Page 30 of Carter's Battle

“I’m sure it was a shock. How did it come about, did Emery say?”

Dahlia shrugged. “She didn’t say but I got the impression they had a man on the inside.”

Mia’s heart thundered and her stomach pitched downward, the kind of roll a surfer might feel sliding into a trough. She battled the resulting nausea. If the cops had a man on the inside then they were bound to know Mia had been gambling. Worse yet, her uncle might think she was the inside person.

“You okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Dahlia’s face filled with concern.

Mia waved her off. “Sorry. Just been a long week.” She stood. “You know what? I think I’m gonna head home. Take a bath, eat, and make an early night of it.” She stepped onto the foot rail and leaned across the bar to give her friend a hug.

“Don’t work so hard, Mia. Take care of yourself. Better yet, get Carter to take care of you.” Dahlia grinned.

Mia gave her a halfhearted smile as she waved and then left. Before she pulled away from her parking space, she sent a text to Carter to let him know she was leaving Ohana’s and heading to her place. She wanted to pick up some clothes. The wrap dress had been fine for gambling and even working, but she wantedcomfy clothes now and she really wanted a shower. She would throw some things in a bag and meet him back at the ranch.

The sun had set by the time she’d showered and gotten back on the road. She hadn’t heard from Carter, but he’d said they might work late. Her stomach rumbled and she realized it was her turn to pick up dinner. She ran through a list of options in her head, then decided on Chinese. She stopped at her favorite spot and picked up a few different things, hoping Carter would like her choices. Then she was back on the road.

She was just outside of town on her way to the ranch when headlights popped up in her rearview mirror. The glare was blinding. The car behind her was running with high beams. It wasn’t dark enough to warrant that yet. She tilted the mirror a bit and then glanced in the side mirror. The headlights were a lot closer.

“Someone’s in a hurry,” she murmured. She glanced down at the speedometer. She was slightly over the speed limit. The driver of that car could go around her if they were in that much of a hurry. She was not speeding up. She checked the rearview mirror again. The vehicle behind her looked like some sort of SUV, and it was way too close for comfort.

Dread thrummed in her chest. Was this Bobby, or Peter, or worse, one of her uncle’s people? A shiver raced down her back, but she was determined not to panic. Panicking would only put her in more danger. Horror filled her at the thought that this was how her parents might have felt just before the crash.

The SUV behind her came closer still. Her sweaty palms slipped on the wheel as her gaze went from the road to her mirrors then back to the road again. It was wide open, and there were dotted lines coming up. Maybe they were just getting ready to pass? The dotted lines came and went. The SUV stayed behind her, mere inches from her bumper. She glanced over to the passenger seat, but her purse was too far away for her to reachher cell. God, how stupid could she have been? Carter warned her not to go out today, but she hadn’t listened. Regret fought with fear as she glanced in her rear view mirror once again.

Suddenly her car jolted. Mia screamed as she gripped the wheel hard, trying to keep her vehicle on the road. The truck rammed her again, harder this time. Her seatbelt held her in place, but she jerked the wheel accidentally and veered out of her lane. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest as she tried to figure out what to do. The road was empty for miles, and she was climbing. If she went off the road, it was a long drop.

She looked in the mirror, but the SUV had dropped back. It was slowing down, and the headlights were getting smaller. Mia sagged with relief. Whoever it was had stopped. Maybe they’d realized they were playing a dangerous game. Or maybe they were just trying to scare her.You were wildly successful. Mia just wanted to get back to the ranch. Another glance in the rearview mirror revealed the lights were gone.

Mia slumped and eased her grip on the wheel and put her hand over her heart. Dear God, she did not need any more scares tonight. Just then, her cell went off and she jerked her shoulders. It had to be Carter trying to reach her. She would be at the ranch in ten minutes and she couldn’t wait. She just wanted to spend the rest of the night with Carter. He made her feel safe and secure and sexy as hell. Sighing she thought about how she wanted to be in his arms right now.

