“Hey, in the center drawer there’s lip balm and a little bottle of ibuprofen,” she called as he climbed into the driver’s seat again. Bud raised a hand in acknowledgment then took off.
The mention of the painkillers brought forth the memory of the stash Trevor Baker’s brother had been transporting when the Jacksonville police had searched his car. There was some connection to the brother’s arrest she couldn’t quite pin down. Cassidy grabbed her phone and jabbed the screen until Agent Parker’s number rang through.
Emma answered the call with a harried, “Hello?”
“Have you left Baker’s place?”
“A minute ago. Hang on.” Emma huffed and puffed, clearly juggling her phone before she came back on the line. “Hey. Sorry. Getting back to my car.”
Cassidy held her breath as she waited to hear Agent Parker’s findings. “You’re still at Baker’s place?”
“Parked out front. I don’t think this is the Baker we’re—”
Emma’s assessment was swallowed up by the sound of shattering glass. Cass looked up, taking in Jake’s concerned frown.
“Emma, are you okay?”
A string of highly indelicate swear words streamed from the speaker. They were somewhat reassuring but were soon overridden by the sound of squealing tires.
“Parker, what’s happening?” Jake demanded.
“Someone threw a brick through my rear window.” She swore under her breath, but the words were nearly swallowed up by the roar of her car engine.
“A brick?” Cassidy said, dumbfounded.
But Jake snatched the phone from her fingers and raised it to his lips. “Pull over.”
“Uh, negative,” Emma responded.
“Are you sure it was a brick?” he demanded, his tone rising with urgency.
The squeal of brakes made both Cassidy and Jake wince. But Emma Parker had moved past swear words. Cassidy stared at Jake, her breath tangled in her throat, her mouth dry, as they listened as a series of clicks and snicks accompanied ragged, shallow breathing.
“Emma?” she shouted into the phone. “Emma, are you okay?”
But Emma didn’t answer. There was a grunt and the sound of a car door opening. Cassidy and Jake sat knee to knee, not daring to breathe. He held the phone between them, the green speaker icon lit against a black screen.
Then they heard a sound they’d grown all too accustomed to hearing.
An ear-splitting bang.
Booming reverb.
Screeching metal.
A shower of falling debris.
Then a truly terrifyingwhoosh.
The call dropped and the screen went blank.
Chapter Twelve
Her fault.
This was all because of her.
A thousand thoughts, both useful and inane, swirled through her head in the eerily quiet moments after the call dropped, but one circled back time and time again.
