‘Alive, yes.’
She exhaled audibly. ‘She got lucky.’
‘I’m not sure I’d call this luck.’
‘She could have easily killed someone,’ Taylor snapped. ‘Or herself.’
‘I know, and believe me, I’m upset with her too. But this isn’t the time.’
‘When would be the right time? At her funeral?’
I could hear how upset she was, her voice raw.
‘She needs to understand how badly this could have ended,’ she said hoarsely.
‘And she will, believe me. If the courts don’t drum that into her, her family sure as hell will.’ I knew this for a fact. Hannah’s parents were conservative and traditional. This would horrify them.
We heard the sound of a vehicle, then red light illuminated the scene. Taylor’s face turned towards the source. She looked sad, vulnerable. I wanted to take her in my arms but that would have to wait.
‘Sounds like the cavalry has arrived,’ I said.
A door slammed, then a man yelled. ‘Jack?’
‘Down here,’ I called back, as we heard the sound of more vehicles arriving.
I ducked my head back into the car. ‘Help is here,’ I told Hannah. ‘They’re going to look after you.’
‘I’m sorry,’ she replied, starting to cry. ‘I didn’t mean to cause any trouble.’
Gerry and two EMTs arrived beside the car. I knew one of them, a guy named Todd. He did a double take when he saw me.
‘Search and rescue get called out to this?’ he asked.
I shook my head. ‘We just came across the scene and called it in. She has a head wound, and she’s intoxicated. Breathing is shallow but she has been responding.’
‘She’s lucky she didn’t kill herself,’ Gerry muttered. ‘These roads are windy enough when you’re sober. She’s not the first drunk driver to do herself some mischief on these roads.’ He noticed Taylor for the first time and I watched his expression change, the color draining from his face. ‘Shit, I’m sorry, Taylor. I forgot you were standing there.’
‘It’s OK,’ she said quietly.
We stood back and watched as Todd and a couple of firemen from the truck who had turned up extracted Hannah from the car and got her onto a stretcher, securing her in place before assessing her.
‘What are you thinking?’ I asked Todd as the firemen began their careful ascent up the hill carrying the stretcher.
‘She’ll need a CT to check that head injury, but nothing else seems to be broken and there are no indications of internal bleeding or anything else untoward. You know I can’t make any promises, but I think she’s going to be OK. Thick vegetation like this, she’s just lucky you spotted her.’
‘It was all Taylor,’ I told him. ‘She’s the one who noticed the broken branches.’ I turned to smile at her but she was gone.
41
TAYLOR
I watched from inside Jack’s truck as Hannah was brought up the hill and loaded into the ambulance. Watched it drive away. Jack and the others stood talking on the roadside for a couple of minutes, then they shook hands before Gerry climbed into his patrol car, and Jack walked over to his truck. He climbed in and shut his door. I swallowed hard.
‘Are you OK?’ he asked gently.
I nodded, staring straight ahead out of the windscreen. ‘Yeah.’
‘Want to talk about it?’
