Stone Cold Heart (Tracers #13)(56)



The big silver grille in her rearview mirror.

Sara’s heart skittered, and she looked around. Where the hell was he? Had he taken off?

Leaves rustled behind her. Sara jerked her head around, sending pain shooting down her spine.

She scanned the area, gripped by the sudden certainty that she wasn’t alone.

Go.

Go go go.

She rushed back to her Explorer and grabbed the phone from the cupholder, then stumbled away from the wreck. Swiping at the leaves and branches, she climbed from the ditch. Her foot slipped, and she ended up palms-down on the gravel, her phone in the dirt as she stared at the pavement just inches from her nose.

Scrambling to her feet, she stepped clear of the highway and looked around. The lanes were empty, and relief washed over her. If there had been a car coming, she could have been killed.

Her relief evaporated as she did a slow turn and realized there wasn’t anyone in sight who might help her.

Where was the man who’d rammed into her? She saw no sign of him, but fear took hold as she pictured him lurking nearby.

Sara scooped up her phone. Her fingers trembled as she tapped the emergency call button.

No service.

Frustration burned her throat as she stared down at the screen. She cursed and looked around. No cars. No people. Dusk was falling, and she felt an urgent need to get away from the accident scene.

Accident. Yeah, right. She’d been run off the road.

Noise in the distance. A car, or maybe a truck, by the sound of it. She stepped up to the highway and prepared to flag it down.

Then she thought better of it. Maybe it was him. The engine grew louder. Panic took hold of her as she glanced around. She was out here unarmed. Defenseless. She was a sitting duck. She should hide, and then at least she could see who it was before they saw her.

Sara plunged into the woods.

? ? ?

Nolan swerved onto the shoulder and jammed to a halt beside Crowley’s patrol car. Sara’s Explorer was about ten yards up, ass-first in a ditch.

Nolan jumped out. “Where is she?”

Crowley held up a finger, telling him to wait as he finished a radio transmission.

Nolan jogged to the Explorer. No one inside. He whipped his phone from his pocket as he looked around. For the fourth time, he called her, and for the fourth time, he got kicked straight to voice mail.

“God damn it!” Nolan rounded the SUV, checking out the dented back panel.

His gaze swept over the ground, but he saw no footprints, no blood trails.

“Maybe she flagged a ride.”

He glanced up at Crowley. “No way.”

“Well, I just talked to dispatch,” Crowley said. “They took a call eight minutes ago about the accident.”

“Was it her?”

“No. Some passing car.” Crowley looked up and down the road. “No sign of a driver at the scene, so they didn’t stop.”

Nolan was back at the door, leaning into the front seat. Sara’s phone was nowhere. A camera sat on the floor alongside her purse. Her wallet and a lipstick had spilled out.

“Fuck!”

“You think she caught a ride?” Crowley asked from behind him.

“Not without her purse.”

Nolan went around to the other side, slipping on the ditch and catching himself on a tree limb. He glanced down and spotted a gouge in the dirt where someone else had recently pulled the same move. Looking around, he still didn’t see any footprints, but something on a leaf caught his eye.

Blood.

Nolan’s heart lurched. He knelt for a closer look and saw more dark droplets on some weeds.

“Damn, is that a blood trail?” Crowley asked.

Nolan pushed past him, plowing through the brush. The trees and shrubs hugged the hillside, but then the road curved up ahead, and the wall of rock gave way to a tangle of bushes and trees.

“Sara!” Nolan jogged along the shoulder, darting his gaze everywhere at once.

She hadn’t taken her purse. Why the hell had she left her vehicle without her purse?

Maybe she wasn’t thinking clearly. Maybe she was injured. Obviously, she was injured. There was blood leading away from the wreck.

Nolan’s chest tightened. He couldn’t breathe. Ever since her call had dropped, he’d felt like his lungs wouldn’t work. He scanned the highway now, desperate for any sign of her.

“Sara!”

Nolan reached the curve. No more blood trail that he could see. He headed down into the ravine, fighting his way through the thorny brush.

Someone had been behind her, trying to run her off the road. Or maybe she’d skidded off the road. Either way, she was scared. Maybe she’d decided to hide.

Kaylin Baird’s faced flashed into his mind, and Nolan’s heart squeezed.

Always too late. Always too late, and he had no idea what the fuck was happening.

“Sara!”

He skidded down a slope, grabbing a branch as he almost fell.

“Nolan.”

He whipped around.

“Nolan.”

He caught a flash of white through the trees. He ran toward it, batting the branches out of his way.

Sara sat on a rotten tree trunk holding her hand to her forehead. Blood streamed down her face.

Nolan’s heart missed a beat, and he rushed over.

“Are you okay?”

She looked up, her eyes wide with fear. “Is he gone?”

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