Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
Roman's heart banged against his ribs as he watched Rina blow through the stop sign at the end of the road. Her tail lights were lit up bright red, but the car never slowed. The squeal of rubber on pavement filled the air as an oncoming car swerved out of Rina’s path, narrowly avoiding her.
“Rina!”
Her Honda fishtailed wildly, then jumped over the median, sending the car into a spin.
Knox’s voice came from the other end of the phone, but Roman couldn’t make out the words.
He had called to apprise Knox of the situation with Rina but had forgotten all about him the second he watched her car spin out of control. “Gotta go.”
Throwing a glance in the rearview mirror, Roman slammed on his brakes and yanked his truck to the side of the road, then jumped out.
He hit the ground running, already checking for traffic as he sprinted across the road to where Rina’s car now sat facing him.
The engine had stalled, but, with the exception of minor damage, the car appeared to be intact.
Thank God.
To his right, the driver who had swerved to miss Rina had also pulled over. He shoved the door open just as Roman ran past. “Call 911!”
Through the windshield, Roman could see white particles still floating in the air from when the airbag had deployed. He yanked the door open and leaned in, already reaching for her. He framed her face in his hands. “Ms. Sterling?” Her eyes appeared hazy and unfocused, and he tried again. “Rina?”
She licked her lips, then blinked, long and slow before meeting his gaze. “I… I’m good.”
Roman's eyes swept over the parts of her that he could see. “Do you hurt? Neck, head, anything?”
Face still trapped by his hands, she tried to shake her head. “Just… just a little sore. Whiplash.” She drew a deep breath. “My face hurts.”
Thank God she had been wearing a seat belt or it would’ve been a lot worse. “You’ve got a couple little scrapes, but nothing major. Nose doesn’t look broken.”
“Okay.”
She still sounded dazed, so he reached across her torso to release her seat belt. “Come on. Let’s get you out of here.”
The driver Roman had seen appeared at his side as he helped Rina from the car. “Is she okay?”
Rina swayed on her feet unsteadily, and Roman locked an arm around her waist. “Yeah. You good?”
“Fine.” The driver gestured toward the car with his phone. “Police are on their way, I just hung up with them.”
“Thanks.”
Roman turned back to Rina. “You want to sit?”
She nodded, and he gently lowered her to the ground, where he squatted next to her. “What happened?”
“I—I couldn’t stop.” Her entire body trembled. “The brakes just… I pressed the pedal, but—”
“It’s okay,” he said, cutting off her incoherent rambling. He settled his hand on her back and rubbed gently. “Just relax. It’s gonna be fine.”
A moment later, he heard the faint sound of sirens approaching, and he pushed to his feet.
He watched as the police pulled up to secure the scene.
A second unmarked car arrived a few minutes later, and a tall man in slacks and a blazer stepped out.
He met Roman’s gaze over the hood of Rina’s car and gave him a tight nod.
He stopped to speak with one of the patrolmen before heading in their direction.
Not moving from where Rina sat by Roman's feet, he held out a hand to him. “Roman Incardona.”
“Lieutenant Roy Shepler. Anyone hurt?”
Roman gestured to Rina. “Just a few scrapes and bruises from what I can tell.”
He lifted his chin in affirmation. “We’ll have EMS check her out. What happened?”
“Brake failure, I think.” Roman pointed to his truck across the intersection. “I was following her, and I could see the taillights but she never slowed down. She says she pushed the pedal but nothing happened.”
The guy standing next to Roman spoke next. “I was headed south when she came from there.” He pointed toward her street. “The car hit the median and spun her.”
“Is that your car?” Shepler pointed to the Ford SUV along the side of the road, and the man nodded. “All right. I’ll need you to give your statement to one of the men.”
He waved over a patrolman, who guided the driver away, then Shepler turned back to them. “Let’s get out of the median.”
Roman extended a hand to Rina, then lifted her to her feet and guided her across the road.
She seemed more stable now, but he kept an arm around her just in case.
As soon as they reached the sidewalk, the wail of sirens filled the air, and red and blue lights flashed, heralding the ambulance’s arrival.
Shepler turned to Rina. “How are you feeling?”
“My head hurts,” she replied, “but I think I’m fine otherwise.”
“We’ll have the medic take a look at you. Do you want to do that now or wait?”
She gave a little flick of her hand. “I’ll be fine.”
“Okay, then. I’d like to hear your side of things.”
Rina shot Roman a quick glance then licked her lips and turned her attention back to Lt. Shepler. “I was just getting ready to leave, to go for a drive. I was in a hurry because we’d argued, and—”
“What were you arguing about?” Shepler looked at Roman before turning back to Rina, whose cheeks had gone from unnaturally white to a soft pink.
“Roman didn’t want me to leave. I’ve been getting strange notes from someone, which is why they assigned a bodyguard to stay with me.”
