Stone Cold Heart (Tracers #13)(57)

CHAPTER 18


Sara leaned against the back of the police cruiser and watched the tow truck back up to her Explorer. The piercing beep beep beep made her head feel like it was about to explode. She closed her eyes. Her ribs ached. Her mouth tasted sour. She still felt queasy, and a layer of dust coated the back of her throat.

She stuffed the bloody wet wipe into her pocket and looked up the road at Nolan and Brad Crowley talking in low voices. Crowley kept glancing back at her, looking more and more nervous by the minute as he and Nolan swapped info.

Sara turned her attention to the tow-truck driver. Nolan knew him—big surprise. Nolan knew everyone. After attaching a winch to the front of her SUV, the man had slowly pulled it from the ditch. The back end was crumpled, but the rest looked okay.

Sara closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose. She ached everywhere, even her teeth. She needed an aspirin. Or better yet, a stiff drink.

The tow-truck driver slid behind the wheel of her Explorer. It started right up. Sara walked over as he revved the engine a few times.

“Thanks for getting me out of there,” she said.

“No problem. Your tires are okay, and your engine sounds fine.”

Nolan walked over. “You sure about that, Al?”

Al looked at Sara. “We can take it in and run some diagnostics if you’re worried about it.”

“That won’t be necessary, but thanks,” she told him. Then she walked around to the passenger side and retrieved her wallet from the floor. She dug out a credit card and handed it to the driver. He walked back to his rig.

Nolan gazed down at her. “How’s the head?”

“Better.”

“You dizzy?”

“A little.”

“I can take you to the ER to get checked out.”

“I’ll be fine.”

She touched the tender spot above her temple and bent down to check it in the side mirror. She didn’t remember hitting her head, but there was definitely a bump there. Most likely, she’d conked it when she slipped in the ditch before fleeing into the woods.

She straightened, and Nolan was watching her with a furrowed brow.

The tow-truck driver returned with her card and a receipt. “Come by the shop if you’d like a free estimate on the body work, ma’am.”

“I will, thank you.”

Nolan shook his hand. “Thanks, man.”

Sara watched him walk away.

“You shouldn’t be behind the wheel right now,” Nolan told her. “Let me drive you.”

She sighed because she knew he was right. “Fine.”

She opened the passenger door and gingerly slid into the seat. Nolan eased her door shut, then walked around and climbed in on the driver’s side. He adjusted the seat back and gave her a worried look as she carefully fastened her seat belt. Her ribs were bruised but not broken, and her main concern was the two-inch gash on her left shin.

“Sure you don’t want to hit the ER?”

“Yes.”

“How about the firehouse? I know the paramedics there, and they could see if you need stitches.”

“It’s just a few scrapes. All I need is a first-aid kit.”

He said something under his breath as he pulled onto the highway.

“What’s that?”

“Nothing.”

“I’m sorry you missed your task force meeting,” she said. “You really didn’t need to come all the way here.”

He shot her a look.

“Any chance you can still make it?”

“Talia can fill me in.”

Sara gazed out the window as the dusky landscape whisked by. She’d spent almost an hour out here on the highway dealing with this mess.

“What were you doing at Stony Creek Park?”

She glanced at him. “I wanted to have a look.”

“What did you think you’d find?” His voice had an edge now, and her defenses went up.

“We all seem to agree this area is the killer’s comfort zone,” she said. “We know he needs a new place to dispose of bodies now that his favorite park’s crawling with cops. And according to your APD contact, there’s a chance he has a victim with him as we speak.”

Nolan kept his gaze on the road, but the muscles on the side of his jaw tensed.

“What’s the problem with taking a look around?” she asked.

“You should leave that to the investigators.”

“I’m an investigator, thank you very much.”

“The police investigators. You work in a lab.”

“I work in a lot of places.” She folded her arms over her chest, annoyed with him for things that definitely weren’t his fault. He’d come out here to help her. Logically, she knew that, but she couldn’t help feeling shaken. And bitchy. And out of sorts.

She glanced at him, and the sight of his hand on her steering wheel made her feel better for some reason.

She had to be losing it.

Sara looked out the window. “What do you think the odds are it was him back there?”

Nolan kept his gaze on the road and didn’t answer.

“Nolan?”

“I don’t know. We have ninety-seven white Tahoes from that date range in this county and the surrounding three counties alone. So it could have been a lot of people.”