We were having this conversation like a couple of hitmen, when just last week Varesh had screamed after a mouse ran across his foot. I would have laughed if our situation hadn’t been so dire.
“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “It’s insane to even be talking about this. The other options are locking him out of the building or tying him up and taking him for a drive blindfolded.”
Taxis and public transport hadn’t been running during the entire second wave. If we dumped him a couple of hours away with no wallet or phone, it could take him a week or more to find his way home.
“But we can’t get through roadblocks.”
“Yet,” I said. “Watch what happens after today. The protest’s going to change everything.”
He pressed his lips together and held off on commenting.
I took the last turn onto Bradley Street and dropped all thoughts of Kerger. “Keep an eye out,” I said. “They’re around here somewhere.”
The rain fell heavier now, streaming down the glass and sending pedestrians scurrying for cover. I switched the wipers to fast mode and scanned the street.
“I can barely see anything,” Varesh said.
Then a blur of movement to my right had me hitting the brakes before I knew what was coming. My heart punched against my ribs, and I narrowly avoided a dog as it shot across the road. After a few seconds of evasion from the animal, a panicked woman grabbed hold of the lead and waved in apology, dragging her staffy to safety.
I was still watching her jog away in the rearview when Varesh jabbed his finger straight ahead. “There.”
I peered through the rain and lifted my foot off the brake, easing closer.
A white hatchback sat in the middle of the cross intersection, with a black sedan jammed at an odd angle against the curb. The wipers cleared my windscreen for a split second, and the crushed front end of the sedan registered.
How fast did a car need to be going to do that kind of damage on a residential street?
“Sadie was blindsided,” Varesh said as we pulled our masks into place.
Which meant she’d never had time to brace for impact. My shoulders tensed as I pulled over and cut the engine, trying not to picture worst-case scenarios.
The wipers halted mid-sweep, and the second I stepped out onto the road, my jacket was drenched.
Varesh jumped out and joined me, squinting against the rain as we approached Sadie's wrecked car.
Tim climbed out of the passenger door, mask in place. Seeing no sign of her through the windscreen, I swallowed. She couldn’t even sit upright?
“Is she in the backseat?” I asked.
“She’s lying down—but it wasn’t the crash that hurt her.” Tim briefly embraced Varesh, whose posture loosened up. “We were hit by a car,” he said, shielding his eyes from the rain, “and thenshewas hit by a cyclist. The man just took off afterwards without a care in the world, and now her car won’t start.”
I yanked open the rear door and found Sadie lying on her side, face uncovered. Tim had wedged a bunched-up jacket under her head, and her eyes were closed, her mouth soft and relaxed. Until last week, she’d been so on guard around me that seeing her like this caused a tug in my chest.
I crouched down to her level and swept her hair back from her face, listening to her breathing. Deep and even, which was something under the circumstances.
Other than a superficial graze on her collarbone, there were no obvious injuries. Without turning her over or lifting her clothing, she didn’t appear to be bleeding.
“Did she hit her head?” I asked as Tim and Varesh crowded around me.
“Pretty hard, I think,” Tim said. “I had to pick her up off the road. She hasn’t been conscious since.”
The downpour eased to a drizzle straight after it had soaked me to the bone. “How long ago?”
He frowned. “Five minutes? I put her in the car to keep her dry and texted straight after.”
“What about the other driver?” I couldn’t get a clear view of the car from my lower position.
“She can’t be helped… if you know what I mean.”
