Silver Falls - Anne Stuart [72]
She headed for her computer, but the site wasn’t up-to-date, and there was no listing anywhere in the state of Washington. Now that she’d decided she had to have one there was no way she could just let it go. She had a fairly good sense of direction, and despite the fact that it had been dark and she’d been an idiot, she could probably find her way back if she just trusted her instincts.
Of course, if she had Caleb’s cell-phone number she could simply call him and ask him. Though it would be a cold day in hell before that happened. Besides, Maggie probably had him behind bars.
She dashed out into the rain, locking the door behind her, and got into her car. She turned the key, listening to the motor turn over as the sound of freedom. Putting it into Reverse, she started to back out into the street.
Someone was coming, and she put her foot on the brake. The pedal went straight to the floor, and she went careening backward, straight into the middle of the road, directly in the path of an oncoming SUV.
She slammed the car into Drive and gunned the motor, praying that the transmission still worked. The Volvo shot forward, jumping the curb and tearing up the manicured front lawn until it came to a stop at the trunk of an aging apple tree, snapping it in two.
She reached out with shaking hands and turned off the motor, then tried to pull the key out. It was stuck, until she realized she was still in gear. She shoved it into Park, yanked the key out and sat there, trembling, as the rain poured down around her.
She didn’t know how long she stayed there. Someone rapped at the window, and she turned, dazed, to see a dark, hooded figure looming over her.
Panicked, she fumbled for the locks, but it was already too late, the door was opening and hands reached for her, pulling her out, out into the darkness.
“What happened?” Caleb demanded, shoving the rain hood away from his face.
It’s all right, she told herself. People are nearby, it’s not that late, he’s not going to hurt me.
“My brakes failed,” she said.
“That shouldn’t have happened. This is a new car, isn’t it?” His face was unreadable in the darkness.
“Yes.”
“You need to have it looked at. I’ve already called a tow truck.”
The panic was finally receding. “Well, yeah, I kind of think so, considering my new car is now sitting in the middle of my yard,” she said. “I can’t very well drive it like that.”
“I’m not talking about just fixing it. You need to find out what went wrong. If someone cut the brake lines.”
“Why the hell would someone do that?”
“You tell me,” he said, his voice dark. “All I know is that brakes don’t suddenly fail, not in a town where a serial killer has been active.”
“The killer is gone.”
“You sure of that?” he said.
“You know I can’t be sure of anything. But there’s no earthly reason why anyone would want to hurt me.”
He looked at her like she was an idiot. “Maybe not that you can think of. Sometimes people don’t need reasons. I told you…”
“Yes, I know what you told me. But the fact is, the only person I’m afraid of around here is you.” The moment the words were out of her mouth she wished she could have called them back. Not that it wasn’t the simple truth. Not that she was worried about hurting his feelings. Simply because she didn’t want him to know how deeply she distrusted him.
He said nothing, looking down at her. “Where were you going? And where’s Sophie?”
“A. None of your business. B. None of your business.”
“A. She’s my niece and I’m worried about her. I want to make sure she’s safe. B. I’m a nosy bastard. So why don’t you answer my questions since I saved your life.”
“What do you mean, you saved my life?”
“If you hadn’t been trying to dodge me you might have found out your brakes were gone once you were on the highway. If that was where you were heading.”
“How convenient that you just happened to show up at the right time.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Never mind,