Josh stopped at the red light, and then floored the big SUV after a car passed from the left.
I looked right and screamed, “Look out!”
I grabbed for the armrest—not that it would do any good. If he misjudged, my side would take the hit from the pickup barreling toward us.
“Trust me,” Josh said for the third time as we surged through the intersection, well ahead of the oncoming truck.
“Either slow down or let me out,” I demanded.
He didn’t do either as we raced for the next light. “If she’s bleeding, seconds matter.”
“She’s not bleeding. Slow the fuck down before you kill us both.”
He let off the gas a little. “You said lots of blood.”
“She said there was a lot of blood, notherblood. Now slow down or let me the fuck out.”
He slowed and stopped at the next red light without checking like he was going to run through it.
“Thank you for caring.” I put a hand on his shoulder.
He’d been driving like a madman to get to Lara, to save Lara. I looked over at the face of the man I’d once thought wanted to destroy me. He’d told me he’d take care of me, and now he’d shown me again that he cared.
Warm eyes looked back at me. He didn’t know Lara. All it took for him to want to help her was to know she was important to me. That he cared enough about me and about Lara to break every traffic law known to man to get us to her made me blush.
“What?” he asked.
I’d been staring and not realizing it. “Thank you for being you.”
“You’re weird, you know that? Now, tell me exactly what she said.”
I closed my eyes for a second to recall Lara’s words. “‘There’s so much blood,’ were her words.”
“And?”
“She was sobbing so hard it was hard to understand her. She said, ‘It’s happening again.’”
The light turned green, and Josh accelerated in a rush, but not maniacally. “What’s happening again?”
“I think she means like Vern.” I hoped to God I was wrong.
“She was scared, she was sobbing, and except for the lots of blood comment, that’s all I understood.”
He offered his hand to me. “Remember, touch lessens anxiety.”
I took it. “I hope that’s not what she meant.”
He nodded. “I guess we’ll see when we get there.”
I drew strength from his hold on my hand. “I’m scared for her.”
A smile grew on his face. “You can lean on me, Nickels.”
As we turned the corner, the row of cop cars came into view, all with their lights flashing.
Josh couldn’t park any closer than in front of Lenz’s house.
I got out. The scene was horrific.