Anger. Frustration. A tangled mess of emotions churned in her gut when her search came up empty. As she tossed her bag on the seat beside her, she spied a small blinking light on the floor by the passenger door. Her cell phone.
On a sigh, she dug her nails into the wheel and glanced at the steep winding curves ahead of her. Oh, no. She darted a look between the road ahead and the rearview mirror. The truck was still there. The rain had eased up a little, allowing just enough light for her to make out a silhouette of a man inside the cab. Is this lunatic planning to run me off the road?
Before the frantic thought fully penetrated her brain, the roar of an engine hit her ears, and the driver barreled into the lane beside her.
Heart thumping, Paige nailed the accelerator to the floor and held her breath, praying her car wouldn’t lose traction again. If she could only make it a couple more miles, she’d be in view of a gas station and well-lit shopping area. Please, Lord.
But instead the truck matched her speed, edging to the right, encroaching into her lane.
Sweat slickened Paige’s palms as she clenched the wheel and veered right, precariously hugging the edge of the pavement. Her Jeep was now halfway up the steep incline and beginning the curve. She just needed to get over the hill. Just one more mile.
Her faint glow of hope extinguished a split second later as the truck swerved sharply and slammed into her door, sending her vehicle hurtling off the roadway and back onto the shoulder.
No! She gritted her teeth, trying to gain control. Brakes whined and tires spun, churning up mud and gravel.
Thunder rumbled and growled. Rain came down in sheets.
Sucking in a sharp breath, Paige jerked the wheel to the left, bringing the vehicle bouncing back onto the asphalt. But instead of gaining control, the Jeep started to hydroplane. With brakes squealing and tires screeching, the Renegade skidded like a pendulum from one side of the road to the other.
Fear sent crushed ice through her veins as the Jeep’s back end struck a tree just before sailing over the edge of the embankment. It rolled several times before finally coming to a dead halt. Paige’s head hit the steering wheel, and the air bag deployed on impact.
Everything went dark.
* * *
Deputy Detective Seth Garrison turned his headlights to high beam and accelerated down the long stretch of highway. He’d finally made it back to Boone. In another fifteen minutes, he’d be home, kicking off his boots and plopping down in his old leather recliner. After a week away in Raleigh painting and making repairs on his mom’s house, he was ready for a little R & R.
Around a tight bend in the road and in the distance, flashing lights burned up the night fog. Red. Blue. White. Watauga County rescue vehicles.
Welcome home. Seth released a long breath. Not even ten miles into the county and work was there to greet him. So much for that R & R.
Seth arrived at the scene. Fire, police and rescue vehicles were scattered across the two-lane highway, their blinking lights reflecting off the icy road. He pulled his hat on and grabbed his jacket and a flashlight. There was a damp chill in the air as temperatures continued to drop. All around him residual puddles from the earlier storm had started to freeze.
Ice creaked and splintered beneath his boots as he hiked up a slight incline and navigated his way to a small company of police and rescue workers congregated at the edge of the embankment.
Before he could ask, Officer Ted Hanson swung his grim face toward him. “We’ve got a car in the ravine. A local resident on his way home saw the vehicle spin out and slide off the road.”
“Casualties?” Seth swept his flashlight around the wooded area at the bottom of the ditch, stopping when his light caught on the Jeep resting in a thicket of small pines and scrub. The roof of the vehicle had been sliced off. The rescuers had put the Jaws of Life into action, and now four firefighters were working the scene.
“Amazingly, no.” Ted stuffed his hands in the pockets of his police-issue bomber jacket. “Single driver. A woman. EMS radioed up a few moments ago to say she had come to and her injuries didn’t appear life threatening, but no update on her identity.”
“She’s fortunate, whoever she is.”
“We’re coming up,” one of the rescuers announced over the radio in a scratchy voice, almost lost in the static.
Ten minutes later two firefighter paramedics emerged from the scene with the victim strapped on a backboard. Other rescue workers rushed over and helped get her on a gurney.
Battery-powered floodlights lit up the scene. The woman was in full spinal precautions. A trail of crimson trickled down one cheek from a gash on her forehead, and long strands of her dark curls spilled over the edge of the wooden backboard. She was shaking uncontrollably, her teeth chattering, her breathing unsteady.
Everything inside Seth froze as his heart slammed to a disturbing halt. He knew that face.
Paige Becker.
Automatically, he took a step, then stopped, summoning every ounce of control he could muster, and still he had to force himself not to go to her. He would be the last person she would want to see right now.
What was Paige doing back in Boone?
As a trio of emergency workers maneuvered the gurney over the ice-slicked roadway, a firefighter called out, “We’re going to need warm blankets.”
“Ready and waiting.” A medic jumped out of the back of the EMS vehicle and helped load up the victim.
“Is that...Paige Becker?” Ted cut Seth a sideways glance. “I didn’t know she was back in town.”
Seth didn’t respond. The bile scalding his throat wouldn’t let him. Rough breakups never healed easy. He pushed his hat up on his forehead and fought to shove old feelings aside as he watched the doors to the EMS vehicle slam shut.
Be okay, Paige. Those three little words played in his head.
She had to be. She was the most resilient woman he knew.
* * *
Paige woke up in a dimly lit room, a hammer pounding inside her head, her mind fuzzy. She gingerly shifted against the unfamiliar bed. Every bone in her body hurt.
As she looked around the small area, thoughts and memories untangled in her mind. It took a few moments for her to remember where she was and why.
“Boone Memorial,” she muttered as the jumbled bits and pieces of the night started to meld together. She’d been in an accident. Her Jeep had run off the side of the road.
Suddenly, as if a veil of brain fog lifted, every detail came rushing back with startling clarity. No. Paige jerked up straight in the bed. Someone ran me off the road.
The room started to spin. Vision blurred. Paige swayed and then gripped the metal railing. She pulled in a breath against the assailing head rush and lowered herself against the raised angle of the bed. She blew it out slowly, letting the dizziness pass.
She was reeling from exhaustion and whatever medication she’d been given. She felt rotten. And to make matters worse, someone had tried to kill her. She’d like to chalk it up to a road-rage lunatic, but her gut told her different.
Fresh tears gathered, washing hot. Paige squeezed her eyes shut and swallowed hard. She’d only been in town since that morning, and already the message was clear: she wasn’t welcome back in Boone. Someone didn’t want her to find the truth. A chill prickled her flesh. She shook it off. She couldn’t let fear paralyze her investigation. Her brother’s life depended on her.
Voices drifted in from the hallway. She opened her eyes, realizing she was no longer alone. The door was cracked open, and she caught a glimpse of a nurse standing outside the room talking to someone. A pager went off. Loud and insistent, growing to an unforgiving wail.
Paige’s headache burst