She sprinted for his idling car and snorted a triumphant laugh. She hadn’t survived alone in New York without learning a few tricks.
Stones spit from under the tires as she floored the accelerator of the SUV. After a couple of miles, her heart stopped racing and her brain engaged. Where was Jack? The southbound traffic was at a dead standstill.
Oh my God. No, no, no.
She picked up her cell phone, and said, “Call Jack.”
A painful eternity of six unanswered rings followed while she held her breath.
“Hi, this is Jack…”
She exhaled. “Jack, Jack. Are you okay?”
“…please leave a message…”
She cursed, hung up, and then spoke into her phone again. “Call Olivia.”
“Hi, leave a message for Olivia’s Natural Herbal Remedies...”
Damn it all to hell.Didn’t anyone pick up their fucking phone anymore? She left a message. “Olivia, nine-one-one. Call me back immediately. Something’s happened. Get Josh, too. Get everyone.”
Every few seconds, she checked the rearview mirror. How long would it take finger-gun-man to catch up? For a millisecond, she considered calling the police.Get real. She was driving a stolen car.
She ached to turn around and find Jack, but the southbound lane was at a dead stop.
Slamming her palms on the steering wheel, she cursed. She'd be a sitting duck if finger-gun-man found her, but she needed to find Jack. Despite the danger, she pulled off at the next rest area, ran into the overcrowded building, and sat down at a table in the far corner of the cafeteria.
Zoe took out her phone and tried Jack again. No answer. Please, please, please be okay.
Two heavyset, blue-haired women sat down at the table next to her. “I heard it was a twelve car pile-up.”
Another similarly aged, big-haired matron bobbed her head from another table. “I heard twenty. Two buses across both lanes, one tipped over. Some idiot spun into the south bound lane.”
“Probably drunk.” The woman clucked her tongue.
“I saw it happen,” a man said, smugly. “An Audi spun like a top and then wham.” He clapped her hands together and Zoe's gut wrenched. “Two buses hit it, and it scrunched like an accordion. No one could’ve survived it.”
Zoe’s body went numb.
The awful truth hit her like a two-by-four. She gasped and barely made it to the bathroom stall before retching.
Her phone rang while she was rinsing her mouth. “Olivia? It’s Jack. He’s, he’s…he’s had an accident.”
“Whoa, slow down. I got Josh, here, too. On speaker. What’re you talking about?”
“I think Jack was hit by a bus, maybe two. I can’t find out. The traffic on the parkway is backed up for miles.” She leaned against the bathroom wall, shaking, and slowly sunk to the floor.
Josh's voice came out of the little speaker, dry and emotionless. “What is it, Zoe? Do youthinkor do youknowit was Jack?”
“He was following me, then he wasn’t. And I heard a woman describe the Audi that got hit. Josh, he never would’ve left my tail, unless something really bad had happened.” Zoe’s throat tightened with the tears she hadn’t allowed herself to shed. “The Russian guy…I thought he got blown up with Kyle but he wasn’t…he tried to take me, but I maced him and stole his SUV. I’m at a rest stop, a few miles north, but–”
The police band radio squawked in the background, drowning out Josh's voice. He let out a stream of expletives and then commanded, “Get out of there. Get into that car now, Zoe, and drive.”
“But Jack needs me.” Zoe couldn’t catch her breath. Her head was spinning. She wanted someone to come get her and bring her home, not send her away.
Josh spoke slow and direct, as if she was a little kid. “If what you say is true, Jack needs to know you’re safe. So do what I say. Do you understand me?”
“Okay.”