Her car suddenly rocked forward. Mia’s scream filled the interior. She wrestled with the wheel to keep the vehicle on the road. The SUV was back, only this time the lights were off. She braced for a second hit. The SUV pulled around as if to pass her and hit her back tire dead center. Mia fought with the wheel, but the car turned sideways. The other driver hit the brights, and she was temporarily blinded as the SUV crashed into the side of her car again, pushing her. She looked out the passenger sidewindow and saw…nothing. She was off the road with nothing but air around her.

Her tires lost their grip on the road, and the car vaulted over the guardrail. She screamed as she rolled over again and again. The cacophony of shattering glass and bending metal was deafening. It seemed to last forever. And then, sudden silence. Mia tried to focus, to keep her eyes open, but everything was just one big blur.

CHAPTER 17

Carter staredat the dot on his phone. Mia hadn’t answered any of his calls and he’d gone from assuming she was on her way to the ranch to actively worrying that something had happened. He’d been pissed when he came home and she wasn’t there. He’d tried to warn her going out wasn’t a great idea but he hadn’t wanted to scare her to death about her uncle and that her life might be in danger.

The dot wasn’t moving and his mood shifted from pissed to worried. He grabbed his keys and raced from the cabin. Two minutes later, his tires squealed as he roared around a curve and raced down the road toward the stationary dot. If anything had happened to Mia, he wouldn’t forgive himself.

Mia openedher eyes and couldn’t understand where she was. It took a full minute for her to comprehend that she was on her left side looking out the splintered but still intact windshield. The headlights of her car lit up the trees and disappeared into the sky. She took a deep breath then halted abruptlyas pain screamed through her torso. Breathing shallowly, she inventoried her state, raging headache and her mouth tasted coppery. Wiggling her fingers and toes for reassurance, she concluded that other than a bump on the head and some hopefully just bruised ribs, she was all right.Thank God for the airbags.The blood in her mouth was probably a result of the airbag inflating right in her face. Her lip stung when she ran her tongue over it, likely a cut also from the shock of the airbag. Still, she was alive.

Gravel crunched and footsteps scraped along, and she froze. Someone had run her off the road. Were they coming back to help, or finish the job? Someone was coming down the embankment. Two someone’s by the sound of things.

Terror made her heart slam double-time, making her breathe even more shallowly. What the hell was she going to do? Even if she could get her seatbelt undone, she would have to crawl up across the passenger seat and go out the passenger side window and then she’d have to jump down to the ground. She wasn’t sure she could do it.

The sounds were louder now. Mia swore. She didn’t have a choice. Chances were good whoever it was would try and kill her. She couldn’t stay there and help them succeed. She jabbed the release button on the seatbelt hard, and thankfully, it freed her. It took several tries to shift enough to get her feet beneath her, Finally, she crouched with her feet straddling the open space where the driver’s side window used to be.

She tried to straighten up and pull herself upward, but she didn’t have the strength in her arms and her ribs protested the harsh pulling of each attempt.

She glanced out the windshield. Maybe she could push it out and get out that way. She’d just lifted one foot to kick at it when a voice said, “Don’t fucking move.”

She jumped and let out a small scream. Looking up, she met the gaze of Mikey. He was looking down at her through the passenger-side window. “What do you want, Mikey? Why did you run me off the road?” she demanded.

He just grunted and she quickly concluded that he was having problems climbing onto the side of the car. While he was struggling with that, she could still kick out the windshield and get away. She gave it a kick, once, twice, and then pushed at it with her hands.

“What the fuck are you doing? Stop it. Stop or I’ll shoot you.”

Mia looked up at him again. He was still struggling to get onto the side of the car, gun clutched awkwardly in his hand. She had nothing to lose because he sure as hell wasn’t planning to let her leave the car alive. Even with a massive headache, she knew he was going to shoot her either way.

---