, her shoulders, ribs, and—
Ugh. She shut off the throbs, aches, and stabs as best as she could and focused on making her way to the vehicle.
Once they were in the back of the warm cruiser, she let out a slow breath and noticed Sully do the same. The heat enveloped them, bringing painful tingles to her frozen extremities, but she was okay with that. She hated being cold.
Sully caught her gaze, flashing blue and red lights reflected in his eyes. His hand found hers in the space between them. “Someone didn’t want us getting back to the ranch. I think we can officially say that either Ollie or you are being targeted.”
“We know who’s after Ollie,” she said. “But who could be after me, and why?”