Chapter 2
Oliver
Idarted my eyes back and forth between the rearview mirror and the road in front of me. The memory of the sound of the police sirens was so loud that I could still hear them echoing in my ears despite being the only car on the desolate two-lane highway in the middle of bum-fuck-nowhere.
“Make a U-Turn,” the stupid ass GPS told me over the car’s speakers.
“Absolutely not.” I jabbed my index finger at the screen on the dashboard. It wasn’t responding to voice command, and the screen was completely frozen. It still showed the car in the parking lot of Mario’s Fine Italian Restaurant, which was a good forty-five minutes away by this point.
“Make a U-Turn,” it repeated in that fucking nasally ass computer voice.
“Fuck off.” I smacked the screen, hoping a wire had been knocked loose, but that only made the issue worse.
“Make a U-U-U-U-U-U-U-U-U-U-U…” the robot voice started to skip.
“Fucking piece of shit.” I pulled my fist back and punched the screen. It cracked, flickered, and went black, but the voice didn’t stop.
“I’m such a dumbass,” I muttered, realizing that I could just turn the volume down and I wouldn’t have to hear it anymore.
Sighing, I turned the volume all the way down this time, and the interior of the car went silent. Finally, I could focus on driving rather than arguing with a damn robot.
I checked the rearview mirror again and saw nothing.
I let up on the gas, and the car slowed from a dangerous speed down to something that wouldn’t draw attention my way.
Not that the car alone didn’t do that. Who the fuck steals a midnight blue Aston Martin?
Don’t get me wrong, the car was sexy as fuck with its sleek body, dark color, leather seats, and convertible top, but the built-in GPS made it nearly impossible to get away with.
It wasn’t like one of the many cars that I could easily rip the GPS out of, either.
It was in a spot that made removing it as delicate as open heart surgery, and well, the skipping robot voice that had been driving me crazy proved it.
I didn’t know if the signal jamming device was working or if I fucked it up when I tried ripping out the GPS to begin with.
Either way, I needed to deliver the car and get away from it sooner rather than later.
My paranoia paused and then doubled the second I caught sight of a pair of headlights a mile or so up the two-lane highway. I leaned forward in my seat and squinted to try to get a better idea of what kind of vehicle it was.
Was it a police car?
Panic flared in my chest, but my better judgment pushed it down.
From the rectangular shape and the yellow lights, I knew it had to be an older vehicle, and based on how close they were to the road, I knew it couldn’t have been anything other than a car.
There was no way that vehicle was a police car, but I kept one hand tight on the wheel regardless, ready to kick it down if need be.
As I got closer and closer to the car speeding toward me, I realized I was right.
It wasn’t a police car. It was a blacked-out, late-nineties model Mustang, and the driver looked like they were intoxicated in some way.
The car was weaving back and forth between the edge of the road and the center line, as if it were impossible to drive straight.
Either there was a large bump in the road, or the driver didn’t know how to shift gears properly, because I watched the lights bounce up and down, signaling a rough ride.
We drove closer to one another, and just before we met, something darted into the road from the ditch on the far side. It was small and all black. I didn’t get a good view of it, though, because the driver of the Mustang jerked the wheel to try to avoid hitting the animal.
The only problem was that they jerked the wheel toward me.
I didn’t have time to think. I didn’t even have time to hit the brakes.
All I could do was twist the wheel of the car I was driving and let off the gas as I tried to get out of their path.
I went careening off the road about twenty feet into a grassy embankment.
I tried to stomp on the brakes, but the car stopped before I could, crashing into an old tree along the edge of a forest.
The tree caved in the hood of the car as I was slammed to a stop. My head bounced off the steering wheel as the sound of crunching metal and shattering glass filled my ears. My vision blurred, and the edges began to turn black, but I shook my head clear and focused on the tree in front of me.
Slowly but surely, my vision righted itself as I watched the steam billowing out from under the hood of the car. No fucking way was I going to get that thing running again.
Motherfucker.
Then it hit me, what caused me to crash in the first place: the other car.
