She moved with an unconscious grace that nearly made me forget someone had just tried to kill her. Nearly. The anger simmering beneath my desire reminded me why we were standing in a meadow in the first place.
Someone wanted her dead.
Over my dead body.
I called Dino again and he picked up this time. “Dino, pay attention…”
A few minutes after explaining the situation to Dino, Stone pulled up on his bike. “Looks like quite the shootout.”
“Just like the wild west.” I pointed to the spot the blue sedan had come to a stop after I’d rear-ended it. “He was about there, you can see he didn’t have a good line of sight to where I was, which is why he gave up sooner rather than later.”
“I’m glad you’re safe. I’ve got a car on the way to pick you up. I’ll get rid of these ASAP.” Stone pointed toward Julia. “She’s okay?”
“Yeah, she didn’t have a weapon—something I’m going to fix going forward—but she drove like a champ and didn’t get a scratch.”
“Although my perfectly nice outfit is totally ruined.” Julia smiled. She held a small bag in her left hand and her shoes in herright. “This is all I care about from the car. Keys are still in the ignition.”
“Anything in your car you need?” Stone gestured to me. “Better get it before your ride shows up.”
I retrieved a few personal items. Julia and I waited as a bright red four-door Jeep Cherokee with massive tires pulled off the road. It rolled to a stop next to Stone.
He opened the back door and grinned. “Your chariot awaits.”
I took Julia’s elbow and helped her with the big step into the Jeep.
“That’s Felicia.” Stone pointed to the driver. “She works for a friend of a friend. She’ll drop you at the garage on West Street so you can pick up another vehicle. I mean, unless you—”
“No, the garage is fine.” I followed Julia into the Jeep, waved at Stone, and shut the door. “Thanks, Felicia. We had a rough night.”
“I can see that.” She pulled onto the highway, crossed the divide, and turned up the radio. “Country okay?”
I answered before Julia could. “You’re the driver. We’re good.”
“That’s right.” Julia smiled. “I’m so glad nobody is shooting at me—I wouldn't care if you were listening to trap, techno or even Helium Vola.”
“What’s Helium Vola?” I couldn’t resist asking.
Julia laughed. “Electro-medieval. Trust me, you don’t want to know.”
Felicia pointed at the radio. “This is Megan Moroney.”
“Yeah, Tennessee Orange, right?”
“Yeah.” Felicia turned the volume up loud enough to drown out the hum of the mud tires.
I shook my head and gave Julia a smile. “I can’t hear a thing.”
“What?!”
I shouted my answer. “I can’t hear a thing!”
Julia lifted both her hands and wiggled her fingers. “I’ve got them.”
“What?!”
“My RINGS! I got them all.” She patted her handbag. “I even found a lost earring.”
I closed my eyes, smiled, and leaned my head back. The music wasn’t half bad—not my taste—but I was just a passenger and not in a position to complain.
