Crash!
He’d done it again.
Her Toyota skittered across the gravel, and she was barely able to keep it on the road.
Again!
And the driver of the car who hit her was drawing beside her on the road. Metal scraped against metal as his passenger door screeched against her car.
Jane struggled desperately to keep the Toyota on the road, but she was being pushed toward the ditch.
“Idiot!”
But he had to be more than just stupid. Deadly. She could see the driver only dimly through the pouring rain, but she recognized the body language. Tense, intent, every muscle aimed at what he was doing.
And what he was doing was shoving her into that ditch.
He crashed against the side of her car again.
And the Toyota went out of control, and she headed for the ditch.
She went off the road and into the water in the ditch.
Her head hit the steering wheel.
Pain. Dizziness.
The air bag deployed, whipping her back in the seat.
More pain.
Her horn was blowing. She must have hit that, too, she thought dimly.
Her driver’s door was opening.
She dazedly raised her head.
Someone in a brown jacket was standing in the road, the rain pouring off him.
He was smiling.
And he had a Luger pistol in his hand.
She instinctively tried to reach over, to grab her handbag, and throw it at him.
The air bag got in the way, and the handbag fell to the mud of the ditch.
The gun fired, exploded.
Agony.
Her chest …
He was throwing something at her. Something gold … a chain …
It didn’t matter.
Nothing mattered.
The pain was going away. The rain was going away. Everything was going away but the warm, golden light that was suddenly surrounding her.
And beyond that light was Trevor. Tall, strong, his blue eyes shining and full of love.
He was shaking his head, but she didn’t care. She could see the love, feel the everafter that was there for them.
“It’s okay, Trevor.” She was running toward him. “Do you hear me? It wasn’t my fault. I would have lived. I would have done what you wanted me to do. But this just happened. I couldn’t help it.” She was getting closer, and the golden light was around her, in her. Soon she’d be in his arms. “So you must be wrong. It must be okay that we’re going to be together…”
CHAPTER
6
“I’m fine, Catherine,” Eve said. “So is Joe. He’s right here.” She was trying to be soothing since Catherine was obviously upset. But her own heart had plummeted when Catherine had rattled out that frightening suspicion about Santos’s intentions.
“Jane.” Joe was at Eve’s elbow. “Jane’s not here. She should be home by now.”
“Call her.” She said to Catherine, “I’ve got to go. Jane was driving here from the airport. We have to check on her.”
“Jane…” Catherine repeated. “God, yes. Make sure she’s safe.” She hung up.
“No answer, Eve,” Joe said as he hung up his phone.
“Call that policeman who was supposed to be following her.” Eve was already shrugging into her rain anorak as she headed for the door. “We’ve got to go look for her.”
“It’s raining.” He was following her down the porch steps. “It could have slowed her down. Maybe traffic…”
“I’ve been telling myself the same thing,” she said jerkily as she jumped into the Jeep. “But I’m scared, Joe.”
“So am I.” He hung up the phone. “Particularly since I can’t rouse that security black-and-white that should have been following her. That’s damn strange. I’d call the precinct but … that can wait.”
And Jane might not be able to wait, Eve thought as she tore down the gravel road toward the freeway.
Not if Catherine was right.
Not if that bastard had decided to target Jane.
God, she wished this rain would stop. She could hardly see anything ahead of her.
No, that wasn’t true. She could see bright headlights ahead.
But not on the road.
The car was in a ditch, but the headlights were still blazing.
“Dear God,” she whispered. She stomped on the accelerator, and the Jeep jumped forward. They were stopping beside the Toyota in the ditch in seconds.
“The driver’s door is open,” Joe said. “But I don’t see the driver.” He jumped out of the Jeep and ran toward the Toyota. “Maybe the driver got out and is looking for help. It’s a poss—” He broke off as he reached the car. “No, she didn’t get out.”
Eve was beside him, looking at Jane pinned back against the seat by the air bag. Blood. Her chest was covered with blood. “Oh, baby.” She knelt beside the driver’s seat, tears pouring down her cheeks. “Jane…”
Joe had taken his pocketknife and deflated the air bag. He was examining the wound, trying desperately to find a way to stem the blood. “Shot in the chest, close range.”
“Dead?” Eve asked unevenly. “Is she dead? Are we too late?”
“She’s still alive,” Joe said. His eyes were glittering with moisture. “But I won’t lie to you. I don’t think she’s going to make it. She’s dying, Eve.”
Shock. Followed by overwhelming sorrow. She reached out and touched Jane’s hair. Then denial came, hard, fast, rejecting those words. “If she’s not dead yet, we have a chance. I’m not going to let her die. I’ll hold on to her until the last minute. You stop the blood. I’ll call 911.”
He nodded. “Yeah, you bet we’ll give her a chance.” He reached out and gently touched the curve of Jane’s lips. “What the hell? I think she’s … smiling.”