Page 29

Thebangcame out nowhere, a sound so violently out of place it felt faraway, unreal. It was real, though. The steering wheel jumped in my hands, the Rover lurched, yanking hard to the left, as if the vehicle had suddenly come to life.

“Shit.”

I grabbed the wheel, adrenaline surging through my veins as I fought that furious opposing force. The instinct was to hit the brakes, but I knew that was wrong. Even reducing speed too quickly would be a mistake, but we were going fast and I could feel the Rover starting to skid on black ice.

Flap-Flap-Flap-Flap-Flap

I knew what that sound was. Rubber slapping asphalt. A blow-out. Because, of course. That’s what this godforsaken night needed… The front left of the vehicle dipped sharply. I just focused on easing my foot off the gas, on keeping control of the wheel which continued to tug at my grip like it was alive and fighting me.

The world narrowed to a tunnel of focus, peripheral vision fading away as I put everything I had into staying on the road, into not sliding off into a ditch or spinning into that towering wall of trees.

We were slowing.

Slowing.

Slower.

Slow.

Flap-Flap-Flap-Flap-Flap

Somehow, I managed to wrestle the car to the roadside where we bumped hard over the snow and rocks, the damaged tire rim grating against the ground. The front of the car sank into snow, rocked to a hard stop. The engine was still cheerily humming likeall in a night’s work!

I reached out, automatically turned off the engine. I pulled the parking brake, turned on the emergency lights, then sat motionless, heart till pounding, listening to the silence echoing from the woods a few yards beyond.

What the hell now?

The highway ahead of me melted into blackness. This was not a busy road during the day, let alone at night.

Did I try to change the tire or start walking? Did I even have a working spare?

Was there any point in trying to call for roadside assistance at this time of night? It would probably take them as long to arrive as it would me to hike home.

Uneasily, I looked over at the towering black wall of sentinel pines. A crawly feeling prickled at the back of my neck. A feeling I had learned not to ignore over the past eleven months.

But I was in the middle of nowhere. No one was watching me. There was no looming threat.

Yet I continued to sit motionless, watching the trees, waiting for…

Brightness in my rearview mirror as it turned out.

My eyes jerked up to watch the swift gliding approach of headlights. Even as I tried to process whether this was somehow a threat or unexpected help, the berries and cherries—emergency lights on a cop car—flashed on.

“Are you kidding me?” I demanded of no one.

The SUV pulled right up behind me, headlights flooding through my rear window, and I sat rigid and silent and waiting. My heart was thrumming in my ears.

I knew it was Raleigh.

Knew before the driver’s side door opened and he got out, a tall silhouette in the moonlight, walking toward me.

Chapter Seven

He’s not going to arrest you.

He’s not… He’s not a monster.

He won’t do that to you.