Chapter 32
Tobias
When Walker comes to my office, I’m ready and waiting. This is a big deal, and I don’t want to run him late, so I made sure I was relatively free of oil and adhesive, then pulled on a fresh shirt.
“You got spiffy for me.” He looks over my smear free outfit. “I hope you know you’re not getting lucky.”
“We better get lucky.” I grab my keys. “Especially if they aren’t going to let us back in.”
After talking to my cousin a little more this week about the plans for looking through the cold case archives, I’ve come to the conclusion nobody gives a shit about what happened to his mom but us.
Not only are no shits being given, but they’re also making it hard as hell for us to do what they won’t.
The police keep trying to tell us there’s nothing there to work with, but I just don’t see how that’s possible.
Especially if Walker’s right and there were witnesses.
It’s a fucking shame. A shame I’m determined to do something about.
As soon as I tell Brooke I’m leaving.
But when we walk past her office, the room is dark. She and Maren are nowhere in sight, forcing me to leave without seeing her pretty face.
This isn’t getting off to a great start.
“You want me to drive?” Walker starts digging his keys from the pocket of his jeans.
Mine are already in my hand. “No fucking way. I want to survive this trip.”
Walker seems like a calm guy—albeit a grumpy calm—but the minute he gets behind the wheel, he turns into a raging lunatic. It’s like he wants to take out his frustration on the unknown driver who killed his mother by verbally assaulting anyone who changes lanes without a turn signal.
“Stop being so dramatic.” Walker falls into step beside me as we walk to where my truck is parked in the spot directly next to Brooke’s SUV.
On the days I know I’ll be able to leave on time, she and I carpool. Since I’m taking this little field trip, I’ll likely be working late, and I don’t want her having to stick around just for me. Not when she can go home, soak in the hot tub, and be relaxed and happy when I get there.
I’m a little nervous Matt might try to make a second visit to my parents’, but realistically the odds of that are slim. Even if he were to make bail, showing up at the place he was just arrested would be dumb as hell.
But anger can make a narcissist do dumb things.
So maybe I won’t work late tonight. Maybe I’ll skip out as soon as Brooke is done, and take her home. Then I can soak in the hot tub with her.
Among other things.
Getting behind the wheel, I start the engine, backing out of my spot as I punch in the address of the building we’re visiting. It’s about twenty minutes away, so we should be a little early.
Maybe I can sweet talk them into adding that to our allotted time.
“How is Brooke this morning?” Walker adjusts his seat, gaining himself a little more legroom. “Not too upset about what happened last night, I hope.”
“I’m not sure she knows how she feels about last night.” It was a lot, and not all of it was bad.
Or about Matt. Brooke saw firsthand how ready my family is to defend her. The way so many of them didn’t bat an eye at stepping in to keep her safe.
“It was pretty wild.” Walker shakes his head. “Maybe we should reach out to Pierce. See if there’s something he could do to encourage that prick to forget Brooke exists.”
I hadn’t even thought of that. “Pierce might get sick of us asking him for favors.”
Walker chuckles. “I think Pierce is the kind of guy who enjoys people owing him.” He looks my way. “Especially people who can provide him with what he needs.”
He has a point. We’ve busted our asses plenty of times over the years for Pierce. Not just me cranking out vehicles, but Walker overnighting security systems, and Titus working through the night helping Pierce’s team secure their system.
Granted, at least one of those incidents was more our issue than his, but still.
“I’m going to call him then. See if he can send one of his men to California to put the fear of God into Matt so he leaves Brooke alone.” I have plans. We have plans.
And I’m not gonna let Matt fuck them up for us.
I have a whole plan I’m putting together to ask Brooke to marry me. Officially. The way she wants. I’m not going to do it with Matt and his bullshit hanging over our heads tainting the moment.
Feeling a little better now that I’ve got a plan to get rid of one of the skeletons refusing to stay in its closet, I relax back in my seat, hand slung over the top of the wheel as we coast through an intersection.
