She could always lie and say the connection between Abigail’s boyfriend and Stephen Thurman had occurred to her only when she was up-island at Winnie’s. But he’d be bound to ask why the heck she’d made a mad dash up there with a storm on the way and in someone else’s vehicle, Taylor’s especially, since, as John’s close friend and coworker, he no doubt knew that Taylor had not been one of Annie’s favorite people, though Annie tried, she really did.
Shut up,she told her brain and went back to fixating on the road.
Reaching the top of the hill that descended past the road that led to the tribal offices, she lightly tapped the brakes—her dad had taught her that, too, though she couldn’t remember if she should do that only on snow, not ice.
But just before the bottom of the hill, the vehicle didn’t slow; she tapped again . . . the bed of the truck swayed to the right . . . to the left . . . and skidded. She held her breath and forced her eyes to stay open.
Turn into the skid!Murphy shouted from wherever she was.
Annie obeyed, and the pickup instantly righted itself. That’s when she remembered that those words had also been part of her dad’s driving instructions. She eased her foot off the gas pedal and continued more slowly, smiling at the thought that maybe her dad and Murphy had come together in the heavens in order to help her out.
She half considered turning back to Winnie’s, but the memory of Bella’s voice calling out kept her moving forward.
Hill after hill, curve after curve, Taylor’s truck inched toward Annie’s destination. The ice bombarded the steel and the wind grew angrier, but instead of being more afraid, she grew more determined.
Just before Squibnocket Pond, she realized she was going faster again, faster than she should. As she started down another hill, she lifted her foot off the gas . . . too late. The truck skidded again. Worse than before. It picked up speed, accelerating as if a ghostly demon had stomped on the pedal. Annie’s throat started to close. Her hands clenched in the ten-to-two position. And yet . . . the skid turned into propulsion. Steering into it was useless. The truck kept going, going, veering to the right . . . then taking off—airborne—from the icy pavement . . . smashing through a stone wall . . . hurtling toward the pond . . . crashing into a cluster of scrub oaks . . . and . . . finally . . . stopping dead.
Annie’s forehead smacked the steering wheel. She wondered why the airbag didn’t inflate . . . or if Taylor’s vehicle was too old to have one. Then she wondered . . . nothing.
Chapter 40
An annoying sound was making her head hurt.
Rap-rap-rap.
Then the passenger door of the pickup was being yanked open.
“Jumpin’ Jehoshaphats, is that you, Annie Sutton?”
She struggled to open her eyes. She turned her head toward the voice that sounded familiar. A man’s voice. But his face was blurry, either from her vision or the snowflakes coating his dark hair.
Snowflakes?she wondered. Was it snowing now?
“Christ, woman,” the man’s voice said, “you’re bleeding.”
The blurry figure shut the door.
Annie sighed and rested her head back on the steering wheel.
Then the driver’s door—her door—opened. The man reached inside and unclicked her seat belt. Her vision cleared. Her savior was Orrin, Winnie’s brother.
He pulled a phone out of his pocket. “I gotta call Tri-Town. We need an ambulance. You need the hospital.”
“No,” Annie said, surprised that her voice worked. She squared her shoulders, leaned against the back of the seat, and touched her forehead; her fingers came back red with blood. Her blood. “Is Winnie home yet?”
“Yeah,” he said. “We were in Menemsha at my trawler. I expected snow, not ice. Had to prep the engine block so it wouldn’t crack. You okay to make it to my truck?”
“I think so.”
She was dizzy and her head hurt, but obstinacy kicked in. That and Bella’s little voice resonating in her mind.
Annie leaned on Orrin as they walked gingerly up the slope, through the stone wall where Taylor’s vehicle had careened, and into his truck that he’d pulled onto the roadside.
“I saw the break in the wall and figured somebody was down there,” he said.
She nodded, grateful.
He turned over the ignition and eyed Annie again. “You sure you don’t want the hospital?”
