Page 112 of Double Take

James pulled his weapon, moved so he could keep Lainie in view, and aimed it at the top of the embankment. If the man who’d caused this showed his face, he was going to lose it. But a choking sound behind him had him scurrying back to the driver. The guy’s eyes were open and fixed on James, fear glinting in their hazel depths.

“Hey, buddy.” James took his hand. “You’re going to be all right. My friend is every bit as skilled as a doctor and will be right back with the first aid kit.”

“Th-thank you,” he whispered.

“What’s your name?” James asked as he did as Lainie said. A quick examination showed one bullet hole in the man’s left shoulder.

“Tate Olsen.”

“Well, Tate, you’re going to be just fine.” He would have told him that even if it was a lie, but the wound shouldn’t be fatal. Then again, he wasn’t the one with medical experience. No telling what other injuries he’d sustained when he was thrown from the vehicle. He’d fallen a long way. He glanced up the incline and Lainie had disappeared. No doubt in the Jeep getting the kit.

When he turned his attention back to the driver, the man’s eyes were closed. “Hey, hey, man, wake up.”

Nothing.

James checked his pulse.

Nothing.

“Aw, dude, don’t do this.” He rolled to his knees, wincing as his leg protested with a stab of pain, and started compressions.

Twenty-Four

Lainie climbed, ignoring the throbbing in her head, the ache in every muscle, the sting of the seat belt burn, all of it. A man needed help and she was going to help him. Finally, she reached the Jeep and worked her way around to the back of it, breathing hard. She pulled the back gate open and leaned in, looking for the box James had described.

Something hard jammed into her left kidney and she froze.

“Hello, Lainie. I have to say, you may just be the hardest person on the planet to kill.” She took a deep breath. “Don’t do it,” the voice warned and she cut off the scream. “Call out to him and he dies. I have the perfect shot from here and you can see that for yourself. He’ll never know what hit him.”

James was bent over the delivery driver, and she had no idea what had happened to the police officers who’d gone over the side of the mountain. And the cruiser behind, what had happened to them?

“Why?” She whispered. “Why?”

“Money. Why else? Now, climb when I say climb and I’ll let him live. Fight me and I’ll shoot him now.”

Money?

She looked back at James to see him doing CPR on the man. He was completely and fully occupied. A fact which her abductor was aware of. He lifted the gun, placed it alongside her ear, and aimed it at James.

“Fine,” she said, “I’ll go.”

“You first. I’m right behind you.”

She still hadn’t seen the face of the man. “You’re not Adam. Your voice is wrong.”

“Oh, I’m Adam all right.”

But he wasn’t. She knew it with every fiber of her being, so who was he?

With her heart in her throat and a prayer on her lips, she forced herself to head for the road. Where were the cops who’d gone over the side? Where was the other cruiser?Please let them be alive.She placed one foot in front of the other while her mind spun. Maybe there would be a passing car, or James had miraculously gotten ahold of the police—or something. But when she pulled herself up and onto the side of the road, all was quiet. Except for the waiting van parked on the side. And the second cruiser was crunched up against a large tree with no movement in sight. She searched for an escape, a weapon, anything.

But there was nothing, and panic set in.

“Get in the van.” He shoved her toward the back, and she contemplated a run toward the woods.

“If you don’t cooperate, I’ll shoot you, then go back and shoot them. Your choice.”

She climbed in, noted a figure in the driver’s seat. The person turned and something glinted. A flash. Almost like a spark. “Who—” Something wet hit her in the face, and within seconds the world wobbled. “What did you...”

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