Page 49 of Blink of an Eye
"We could have hit that child," I managed to get out. My teeth were chattering with shock. "If—if—"
"I know," he said grimly. "Are you hurt?"
I shook my head. "No, you?"
"I'm fine. But whoever is screwing with us is about to have a very bad day."
He yanked his door open and hopped out, striding straight over to the parents of the little boy. They were still thanking him for his quick reaction by the time I got my seatbelt unbuckled and joined them.
"Is he okay?"
The mom smiled, blinking back tears. "Yes, thanks to your friend's quick thinking."
The dad grabbed Jack's hand and shook it. "Thank you so much. I work in the garage just off the highway. I'd be happy to fix it. No charge. Brakes rarely go out suddenly like that."
"No," Jack said. "They don't."
"Thank you," I told the man. "We'll get it towed to your shop."
"But I'll pay for it," Jack said.
Uncle Mike usually fixed the things that went wrong on my cars, but the whole front end of the truck was smashed.
We said our goodbyes and walked back over to the truck. I was catching my breath, but I was furious. Whoever was messing with us had put an innocent child in danger.
"This has to stop. Now."
"I agree," Jack said. "Why don't we get a car and go see Nigel and Erin right now?"
I blew out a breath. "First, we need to make some calls."
I called Dead End Towing and asked Larry to come out. Then I called Aunt Ruby, otherwise known as the mayor of Dead End, and reported to her voicemail, playing down how dangerous it had been.
Finally, I called Andy just to let him know what was happening.
"Tess, your life is never dull," the deputy said in a resigned voice. "Do you have me on your phone's favorites list?"
"I should. Sorry. None of this is anything I asked for."
We waited, not saying much, for the twenty minutes it took Larry to get there. Jack helped him maneuver things, and then we watched the tow truck drive off.
"Right. Since we're downtown anyway, why don't we go to Eleanor's house? I think she's avoided us for long enough and I want to know why her car accident felt 'important' to a psychic."
Jack raised an eyebrow. "You don't want to confront Erin right now?"
"It's not that so much as I'm afraid I'll try to beat her head in with my dance trophy. Anyway, Eleanor's house is just a couple of blocks from here."
He nodded, and we started walking.
When we turned the corner to her street, we could see Eleanor and Bill sitting on the porch on her swing. But before we reached her house, Bill stood up, turned to face Eleanor, and then heknelt down.
"Oh, my goodness!" I grabbed Jack's arm. "He's proposing! Right here and now!"
"Maybe Eleanor had her own upcoming wedding on her mind," he said, amusement in his voice.
We couldn't hear Bill, but I think everybody in Dead End heard Eleanor. She flung her arms around him and shouted, "Yes! Yes! Of course I will!"
"I'm not an expert in emotional stuff, but this doesn't seem like a great time to ask her if she had anything to do with killing Earl."
