Page 29 of Everybody Needs a Hero

Bryce didn’t know, but they worried her. A lot.

Bitingher lip while they waited on the corner, Tess had watched the street for the familiar white Pathfinder. For her, Bryce could not get back fast enough. Not only because she wanted to get everyone home in case there were more shakes, but the crowd behind them was coming unglued. Just when she thought something might have gone wrong with Bryce’s attempt to get the car, the Pathfinder turned the corner a second before pulling up to the curb beside them. The minute Bryce stepped out of the driver’s seat, Ashley was in her arms. Even wanting to hurry, it made her happy to see her daughter with someone as incredible as Bryce Cooper.

Then, the earth shook again. Not much, but enough to send her heart racing. Three small quakes in a row somehow seemed a warning that worse was yet to come. “Please, let’s get in the car and go,” she said, working to keep her voice even. She sensed Ashley was genuinely struggling, undoubtedly brought on by her earlier experience at the Venice Beach boardwalk, and she wanted to appear as calm as possible.

Thankfully, Drew acted with the same relaxed demeanor while quickly taking the driver’s seat. “Your house?” she asked when Tess settled in on the front passenger side. “And put on your seatbelt.”

Tess obeyed as she nodded. “Yes, I think that’s best,” she said, looking into the back. Ashley was buckled in the middle seat to sit closer to Bryce. Seeing her daughter so shaken, Tess reached to touch her knee. “We’re going to be okay, Ashley.” She looked at Bryce. “Do you agree going to Beverly Hills is the right thing to do?”

Bryce nodded. “Honestly, anywhere but here is a win,” she said. “Downtown LA is not an optimal place to be right now.”

Tess had to agree. Skyrises as high as seventy-three stories surrounded them.If anything significant starts to happen, no matter how earthquake-proof people say they are, stuff will start falling,she thought.Likely big, heavy stuff.Visions of the Pathfinder peppered with massive concrete chunks threatened to put her in a panic, but she fought the fears off. There was no sense in imagining the worst case scenarios.

As if sensing her internal battle, Drew grabbed Tess’s hand to give it a gentle squeeze. “Nothing but positive thoughts, remember?” she said, and Tess did her best to give the wonderful, confident, levelheaded woman a reassuring smile.

“You’re right,” she said, refocusing on the present moment and the situation they were in. “I’m sorry. I’m overreacting.” Looking out the windshield, she saw nothing but brake lights. Cars, trucks, and busses surrounded them moving in fits and starts. Everyone had the same idea they did—get out of downtown. Much of the workforce in the heart of downtown LA lived elsewhere. Even though it was early afternoon, the series of shakes was enough to send people scattering for home. Tess shook her head in frustration. “Traffic is crazy. We could sit here for hours.”

Drew nodded. “Unfortunately, you’re right,” she said. “Everyone wants to get on the Harbor Freeway because it’s the fastest way out of downtown.”

Tess pursed her lips, trying to decide what to do.But is that the way we want to go?she wondered when Bryce spoke up.

“Don’t take the freeway,” she said in a tone harsher than Tess had heard before. The woman paused, clearly recognizing how she sounded. “I’m sorry. I mean it’s likely to be backed up as bad. And, well…”

Tess glanced back at the hesitation and saw Ashley resting her head on Bryce’s shoulder. Her eyes were closed. “What are you thinking?” Tess asked softly but had already guessed what the Marine would say. She didn’t need the military to see the risk once she thought things over. Still, she waited for Bryce to answer.

“Because if there’s another earthquake, we don’t want to be trapped on there.”

23

With her eyes closed, leaning her head on Bryce’s firm shoulder in the backseat of the Pathfinder, Ashley loved how solid the woman felt.That and how she smells, Ashley thought. Not like any perfume or something store-bought necessarily but simply her unique scent. Over the last few days, cuddling on the couch and in bed, she didn’t realize how used to Bryce she had become.Right now, she comforts the hell out of me. I swear I will stay like this until we are back at Mom’s house.

Lost in her thoughts, Ashley wasn’t paying much attention to what the other three were saying until Bryce suggested walking somewhere. Ashley reluctantly lifted her head. “Wait. What? We’re walking clear to Beverly Hills?” she asked, hoping she misunderstood. The distance had to be at least a dozen miles. “You can’t be serious.”

