Page 14 of Special Agent Isabella

Suddenly, the car swerved out and pulled up alongside… on the suddenly empty roadway. The mean-faced driver gave her the finger, then cut her off. Pulling into her lane without any warning, it took all of Bella’s concentration to avoid an accident.

Jesus, she wished she’d have been alone in her FBI unmarked SUV. She’d have flashed her lights and flipped on the siren so she could have had a little word with that looney female driving hazard.

All the while she was imagining the satisfaction, she didn’t hear Abbie until the child called her name louder. “Bella, that lady was being awful, wasn’t she?”

Shrugging her shoulders, Bella made her tone nonchalant. “I guess she’s in a hurry.”

“She had time to wave her rude finger.”

“True. Probably doesn’t like the way I’m driving.” Before she could say more, she saw the accident waiting to happen. She’d come around a blind bend and saw that the car in question had stopped sideways in the middle of their lane. If she hadn’t been trained in a precision obstacle course, she’d have slammed into the barrier.

Instead, yelling at Abbie to hold on, she twisted the wheel and floored the gas. Passing the vehicle on the right, she headed into the deep slanted ditch. Fighting the wheel, maneuvering firmly, she kept going until a place appeared where it would be safe to drive out again.

While she fought the car from tipping over, she gave thanks to the Almighty that the uneven terrain allowed a vehicle a pathway. If there’d been trees or vegetation, it would have forced her to pull into the lane of oncoming vehicles. Would she have made it? Maybe. But probably not.

Her instincts screamed at her to stop, go back, and yank the idiot out of the blocking car. Then beat the bejesus out of her for the reckless behavior. But she didn’t. Instead, she called into the office, told them the make and model of the car and its location, asking them to track the driver.

“That was fun, Bella.” Abbie’s voice from the back seat came across calmly. Relieved, Bella’s tension eased.

“You think so? My eyes are still rolling in their sockets, kiddo.”

Giggling at her funny comeback, Abbie shrieked. “Can you do it again?”

Seriously? Didn’t Abbie realize how close they came to an accident with that stalled vehicle, or worse, flipping the car? “Nope. At least I hope I won’t have to. There’s not a lot of crazies on the road like her.”

“She’s always mad. I’ve seen her before. She likes to follow us.”

As soon as she heard those words, Bella slowed the car and looked in the rearview mirror. “Tell me about the other times.”

Abbie, distracted by the oncoming flashing lights, only added, “She drives by and stares into the car.”

“Is she always alone?”

“Yes. And she doesn’t like kids.”

“How do you figure?”

“I waved at her once, but she never waved back. I think she’s angry a lot. Her face never smiles.”

ChapterTwelve

Once they arrived at the school, Bella followed Stacy to her classroom, introduced herself to the teacher who was young and fresh-faced, and then she moved to sit at the back of the class. She’d noticed the interest that flared in the woman’s face and could see questions hovering, but she didn’t have time to play nice. More important, she needed to get a hold of Tanner and advise him of their near collision that morning.

Using an abrupt voice that always worked well as an agent, she shut off any conversation. When hurt flared in the teacher’s eyes, she realized she needed to tone it down in this atmosphere. Here, friendliness and even affection were used.

Like the way Miss Holder approached Abbie when they’d first entered the room. She’d knelt down in front of the child and reached out a gentle hand to pat her arm in welcome. “Hello, sweetheart. It’s nice to have you with us today. You’re going to love the class this morning. We’re going to work on Halloween decorations.”

Seeing that the woman kept Abbie close and had begun to gather her other chicks to the round tables in the front of the room, Bella used her phone to make the call.

Once she described the morning’s near miss, she heard the tension ramp up in his voice. “Are you both okay?”

“Yes. It was kind of crazy for a few minutes, but I was able to bypass the other car. I called it in and told them to hold her so we could have a chance to interview the nutjob. Seems Abbie recognized her. According to what she told me, she’s seen her before on the way to school.”

“Did you question her about it?”

“Kind of. She says the woman doesn’t like people.”

“How’d she figure that out?”

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