I removed my seatbelt and pushed open the door.
Climbing out, I felt a little dizzy, but I held onto the side of the car as I got my footing in the thick, wet grass.
About thirty feet or so behind me was the Mustang, upside down in the field.
“Fuck.” I took off running toward it. The rain was picking up, and it was cold.
In a way, it made me more alert. I dropped to my knees at the window and bent forward to look inside the car.
There I was met with the biggest, bluest eyes I’d ever seen—so shocking that it sucked the air from my lungs and momentarily made me forget my name along with what I was doing.
The woman was upside down in the driver’s seat, only held in by her seatbelt.
Her blue eyes were full of fear, but other than being a little shaken up, she didn’t look hurt in any way.
I grabbed the door handle and opened the door.
It squeaked and squealed as I pulled it, but it opened wide, allowing me to get ahold of her.
“I’ll hold you in place as you unbuckle the seatbelt, got it?”
She nodded, and I moved closer. The second my hands touched her, I felt a jolt of electricity rush through me.
It was a quick zap that almost made me release her, but I didn’t.
Thankfully, because she trusted me blindly and immediately unfastened her seatbelt before I was fully ready to brace for her weight.
She dropped maybe an inch or so before I caught her, slowly lowering her to the ground as I pulled her out of the car.
We both fell back into the grass, breathing hard from the excitement of the crash.
“Are you alright?” I asked, lifting my head to find her lying beside me, facing the opposite direction.
“Um, I think so. You?”
My head hit the ground again as I breathed out. Rain dripped steadily onto my face as I closed my eyes.
“I’m fine,” I muttered.
I was glad she was alright, but fuck…She really put a kink in my plans. I was so fucking close too.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I asked, after gathering my bearings, as I sat up, fully soaked by the rain and wet grass.
She must have taken offense because she sat up too.
“Wrong with me? That-That animal ran out in front of me, and it’s not like I knew how to drive that piece of crap car anyway!
” She let out a deep breath before lowering her voice.
“I’m sorry I endangered your life, but if you ask me, I’m glad that car is wrecked.
Let’s see your ass wax this piece of shit now, Alex!
” She wasn’t looking at me. She was looking at the sky as she cussed whoever the fuck Alex was.
“Who are you talking to?” I blinked in confusion at her. Maybe she’d hit her head.
“My stupid loser boyfriend. No! Correction, ex-boyfriend.” She pointed her finger at me with the last part.
I looked around us.
“Is he here with us now?” I asked, suddenly worried about her well-being.
She narrowed those baby blues on me and snarled. “No, he’s not here with us. He’s at home with a-a whore riding him. I’m not crazy, you know!” Her blue eyes flashed again. Clearly, she was pissed off about this Alex guy and some whore.
I showed her my palms. “I just wanted to make sure.”
Her chest heaved as she groaned and lay back in the wet grass, her fingers twisting in the green blades as the rain continued to fall.
I licked the rain from my lips as I studied her.
She shifted and sat up again before she rested her forearms on top of her bent knees while she tangled her fingers together in nervousness.
Her hands were shaking. I didn’t know if it was from being scared or nervous.
Her long nails were rounded and painted a soft pink.
She had a ring on her middle finger and one on her thumb.
There wasn’t a ring on that finger either, which made me feel slightly relieved for some reason that she wasn’t married.
Her blonde hair was long and wet, strands clinging to the sides of her face. It was hard to tell what she looked like because of what she had on. She was covered from head to toe in a jacket zipped up the front like a damn sleeping bag, baggy, wet jeans peeking out, and black boots.
“You didn’t hit your head or anything? If I leave, I won’t open a newspaper in a few days to read about some dead girl being found in a field, will I?” I asked as I studied her.
She shrugged one shoulder. “I didn’t hit my head, but I don’t know what you’ll find in the papers. Serial killers are everywhere, and fields seem to be one of their favorite places to dump bodies.”
What the fuck?
“Alright, Crash. I gotta get out of here before the police show up. Don’t get killed by a serial killer.” I pushed myself up to my feet, fighting against the wave of dizziness that washed over me.