“I know it sounds a little much,” Bryce said, taking her hand. “But not necessarily that far. We are considering all our options.” Being in good shape from running, Ashley could walk for twelve miles, and Bryce certainly could, but she wasn’t too sure about her mom and Drew. At the least, it would take them hours. Plus, it would be dark soon, not to mention it would be in the rain which had started up again. “We are only thinking we would walk far enough away from the traffic jam that we can find a taxi or an Uber or something.”

Although that explanation sounded more practical to Ashley, leaving the car’s safety and walking in the rain didn’t feel right. “Why can’t we wait here?” she asked, glancing around. Not a single car moved as she watched. The traffic jam had the makings of becoming something epic, even by LA standards. “I know we aren’t moving, but we are safe and dry.”

Apparently not the only person frustrated about the situation, Ashley heard a car horn in the distance. The sound wasn’t only a honk from time to time but a long, persistent, almost angry noise. And it was quickly getting closer. “What the hell?” Bryce said, looking over her shoulder in the direction of the noise. Ashley followed her gaze and saw a black truck, taller than the other vehicles around it, coming through traffic. Raised on large tires, the truck was big and pushing through the two lanes of cars, forcing people to pull out of the way. She heard Bryce growl with frustration. “Drew, you need to pull over as far to the right as you can. The jerk isn’t stopping.”

“I see him. There’s not much I can do,” Drew said, pressing the Pathfinder up against the parked cars along the street. Ashley expected to feel the touch of another car at any second the woman was so close. Instead, all she heard was honking coming from behind as the truck closed in. The driver was relentless, pushing smaller sedans and SUVs aside with the rhino guard rack on the front. For a fleeting moment, Ashley wondered why anyone would have that sort of setup in downtown Los Angeles, and then the truck was only a few cars behind them. When a smaller pickup truck didn’t yield, the driver of the bigger vehicle laid on the horn. Hating the obnoxious sound, Ashley covered her ears while watching in shock as the truck slammed into the other one. There was a crunch of metal and glass. Rather than give up, the driver of the smaller truck swerved further into the path, hitting his own horn.

Bryce shook her head. “That’s not helping the situation,” she muttered, and as if to prove her right, the big truck revved its engine a second before plowing forward. Unable to withstand the powerful surge of the stronger vehicle, the small truck started to slip to the side, giving its opponent enough space to swerve around him. As the drivers shouted obscenities at each other out their windows, Ashley saw what was going to happen a moment before it did. Not paying attention to the road in front of him, the driver drifted on a beeline for Drew’s vehicle.

Drew heard Bryce say,“Everybody hold on,” one second before the giant truck slammed into her vehicle. Even with her foot on the break, the impact forced her into the car in front of them and only the locking seatbelt saved her from banging her head into the windshield.

“Son of a bitch,” she said as the strap dug into her shoulder. In the ER, she saw car crash victims come in with bruises across their bodies from where the seatbelt held them in place. Considering the alternative, it was a good injury to have, but at the moment, it hurt like hell. As if she did something to cause the crash, the driver of the big truck laid on his horn while flipping her off as he roared past.

Seeing enough of the stupidity, she focused on Tess. “Are you okay?” she asked, and the woman nodded although there was blood on her lip.

“I bit my lip when he hit us,” she said, dabbing at her face with her fingertips while turning to look in the backseat. “Are you two all right?”

Drew glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Ashley nodding. “Just pissed,” she said, with more spirit in her voice than she had since they got in the Pathfinder. “What an asshole.”

Aside from being in total agreement, Drew was glad to see Tess’s daughter perking up a little bit. She could tell the tremors had been affecting her more than the rest of them. For Drew they were scary and concerning, but Ashley acted terrified. Until the truck hit them anyway. That appeared to make her angry enough she stopped thinking about earthquakes.

“He sure was,” she heard Bryce say although she couldn’t see her in the mirror at the angle they were sitting. “Some people feel entitled and think they can do whatever they want. No matter what the consequences.”

Drew was about to agree when someone tapped on her window. Startled, she looked into the face of an angry woman standing in the rain. She pointed at the small red Honda Civic in front of Drew’s vehicle with a shaking finger. Even though she couldn’t see all the damage, the back of the little car looked smashed like an accordion. “You hit my car,” the stranger yelled through the glass. “I hope you have insurance.”

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