Читать книгу Tracking Secrets - Heather Woodhaven - Страница 13

FOUR

Nick cringed at the sound of branches hitting the side of his truck. He’d jogged through this area of the forest before so he could sit at his favorite bench overlooking the farmlands in the valley, but driving through the forest was another matter. He swerved and barely missed a thin aspen that seemed to come out of nowhere.

It was hard enough to motor through the foliage without the additional challenge of doing it at high speeds, downhill, as the sun dipped below the horizon. The perspiration dripped down his neck as he second-guessed the possibility his plan would work.

The stakes were high, though. At first he’d laughed when he realized how fast Alexis was going. Maybe she was an adrenaline junkie out to prove that her bucket of bolts had plenty of life left in it. But when her car swerved wildly and barely made it past the last curve, he knew she had to be in trouble.

He could’ve tried to overtake her on the road, but he was so far behind it seemed unlikely. The curve would take her far to the right before bringing her back to the left, while the forest next to the road was on a separate sharp incline. It seemed like the only way to catch up to her.

Another tree seemingly jumped out of nowhere into his path. He missed it, but an outstretched branch made contact. A sickening crack of metal preceded the side mirror flying off into the distance. Something in his peripheral vision begged his attention. He couldn’t afford to take the time to look, but if he was right, he’d caught up to Alexis. In an instant, the car was gone again which likely meant she’d had to take another curve.

He was running out of forest. The curve she was on would buy him some time, but if he didn’t beat her to the drop-off, it would be too late. He stomped the pedal to the floor. His truck bounced over a fallen log. The terrain dipped. His torso lurched forward as he fought gravity to remain upright.

A crunch echoed through the forest. He didn’t even want to think about the condition of his axles after this.

A strong beam of light illuminated the trees a mere hundred feet ahead. He veered to the right as far as he could manage. Fifty feet later, he spotted the edge of the road. He just needed enough space between the trees to sneak through.

The truck nose pitched, and his head bounced off the steering wheel. The ground was about to disappear. The throbbing in his head threatened to slow him down. He squinted through the pain and yanked the wheel to the right. Another screech of metal confirmed his fears: he’d lost the left side mirror as well.

He couldn’t think about anything but keeping his speed high. He was running out of time to save her.

The truck bounced as he bounded over the rough rock bordering the road. Except the road ended in just a few feet. Nick slammed on his brakes. He fought back nausea as he stared at the open sky. If he’d waited thirty seconds more before turning onto the road, he’d have driven off the cliff. Some hero he would’ve been.

He turned his head in the direction she’d be coming. A flash of light reflecting off metal came from just past the rock wall. Alexis would fly around that curve any second and face the ninety-degree turn. He shoved the truck into Park and looked out the passenger window to see the baby-blue Honda barreling toward him at an unimaginable speed.

If she didn’t make the sharp curve, the mass of his truck would slow her down for about ten—maybe fifteen—feet, if he chose to be optimistic. He pulled up the parking brake and braced for impact.

The Honda hugged the rock wall. She was trying her best to make the turn, but the laws of physics would work against her. His heart pumped fast against his rib cage. Instead of seeming like the wisest move to help her, he found himself in a one-sided game of chicken. He couldn’t take the chance that the truck would succeed and keep him on solid ground.

He flung off his seat belt, hopped out and sprinted toward the front of the truck as he heard the screech of her tires skidding out of control. The shriek of metal against metal filled the valley.

He pressed off the balls of his feet, diving to get out of the way, and strained his arms forward while airborne. A searing pain ripped through his hip as the corner of her car’s front bumper scraped past him. The force of it twisted his body so that he was facing the sky as his back hit the ground and he slid toward the cliff.

Dirt and gravel flew up around him, pressing through his clothes, poking every inch of his back. He reached his hands out blindly. His fingertips found a branch, and as he slid past, he tightened his grip until he came to a stop.

He panted, trying to catch his breath while ignoring the pain in every part of his body. His elbows had escaped unscathed thanks to his flailing arms. Alexis! Had it worked?

He propped himself up on his elbows as he watched the Honda come to a standstill. His truck had moved to the very edge of the cliff. Maybe he could’ve remained inside after all and avoided the massive amounts of pain currently begging for his attention.

The truck groaned, teetered, tipped...and fell.

An unearthly groan escaped his lips. Crunching metal and booms rivaling thunder echoed throughout the valley. His mouth went dry.

The Honda door flung open, and a cry reached his ears before he could utter one himself. She was safe...unlike his gorgeous truck, but she was more important. Obviously. His head fell backward, his body and emotional energy utterly spent.

Moisture and soft fur brushed against his cheek.

“Nick. Nick!”

He opened his eyes to find Raven kissing his cheek. “I’m alive.” He held up a hand to reassure the dog, and the dog licked it instead. His brain told his body to move, to get up, but his sore backside didn’t respond. “Are you okay?” he asked instead.