I don’t even fully register what happens next.
All I feel is the impact. Everything that happens after it is a blur.
My brain doesn’t come back online until my truck has stopped rolling, coming to a rest on its roof.
The position leaves me hanging upside down, surrounded by sagging deployed airbags.
The first thing I do is look for Walker, reaching out as I try to get my bearings. “Are you okay?”
My cousin groans. “I’m alive.”
I blow out the air from my lungs, relief washing through me as pain begins to work its way through my nerve endings. “Are you hurt?”
“I don’t fucking feel like a spring chicken, but I don’t think it’s anything life threatening.” Walker fumbles around beside me. “What about you?”
I don’t know how to answer that. Partly because my leg is strangely numb and my head is really fucking starting to hurt. Bad enough I close my eyes, which makes sense considering it’s starting to get dark anyway.
“Oh, no.” Something pounds against my shoulder. “Don’t you dare pass out.” Walker curses under his breath. “Did you hit your head?”
I try to answer him, but the mumbled words that come out of my mouth are not at all what my brain is attempting to convey. But he’s right. I can’t pass out.
Because we need to get out of this truck.
With thoughts of what happened to Titus’s high school sweetheart flashing through my muddled mind, I fumble around for the buckle of my belt. It takes a few tries, but I manage to press the button.
It didn’t realize just how far I had to fall, and I hit the roof with a grunt, blacking out for what I hope is just a second before managing to get myself righted.
It’s not easy with one leg useless and numb.
Plus it’s shocking how disorienting it is when a space is the opposite of what you’re used to.
I work on cars for a living, and wrapping my head around the upside downness of this one isn’t easy.
I’m sure the throbbing in my brain isn’t helping.
Walker releases his own belt, but he’s smart enough to have one arm out to break his fall, making his dismount way more graceful than mine.
“We should go out your door. It’ll be harder to get through mine with the steering wheel in the way.”
I scoot toward him, stretching out across the roof as he yanks the handle.
I stomp against the door panel with my good leg, putting as much force into the kick as I can.
It takes a few more hits before it wrenches loose.
Walker leans his weight against it, the truck creaking as metal and plastic bow and break.
I join him, fitting beside his big frame as well as I can, pushing with everything I’ve got as I fight the dots swimming across my vision. By the time we finally get enough of a gap to pass through, I’m breathing heavy and feeling nauseated.
Walker starts shoving me out first. I try to fight him, but I’m too fucking exhausted to accomplish much and end up rolling out onto the grass.
The sun assaults my eyes, and with a pained groan, I sling an arm up to shade my face. Walker flops down beside me, chest heaving, a cut over his eye leaking blood.
“What the fuck just happened?” I’m still struggling to wrap my head around how in the hell we got here.
Walker manages to prop himself up, looking over the grassy area where my truck came to rest. He points. “I would say that car hit us.”
I manage to turn my head, looking in the direction he indicated. Several people are trying to help whoever’s behind the wheel of a black sedan. The front end is flattened, completely destroyed from the impact.
It’s not surprising. One of my vehicles is the last thing anyone should accidentally hit. Mine might not make it out of a crash fully intact, but it’s always going to come out better than everyone else’s.
“Where did he even come from?” Walker presses a hand against the cut on his head. “Our light was green.”
It’s getting harder and harder to open my eyes after each blink, but I keep fighting. “I need to call Brooke. Let her know I’m okay.” I try to sit up, but the movement makes me dizzy, so I drop back down with a gasp, stomach rolling as I watch the people moving around the other car.
The sound of sirens carries through the air, but they seem to be getting farther away instead of closer.
Everything seems to be getting farther away.
When the crowd shifts, clearing my line of sight to the car that hit us, the man behind the wheel looks a lot like Matt.
I squint, trying to get a better look, but only succeed in closing my eyes. It’s too much work to open them again, so I just let them stay where they are as everything goes black.