“Where are you going?” she asked, jumping up with me. Her blue eyes were wide, and once she had me locked in her sights, I found it hard to break free.
“What’s it matter?” I grumbled. “I don’t have insurance information to share, so you’re fucked unless you have some damn good coverage.”
She arched her brows. “I don’t care about insurance. We’re in the middle of nowhere if you have’t noticed, and it’s going to be dark soon. You’re not leaving me here to be ripped apart by coyotes… o-or serial killers.”
“Don’t you have a phone or something? Call for help.” I started walking away from her.
“I don’t have a phone. Do you have a phone?” She rushed to catch up to me.
“Of course, I have a phone. What do you think this is? 1992?” I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone, but quickly realized that it was busted from the crash.
Grumbling, I pressed the power button and tapped the screen, but it refused to turn on.
“Maybe the battery is dead,” I said, hoping that was all the issue was.
“Was it dead before the accident?”
“Not that I was aware of.” I slid it back into my pocket.
“Then it’s probably not dead. It’s probably trashed from the wreck. Did you hit your head?” Her blue eyes narrowed, and her full, pink lips parted. She was a pretty little thing. Bit sassy too.
“Yeah, damn near knocked me out,” I said, moving my hand to the spot on my forehead. I went to rub it, but pain sliced through me when I touched the knot that was already forming.
She flinched from watching me wince. “It’s probably busted.”
“Whatever. If you’re coming with me, come on. We need to get as far away from here as fast as possible.” I started leading the way toward the wooded area.
“We’re going through the woods?”
“Yeah, it’s the only way we’ll be concealed. I think if someone stumbles upon two wrecked cars and then sees two people walking not far from them, they’ll put two and two together. Or are the people in the middle of nowhere unable to do simple math?”
She didn’t reply, but I didn’t expect her to. After a few minutes, I glanced back only to see how hard she was focusing on her footing. Despite carefully choosing her placement, her ankle still turned, causing her to stumble. She caught herself and managed to stay off the forest’s floor.
I shook my head. “No wonder you couldn’t drive a car. You can’t even walk without tripping over your own damn feet.”
“I know how to drive a car. I just didn’t know how to drive a stick shift. What’s with those things? Why all the extra hassle? And for what? To make douchebags feel superior? Like, oh, I’m better than you because I can drive a stick shift?” She used a mocking tone, rolling her eyes. “Assholes.”
I chuckled. At least she was amusing.
“You from around here?” I asked.
“Not far.”
“Are we moving in the right direction?” I cast a quick look back at her as she stumbled again.
“What direction do you consider the right direction?”
I took a deep breath and paused as she caught up to me.
“Are we moving toward civilization? The sun is falling quickly. I’d like to grab some food and maybe find a motel for the night.
Take a moment to regroup.” I motioned toward her.
“And you need to find a phone so you can call someone to come and get you.”
Her pretty face pinched. “I don’t have anyone to call.”
I shrugged, even though her words bothered me. How could she not have anyone? To be fair, I didn’t have shit for people either, but I preferred it that way.
“Okay, then you can call a taxi, get a ride home,” I said.
She shook her head. “I don’t have a home either. You kind of caught me on an, um, off night.”
“Let me guess: you live with the shit-for-brains boyfriend you caught cheating on you?”
“Gosh, you’re really smart,” she grumbled. “Should give you a gold star.”
I turned away from her to resume our hike. She was definitely a little sassy.
“Alright, let’s just find some food, and we’ll figure the rest out later.”
As we walked farther from the wrecked cars and closer to civilization, the rain picked up and the sun set. By the time we reached a tiny, country town, the sky was completely black, and we were both totally soaked. Luckily for us, there was a diner and a motel side-by-side.
“Let’s get some food and figure this shit out,” I told her, opening the door to the diner.
She crossed her arms over her chest and stepped inside the warm diner that looked like it came straight from 1982.
“You can pay for dinner since you fucked my car,” I said.
She scowled but didn’t argue.
At least I was winning at something today.