Shepler glanced back to Roman. “I assume the authorities are already aware of this?”
Roman nodded. “Detective Traeger over at the eighth precinct has copies of everything. You can double check with him.”
Satisfied with that answer, at least for now, Shepler turned back to Rina. “Continue.”
She took another shaky breath. “I don’t know what happened.
Everything seemed fine at first. But as soon as I got near the stop sign, and I pressed down on the brake…
” She spread her fingers wide. “It went straight to the floor. I was confused at first, and I tried again, then realized my brakes were gone. The only thing I could think to do was pull the e-brake.”
Shepler made a few notations in a small notebook. “I would say you’re extremely lucky, considering how busy this cross street can be.”
“Believe me, I know.” A shudder racked Rina’s body, and Roman tightened his hold a fraction, silently lending support.
He snapped the small notebook shut. “Okay. I’d like to take a look at the car while the medics check you over.”
Rina nodded, and Roman guided her toward the ambulance. Ten minutes later, her scrapes cleaned and antibiotic ointment applied, they headed back over to where Shepler stood with two patrolmen. He turned toward them as they approached and gestured down the street. “You live right up here?”
Rina pointed to the end of the street. “Next to last one from the end on the left.”
“Mind if I take a look?”
“Sure?”
She sounded confused when she responded, but Roman knew exactly what he was looking for. “They’re checking to see if there are any oil spots in the garage from where it may have leaked.”
Roman looked at Shepler. “Mind if I drive her back?”
He wanted to get his truck out of the way, and he knew Rina was already stressed. The walk wasn’t far, but he could tell her adrenaline was crashing after the accident.
Thankfully, Shepler nodded. “I’ll follow you.”
The lieutenant climbed into the cruiser and followed Roman to Rina’s house. He got her settled on the couch, then showed Shepler to the garage. As soon as he stepped inside, he saw it, and he let out a swift curse. “Son of a bitch.”
Shepler knelt by the small trickle of golden fluid pooled on the concrete floor of the garage. Some of it had run down into the drain a few feet away, but it was obvious enough that a good amount of fluid had seeped out of the lines.
The lieutenant hadn’t yet said a word, but Roman knew he suspected the same thing he did.
Coupled with the recent notes, it was too much of a coincidence that her brakes had suddenly failed.
Roman made routine checks around the house, and it pissed him off that someone may have slipped under his radar.
Until they knew for certain, he didn’t want to say anything to Rina.
He turned his attention to Shepler. “I’ve been with her here for the past three days, and her car hasn’t moved. I also do perimeter checks every hour, though we don’t know for sure that whoever’s sending the notes knows where she lives.”
“They don’t come here?”
Roman shook his head. “So far, they’ve been sent to her studio each time. She’s received around a dozen over the past two months.”
“Interesting.” He met Roman’s gaze. “You think it was intentional?”
“Absolutely.” And it pissed him off that he’d missed it somehow.
He nodded slowly. “I glanced underneath, but the lines don’t appear to have been cut. We’ll need to bring it in, take a look to see if we can determine exactly what happened. Does anyone else have access to her house or garage?”
“Not that I’m aware of. She uses an electronic lock on the front door—I’m sure you saw—because she hates keys. I know this door”—he pointed to a steel and glass door in the corner of the garage that led to the side yard—“is always locked. I check it each time I make rounds.”
He pushed to his feet and strode that direction. It was still locked from the inside, and he yanked on a pair of blue nitrile gloves before he flipped the mechanism, then pulled the door open and inspected the handle from the outside. “Some minor scratches here.”
“Someone broke in?”
Shepler lifted one shoulder. “If I had to guess, I would say no. They look more superficial than anything, but I can’t afford to write anything off at this point.
We’ll get one of the techs out here to print it, but I would suggest replacing the lock as soon as possible.
We’ll leave this one in place until you get it swapped out, then I can have someone check the tumbler inside to see if it’s been tampered with. ”
The thought made Roman see red. He was never this lax, yet someone had apparently managed to get into Rina’s garage without his knowledge.
Granted, without a witness, they wouldn’t have any idea of when, exactly, it had occurred.
The knowledge didn’t stem the anger and self-recrimination swirling in his gut, and he gritted his teeth before speaking. “I appreciate it.”
“I’d like to print both of you, if you think she’s up for it.”
Roman tipped his head toward the house. “Come on in.”
Rina stood by the couch, watching curiously. “Everything okay?”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” he lied. “Lt. Shepler just needs to get our fingerprints before he leaves.”
“Why?” Her brows drew together in confusion, her arms clutching even more tightly around her middle.
Roman chose his next words carefully, not wanting to give too much away. “In case they find fingerprints on anything, they’ll know which ones are yours and mine.”
It seemed to satisfy her curiosity, at least a little bit, and he breathed a sigh of relief despite the unease churning in his gut. Things had just gone from bad to worse, and he had a feeling this was just the beginning.