Page 37 of Tears on Her Grave

Trembling with fear and shock, Emily reached out to give Norrell a shake. “Are you okay? We need to get out. Undo your seatbelt. We’ll climb out the back. Your door is toast.”

“Oh, my God, he’s coming back.” Norrell struggled to undo her seatbelt without luck. “My right arm won’t move.” She let out a piercing scream. “He has an ax. He’s going to kill us.” She frantically tried to unclip her seatbelt.

In horror, Emily gaped out of the window. The man was strolling toward them holding an ax like a baseball bat over one shoulder, as if he had all the time in the world. She reached for her weapon but couldn’t get her fingers past the airbag. The next moment, the masked man swung the ax and smashed Norrell’s window. Shards of glass exploded over them like diamond rain. She gaped in terror as he raised the ax again, his eyes fixed on Norrell. Emily stretched out a hand to pull her toward her but she still hung in her seatbelt. “Nooo.”

Thewhoop whoopof a siren screamed in the distance. The trees lit up with red and blue flashing lights. The man cursed loudly, turned, and ran back to his truck and then took off at high speed in a squeal of tires. Heart thundering, Emily, fought against the airbags. Brown water was oozing through the seals in the door and lapping over the windshield. Beside her, Norrell was crying and blood was oozing through her shirt.

Seconds later, a sheriff’s department truck with the lights flashing skidded to a halt beside them and Raven jumped out. Raising her voice above the sound of gurgling water, Emily stared at him. “Get us out of here.”

“I’m on it.” Raven ran to the door, placed one foot on the side of the vehicle, and, muscles bulging, used brute strength to tearit open. The door whined as he wedged his body against it to keep it open.

Dizzy and with her back jammed to the door, Emily couldn’t reach Norrell to help her. She looked at Raven. “Norrell’s injured. Get her out quickly before we drown.”

“I’ve got you.” Raven pulled a knife, stabbed at the airbags, and cut through Norrell’s seatbelt. His gaze moved over Emily. “If you’re not injured, try and scramble toward the door.” With gentle care, he lifted Norrell out and placed her on the back seat of his truck before turning back.

Gritting her teeth, Emily dragged herself toward the open door, but with the airbag, she wasn’t getting far. The truck groaned and slipped deeper into the water. Panic gripped her as she fought to escape. The next moment, Raven returned, grabbed her arms, and lifted her out as if she weighed nothing. He set her down and assessed her injuries and then led her to his truck and opened the passenger door. She shook her head and leaned against the truck taking in his concerned expression. “I’m fine. I’ll take care of Norrell.” She smiled at his hesitancy. “It’s okay. I’m doing my residency in the ER at Black Rock Falls General.”

“That’s good to know. Norrell will be fine—bruises, is all.” Raven met her gaze with a smile. “Wolfe mentioned you being a fine medical examiner in training. So will you be working with him soon or flying the coop?”

Cheeks heating under his charm, Emily dropped her lashes. “I work with him now, but I have almost two more years of residency to go before I join the payroll. This is my home. I’m not going anywhere.” She dragged her gaze away from him. “Enough about me. Call Jenna. She needs to go after that guy. He’s probably the killer of those women. Where’s your med kit?”

“In the back.” He nodded and pulled out his phone. “I’ll call Jenna now.” He made the call and then returned to her side.“They’re in town and will be able to catch up to him along the highway. I doubt very much he’ll risk coming back this way.”

Emily helped Norrell out of her coat, and then pulled on examination gloves, noticing that Raven did the same. She grabbed tweezers from the med kit and commenced removing the glass shards from Norrell’s face, chest, and arm. As she took out the glass, Raven swabbed each small laceration. When she’d finished, she stood back as he examined Norrell’s arm. The skin was black in places, but she could move her fingers. She patted Norrell on the back. “There’s morphine here if you need it.”

“No, I’ll take some Tylenol if you have any.” Norrell looked at Raven. “Do you think it’s broken? It hurts real bad.”

“The impact hit your humerus and just a chip would be very painful, but I can’t feel any fractures. You’ll need X-rays to be sure.” He handed her a bottle of water and two pills. He took bandages from the kit, removed the wrapping, and bandaged her arm from wrist to shoulder and then placed it in a sling. “Now let me look at you, Emily.”

Emily took a step backward. “I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not. You have glass in your face and blood running down your neck. It’s true what they say about doctors making the worst patients.” Raven picked up the tweezers and poured antiseptic over them before removing the glass from Emily’s face. “We need to call Blackhawk and let him know what’s happened. He’ll be still waiting for us at the end of the trail.”

“I’m not going to the hospital, well, not yet anyway.” Norrell looked at them with a determined expression. “If that was the killer, he did this to prevent me from going to the crime scene. I don’t need to do anything other than instruct my team. Blackhawk said it was only a very short walk from the river to the cave.”

Emily nodded. “I figure we should go too. She’s right. This was done to stop Norrell excavating the crime scene.”

“Have you two lost your minds? Shock could set in at any time.” Raven looked from one to the other. “You’re both doctors and you know the risks. You’ve just been in a car wreck.”

“I was scared stupid but I’m not in shock.” Norrell stared at him with stubborn expression. “I have Viking blood. We don’t stop work because of a few small cuts and bruises.”

“Okay, I guess there’s no reasoning with you.” Raven sighed and finished up tending to Emily’s wounds. “I spent time with Julie, and I know just how stubborn Wolfe women are.” He looked at Emily. “If you insist on going, you’d better call your dad.”

Emily nodded. “We are stubborn and tough. I’ll call a tow truck first. There’s no need to worry my dad right away. He’s busy today.” She made the call to Millers’ Garage. “They’ll pick up the truck and we’ll sort it out later. You won’t mind filing a report for the insurance, will you?”

“Not a problem.” Raven gave her a long searching look. “Just as long as you promise to tell your dad you both refused to go to the hospital. I don’t want him knocking on my door late tonight. I’ve seen him angry and it isn’t nice.”

Emily chuckled. “He’s great, isn’t he? He and Dave are so gentle unless anyone threatens their families. It was annoying when I was younger, but now I appreciate him. I like being protected. That’s a quality I respect in a man. Maybe I’m the old-fashioned kind, just like them.”

“I like it too.” Norrell leaned back in the seat and stroked Ben’s head. “He makes me feel special.”

“Okay, I guess I’ll take you old-fashioned gals to the crime scene and hope we don’t get into any more trouble.” Raven smiled at them. “I’ll grab your stuff from the truck.”

As he walked away, Emily turned in her seat to look at Norrell. “I figure he’s my knight in shining armor. That’s twice now he’s just appeared and saved my life.” She lowered her voice to just above a whisper. “Coincidence or fate?”

“I’d say time will decide.” Norrell rubbed her sore arm and winced. “When we’re through here, I’ll take the morphine. This hurts so bad, but I need to keep my head straight. I just hope we find something to nail that maniac.”

Emily nodded. “So do I.”

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