Page 1 of One Little Memory (Cherry Valley Novella)

She gasped as her headlights illuminated the elderly man raising his gun.

He took aim at her as she stomped on the gas pedal.

She hoped to blind him with her high beams, but the first bullet crashed through her windscreen into the seat next to her.

She screamed. He fired again. She pushed the pedal all the way to the floor.

The car leaped forward, bullets pinging off the engine block.

Her hands shook as she braced for the impact.

The man smacked down on the hood with a sickening thud. His face was plastered against her windscreen for a fraction of a second before he went over the roof and was gone. She didn’t let up on the gas. The car fishtailed as she hit the end of the dirt driveway and skidded onto the wet road.

Tears streamed down her face. She’d just killed a man.

She’d come for answers, and instead she’d taken a life.

She was no better than they were. Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, she fought to keep the car on the road.

She was going too fast for the weather. The rain was intensifying.

She glanced in her rearview mirror, but only darkness chased her down the slick paved road.

Easing up on the gas, she tried to calm herself.

Her knees and hands were shaking as she struggled to drive safely.

Leaning over, she grabbed her purse with one hand and put it on her lap.

Then she searched for a tissue. Sniffing, she pulled one out, and then using the same hand, put her purse back on the passenger seat, her eyes never leaving the road ahead.

She dabbed at her eyes and blew her nose. Her breath was still coming in big gasps. She’d killed a man. A bad man to be sure, but she’d killed a man all the same. The rain pummeled the roof of her BMW as she stared at the path of her headlights breaking the darkness ahead.

Her heart slammed against her rib cage. She needed to call the police. She needed to tell them what happened, and a man needed help. Her palms were slick with sweat. She swiped one on her pant leg, regripped the steering wheel and did the same with the other.

She could go to prison. Seemed to be a family tradition. She swallowed convulsively.

It didn’t matter. She wanted the truth to come out.

Just as she was reaching for her purse again to get her cell phone, she was jolted from behind.

She swerved to stay on the road. Glancing in the rearview mirror, she couldn’t see anything except bright lights.

Someone had their high beams on, and they were blinding her.

It had to be an SUV because they were higher than her car.

She sped up, but the rain was coming down in sheets now. She fumbled for her cell, yelling at her phone to dial nine-one-one. The AI in the phone would not pick up.

Shit. Shit. Shit!

The road ahead curved around a hill and the left side was swathed in pitch darkness.

On the right, the land dropped away and there was only dark sky.

The tops of trees were just visible in her headlights.

When the SUV hit her again, she wrenched the wheel to the left to keep on the road, but the SUV kept pushing her.

The treetops came closer. She struggled to control the car, but it was no use.

She left the road at full speed and hurtled down the embankment.

When she hit a tree, her torso jolted forward.

The airbags deployed and her body crashed into it and then recoiled.

Pain shivered down her spine as her head collided with the door frame.

Her world went black.

When she opened her eyes again, she was staring into the night sky. Her windshield was gone. The rain pelted her mercilessly. The engine continued to run, which she took as a sign; as if the car didn’t quit, so neither should she.

Above the noise of the engine, and the groans of the car, she caught the crunching of sticks. Suddenly, a bright light blinded her. The beam swept to the passenger side of the car, Above her, she spied a figure with a flashlight. Hope for rescue flared instantly.

The light swung back to her face. She called weakly, “Help me.”

The figure moved the flashlight off her face and back to the seat next to her. Then the light disappeared. She tried to call for help again, but her voice wasn’t working. She tried to lift her arms to wipe the water out of her eyes, but her body wouldn’t do what she wanted.

The flashlight appeared again on the seat beside her. She tried to turn her head, but it was no use. Someone was searching her car for something. They weren’t going to help her. They were going to leave her here to die.

Her heart rate rocketed as tears began to fall. “I’m sorry, Dad. I tried.”