Alexis’s tear-filled eyes met his gaze. She nodded. “My brakes wouldn’t work.” Her voice shook and her shoulders began to follow suit. “And...and I thought you were still in the car.”

“It was a truck.” Calling it a car would insult its memory, but in the back of his mind, he knew now wasn’t the time to argue the point. “Do you think it was because your car was old or...”

Alexis held out her hands and helped pull him up to standing. If not for the stinging sensation in his palms, he would’ve enjoyed how soft her hands felt. She looked into his eyes as he fought against the discomfort in his back and straightened.

“It wasn’t an accident,” she said. She let go of him and pulled her phone out. “I’m calling the police.” She frowned at the screen and jumped up, straining her arm, most likely in an effort to find a signal. On her tiptoes, she held the phone to her ear.

Light from above hit his eyes, which didn’t make sense as the sun was setting. He turned his gaze ever so slightly to the top of the ridge above them. For a brief second he thought for sure he’d seen a man watching them.

It seemed possible, in his state of mind, that his eyes were playing tricks on him. Maybe it’d just been a flash of reflection from her shiny sandals.

The sun continued its rapid descent, but the colors in the sky illuminated the tower of rock above him enough for him to see a shadowed form kneel. It was almost as if someone was holding a...

“Gun.” His insides seized up. No more time to lick his wounds. In one motion, he curled into a crouched position. His spine and muscles objected to the fast movement, but he fought through it. “Alexis, take cover! Gunman!”

The sound of tires fast approaching from the direction of town barely registered before a truck pulled up in front of him. Alexis lunged toward Nick, staying low enough that she was also underneath the cover of the silver truck. The passenger window rolled down and the man leaned toward them from the driver’s side. “Everything okay?”

“Stay down, Gerald. Nick said there was a gunman.”

The man in a ball cap flinched and looked around.

“On top of the ridge.” Nick pointed upward.

Gerald stuck his head out of the driver’s window. His shoulders relaxed, and he huffed. “There’s nothing but a lone tree and a bird circling up there. Eyes can play tricks on you when the sun is setting.”

Nick had never met the man, but Alexis seemed to know him, so maybe he was credible. He straightened to look for himself. Sure enough, there was nothing but pink and orange streaks in the sky.

He wasn’t crazy, though. He’d seen someone, and the silver truck had apparently scared the person off. Odd. If the gunman had been part of the drug ring, Nick would’ve thought that knocking off another witness would have been nothing to them.

“You guys look a little rough for wear. Everything okay?” Gerald gestured at Alexis.

She looked down at her stained shirt and skirt, and then glanced at Nick, uncertainty crossing her face. “It’s fair to say we’ve had a bad evening.”

Nick remained silent. If she knew the man in the truck and wasn’t gushing about what had happened to him, perhaps he’d be wise not to say anything, either. But if the man drove off, there was a chance the gunman would return. They needed him to stay until the police arrived. If Nick had to, he’d talk to the man until he was blue in the face.

“We had a little accident,” Alexis said.

That was the understatement of the year.

Gerald leaned forward, straining his neck to see over the cliff from the comfort of his vehicle. “You certainly did. It’s a good thing your truck went down in the river instead of causing a fire. Otherwise you really wouldn’t have a chance with the voters, Mr. Kendrick.” He winked and chuckled. “Not that you have any chance against me in the first place.”

Nick flinched as he connected the dots. He leaned forward to see the face underneath the ball cap. This man was his neighbor and opponent?

* * *

Alexis kept her eyes on the ridge above them. While Nick could have a motive to lie about drugs being stashed on Gerald’s property, he’d had to run away from the gunmen the same as she did. Besides, someone had messed with her brakes. If it hadn’t been for Nick, it would’ve worked. So she couldn’t fathom what reason he’d have to lie about a gunman on the ridge. Whoever had been there would’ve had the perfect view if she’d wrecked.

She shivered involuntarily. What was taking the police so long? While she had no doubt that Gerald would hear about the incident on his land eventually, she didn’t want to be the one who told him.

“Did this out-of-towner make you crash?” Gerald asked Alexis, a teasing lilt to his voice. Despite his smile, his eyes looked a little red, as if he’d either suffered an allergy attack or heard some upsetting news.

Nick’s jaw tensed. “I think I’ve earned resident status if my name is on the ballot.”

After the day she’d had, the last thing Alexis needed was to be the only audience member for an impromptu political debate. “Nick saved my life. My brakes stopped working.”

Gerald shook his head. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but take it from me. There’s a point when it’s time to put a car to rest, Alexis. I make more money keeping cars in business, so you know I’m not lying.”

She didn’t need a lecture. Her car’s age hadn’t been the problem. If Gerald had anything to do with the men on his property, then it followed that he would want her dead, as well.

Her parents had considered him their trusted mechanic for most of her life, so she wanted to think Chief Spencer had the right idea. The more likely scenario was that Gerald had been used as a pawn. She’d learned time and time again, though, that she wasn’t the best judge of character.

She smiled and nodded as Gerald finished his speech on when a car wasn’t worth repairing.