Chapter 15 #2
“Back up a little. Who ambushed you? Wait. Don’t answer that yet.
” He led her to his own car and ushered her into the passenger seat, then leaned over her to start the car and crank the AC.
He wanted to hear her story, but he needed to get her cooled down.
He angled the vents in her direction, then stepped back.
“Sit tight. I’m going to set up some reflectors to warn people to slow down. ”
He waited until she nodded, then retrieved his emergency kit from the trunk and set to work placing triangle reflectors where approaching drivers could see them before they rounded the bend.
Normally, he’d also have Hailey and Jenna wait at a distance from the vehicles, just in case someone failed to heed the warning, but with today’s heat coupled with adrenaline and fear, he was afraid Hailey might be nearing heat exhaustion or worse. Preventing that took precedence.
What had happened in the ten or so minutes between when he’d talked to her and when he found her? And that warning to leave town—what was that about? If whoever did this was willing to go to such extremes as a warning, what would they do if she didn’t do what they said?
As he returned to Hailey, the promised police officer finally appeared, lights flashing.
After squeezing onto the shoulder a yard or two behind where Peter had pulled off, the officer climbed from her patrol car.
She scanned the line of vehicles and frowned, clearly not liking the setup any more than he did.
Peter continued past his car to join her. He motioned in the direction he’d just come from. “I placed reflectors on the other side of the bend.”
“Good thinking. Is everyone okay?”
“No serious injuries that I can tell, but this was deliberate.” He told the officer what he knew. Her frown deepened as he spoke. When he finished, he asked, “You wouldn’t happen to have a bottle of water or anything, would you?”
“I do, actually. One moment.” She retraced her steps and returned a moment later with the requested water. “I radioed Detective Thornton and asked him to come too. He’ll want to be involved.”
Peter felt better knowing the detective was on his way. He led Officer Owens, as she’d introduced herself, to where he’d left Hailey. She lowered the window as they approached. He offered her the water, and she accepted it with thanks, helping her daughter sip from it before taking a drink herself.
“I’m glad to hear you’re o—” Officer Owens halted mid-sentence when she caught sight of Hailey’s face. “You’re not okay.”
“Yes, I am. Just a little shaken and banged up.”
The officer started to respond, but her radio squawked. She paced a few steps away, then hurried back to them. “There’s been an accident with injuries a few miles away. I’m the only one close. Can you wait for Detective Thornton?”
Hailey didn’t hesitate. “Of course, Randi. Go.”
Officer Owens was already jogging to her car. “He’s on his way. I’m sorry.”
Peter couldn’t help releasing a frustrated breath. He knew the woman had made the right decision, but that didn’t mean he appreciated the delay or the lapse in police protection. What if the men came back and he couldn’t keep Hailey and Jenna safe?
Hands suddenly sweaty, he wiped them on his jeans and shot off a desperate prayer. God, I’m new at this trusting-you thing. But I’d really be grateful if you’d keep this woman and her little girl safe.
After looking up and down the road, he circled the car and climbed in next to Hailey.
“Thank you,” she said.
“I’ve hardly done anything.”
“Seriously? I’d still be in that trunk if it weren’t for you.”
His gut twisted, but he tried not to show his discomfort with her gratitude. He’d only done what any decent man would have. Seeing that she’d calmed down, and cooled down, in the time she’d been in the AC, he redirected them to a more important topic. “Mind telling me what happened out here?”
She took a deep breath, then launched into her story.
As she got to the point where she’d been pinned against her SUV, it was all he could do to refrain from demanding which way the perpetrators had gone so he could light out after them.
They’d had too much of a head start though.
He knew trying to catch up to them now would be futile, and he absolutely wasn’t going to leave Hailey and Jenna alone—or intentionally take them into danger.
But those men had better hope he never got his hands on them.
“I couldn’t do anything at first because if they’d fired at me, they could have easily hit Jenna instead.
But once they started rushing me toward the trunk, I fought back.
Nailed one of them in the nose with my elbow.
They weren’t too happy about that.” She offered him a wry smile that let him know she’d paid for her defiance but she’d also do it again in a heartbeat.
“That when they hit you?” He reached for the spot but stopped short of actually touching it.
“The other one backhanded me with his gun.” She shrugged, but he suspected it was more of a coping mechanism than true nonchalance.
“I knew there was little chance I’d succeed against two armed men, but I wasn’t about to get kidnapped or murdered without a fight.
The blow knocked me off-balance though. Before I got my bearings, they shoved me inside and slammed the trunk. ”
“And then?”
“I tried to find an emergency release, but it’d been cut out.
Then the engine started. But we didn’t go anywhere.
We moved like they were lining up a parking spot, then they stopped, and the engine shut off again.
Then I heard another engine start, and I almost panicked, thinking they were taking off with Jenna.
” She hugged her daughter close. “But after the sound of the engine faded away, I could still hear her screaming. I knew she was still here somewhere, but I couldn’t get to her, and I didn’t know if she was hurt or if the temperature in the SUV would kill her before someone found us.
I’m so glad you got here in time. Thank you.
” A tear leaked from the corner of her eye—the first she’d shed since he found her.
“Good thing you had the windows down.”
“I didn’t.” Her eyes turned to the Explorer.
“They were down when I arrived.”
She shook her head. “I’d been driving with the AC on and windows up. When the collision occurred, the engine shut off automatically. I didn’t touch the windows.”
“Your attackers must have lowered them, then.” They hadn’t wanted to hurt Jenna, he realized.
And with that realization came another. “But they essentially left you in an oven.” The smaller car had been left in partial sun with none of its windows so much as cracked.
Killing Hailey might not have been on their agenda, but they’d been more than willing to risk it.