Page 77 of The Sister's Curse

The headlights went out, and darkness washed across the road.

I heard a car door open, then another. Behind me, I could make out two shadows.

I inhaled, my heart beating steadily behind my sternum. If they wanted trouble, I’d give it to them. I clicked my gun’s safety off.

They were approaching from the driver’s side and the passenger side. If they were both armed, I’d have the chance to shoot only one before the other shot me…

A new set of headlights appeared on the road behind us, and I exhaled. The people from the dark car turned tail, climbed back into their car, slammed their doors, and peeled away.

I stared at the car as it passed me and zinged down the road. I saw two heads in the glare from the headlights behind me. The license plate was obscured by a certainly illegal tinted license plate holder.

The second car pulled up behind me, and red and blue lights switched on.

I sighed in relief.

A highway patrolman with a Marine buzz cut exited the car and came to my window. “Ma’am, can I help you?”

“Yeah, you certainly can.”

—

The tow truck showed up and I thumbed a ride with the highway patrol to the county line, where Monica picked me up.

“Hey, I really appreciate you riding to my rescue,” I said.

“No worries,” she said. “Where did you get the car towed to?”

“To Kapp’s Automotive.” Kapp’s was a smaller dealership specializing in luxury cars the next county over. They’d laugh at my battered little SUV. “I’m pretty sure they’re gonna say it’s toast.”

“Fuckers. Maybe they can help you build a case that Lister fucked it up?”

“I hope so. But honestly…book value on that car is only around three K. Even if I win a lawsuit, that’s not gonna touch a down payment on a new car.”

“You are, indeed, screwed.”

I scrunched down in the seat and sighed. I filled Monica in on what I’d learned so far today, omitting my little detour to visit my mother, and what I’d learned about Jasper. I also told her about the car that had pulled up behind me.

“What’s up with that?” Monica muttered.

“Dunno. I’m feeling like these guys are every—”

I was interrupted by Monica’s radio chirping. “C1, this is D6. Requesting your presence at 1142 Devlin Road.”

I lifted my eyebrow. “That’s the address for Lister’s dealership. Wonder if they got vandalized again.”

Monica frowned and reached for the radio. “I’m en route with L4.”

By the time we rolled up to the dealership, the place was lit like a Christmas parade, with patrol cars and fire trucks lining the service road entrance.

Monica rolled her window down at the roadblock, which was manned by Detwiler. “Detwiler, what’s going on?”

“You gotta see this for yourself,” he said, his eyebrows crawling up into his hairline. “Just don’t get too close.”

We tooled around, to find our path blocked by a fire truck. We parked and got out, walked around the fire truck, and were confronted by a firefighter.

“I’m sorry, ladies, but you can’t go any farther.”

“What’s going on?” I flashed my badge.