“I made it,” she said out loud with elation. “Don’t celebrate too soon. Get to the road and get out of here.”
Standing and putting the backpack on, Elena continued to follow the creek toward the river. Headlights were coming down the road and then she heard an awful noise. Car brakes being depressed hard, creating a squeal, and then a vehicle plunging through the guardrail and tumbling down the hill.
There was a truck behind the van. It stopped. Then it pulled off the road.
Elena couldn’t tell from the angle where she was standing, but she thought the truck had rear-ended the van and that had caused the accident. Was everyone okay?
She had to find out. Plus, a more selfish thought went through her mind—maybe they would have phones or a way to get help. Not just for them but also for her. The stream was between her and the van, but there was an old dead tree that had fallen over and created a bridge. Would it hold her? How rotten was it?
Carefully crawling up on it, Elena tested the trunk. It seemed secure. She shifted her weight around to see if it would roll. It didn’t budge. Finding her balance, she thought she could walk across it. She was nimble, and as long as the log didn’t move, it was wide enough for her to keep her balance.
Little by little, one foot after the other, she made it across and let out a sigh of relief. Before she jumped down on the other side, she glanced up. She had a better view of the people in the truck, who had now exited the vehicle. It didn’t look too dinged up. It would probably still run.
At least it’s not a hit-and-run, she thought. Until she saw one of the people from the truck grab a long gun. Some sort of rifle. From this distance, Elena couldn’t tell.
After quickly climbing down, she froze in place. Was she really seeing that?
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Josh had no idea how long he was out. Little visions of the accident came back to him.
The truck. Speeding.
The van. Stopped. Then hit.
Although Josh was dizzy and disoriented, and everything was fuzzy and black, he recalled the van had rocked back and forth, tree branches hitting it. The steep slope had made the transport pick up speed, not slow down. The guards were flung around. They hadn’t been buckled in as well as Josh. The driver was also flailing, but he was wearing a seat belt.
After smashing into a rock, the van bounced off and then rolled. The roof was crushed in so much it hit Josh in the head. He tried to crouch in his seat. Collapsed roofs were one way people could break their necks in an accident.
With a final thud, the van had settled into place, roof side up, which had made things a little easier. When his vision had returned, he thought he heard voices in the distance. Someone would find them. There had to be something that would alert dispatch that one of their vans had an accident.
It was almost like the driver of the truck knew the PIT—or precision immobilization techniques—taught to police officers to help stop a vehicle by hitting it so it turned. When done right, a car would stall and stop.
Police. Damn.Everything hit Josh at once. This wasn’t an accident from a drunk driver. This was planned. Someone was after him. Could it be Tony and Ian working for the senator, like Maya thought?
The guards were lying outside the vehicle, not moving. Not good. The driver seemed to be in better shape. He was at least stirring and moaning a little bit. So maybe not good shape, but alive.
Testing that he could wiggle his fingers and toes, Josh spat the paper clip into his hands and then worked it into the shape he’d need to pick the lock. It didn’t take him long and the first cuff came loose. From there he was quickly able to undo his other cuff, take off the belly chain, and pick the locks on his ankle shackles.
The guards had been thrown out the side door that had somehow popped open, giving Josh a way to crawl out since the van was smushed. Going around to the driver, he felt for a pulse. There was a decent one.
“Good. You’re still alive,” Josh said. He looked for the radio and discovered that it had been busted when the van rolled. Maybe the guards had shoulder radios. He hadn’t checked them yet. Josh ran over to them, feeling sore but happy that he hadn’t broken anything.
The first guard was face down. Josh didn’t want to move him in case he had a neck injury, but the guy wasn’t breathing. There was no pulse either. Taking a chance and wanting to start CPR, Josh rolled him over and then realized there was a large blood pool underneath him. Pieces of glass were all over his body. He’d probably bled out.
“Shit,” Josh said, going over to the other guard. He at least had a pulse. There was also a cell phone clutched in his hand. It appeared he’d tried to dial 911. That was a good sign. But the guy was now passed out. Not a good sign.
Josh took the phone and realized it needed a fingerprint to open it. He used the guard’s hand and got into the phone. There was one bar of service, so he sent a text to 911. Better than nothing. There were no obvious injuries and the guard was taking shallow breaths. Hopefully an ambulance would arrive soon. With the right medical care, he might survive.
If he could hike back up to the road, Josh could wave down emergency responders. He hated to leave everyone, but there was nothing more he could do now other than to get help and make sure the men were found.
Starting the hike to the road, Josh heard voices again.
He couldn’t quite make out what the people were saying. Taking cover behind a boulder, he spotted two people—a man and woman—coming down the mountainside. Were they the passengers from the vehicle that hit them?
Staying behind the giant rock, he crouched down, debating. Were they coming to help or were they making sure everyone was dead?
They came closer to his hiding spot. Josh guessed they had decided on the same route he was taking uphill. He stepped back, being careful not to step on any twigs that might snap and make noise. Were they after him?
