Emmy bleeped open the Viper and jumped into the driver’s seat. For a brief moment, Nick considered snatching the keys, but although he hated to admit it, he knew she was the faster driver. As Emmy gunned the engine and peeled off down the road, he punched the target location into her GPS unit.
Three miles to go, and the speedometer crept over a hundred miles per hour.
Two miles, and Emmy missed an SUV by inches as she overtook a semi. Nick leaned his head back against the seat and prayed for his own safety as well as Lara’s.
One mile, and the smell of burnt rubber permeated throughout the cabin.
Then Emmy skidded to a halt. “It says we’re here.”
“Then where the hell’s the car?”
The wooded road was deserted, with no streetlights, no traffic, and no fucking Ferrari.
“What’s that?” Emmy pointed ahead.
Nick squinted into the gloom. “Looks like a car, but it’s not mine.”
Emmy reached under her seat to retrieve her gun of choice, a Walther P88, and stuffed it into her waistband.
“Let’s take a closer look.”
The engine growled as the Viper rolled forward, and Nick focused on the light-coloured sedan ahead. A Nissan Sentra, maybe? He couldn’t see a driver, and all its lights were off.
Emmy slammed on the brakes as both of them caught movement from the tree line. “What the...?”
Nick didn’t bother to reply. He leapt out of the car and ran for the man scrambling out of the trees, cradling a woman in his arms.
Oh fuck. No! It couldn’t be.
It was.
Lara’s head lolled to the side, and the trickle of blood running down her temple glistened in the Viper’s headlights.
“Her car went off the road right in front of me!”
“Is she alive?”
The stranger glanced up at Nick but didn’t stop walking. “She has a pulse. I’m taking her to the hospital.”
Emmy planted herself between the man and the Sentra. “In that?” She jerked her head towards his car, never taking her eyes off him. “You’re bloody not. She could have spinal injuries. You shouldn’t even have got her out of the car.”
He looked back towards the trees. “I couldn’t just leave her there. It might have caught fire.”
“Unlikely. Put her down.”
“Trust me, I’m a cop. It’ll be okay.”
“Oh, really? You’re a cop? Then you should know better than to move an unconscious woman like that. Now put her the fuck down.”
In her heels, Emmy stood an inch taller than the guy, and he took a step backwards. Nick added his six-foot-two frame into the mix as well as his voice.
“Do exactly as the lady says. Put the girl on the ground. Gently. Then do something useful and flag down the ambulance that’s on its way.”
No doubt realising his idea of driving an injured girl to the hospital himself wasn’t a sensible one, the man lowered Lara to the damp asphalt and stepped back. Nick and Emmy dropped to their knees in an instant, and Nick said a thousand silent thank-yous for the medical training he and Emmy had undergone over the past couple of decades.
“Pulse?” Emmy asked.
“Faint, but there.”
“Good. She’s breathing, but she’s hit her head and fuck knows what else. She needs medical attention, and quickly.”
Emmy rocked back on her heels and pulled out her phone. For once she’d managed to keep it intact, and for that Nick had to be grateful. A few seconds later, she spoke to the control room.
“Matt? The ambulance—where is it?” A brief pause. “Tell them to hurry the hell up.”
She tossed the phone to the side and got to her feet. “They’re two minutes out. And our buddy isn’t sticking around.”
Nick glanced up to see the wannabe hero’s car careering off along the road. A second later, the tail lights rounded the bend up ahead at speed.
“Fuck. So much for helping.”
“Don’t think about him right now—Lara’s our priority. I’ll get the first aid kit out of the trunk.”
Nick’s hands shook as he grabbed the blanket Emmy brought back and tucked it around Lara. Not again. Please, not again. One woman he loved had already died in his arms. What kind of cruelty would it be if it happened a second time? All the fears that had gnawed at him since he met Lara came to life on a deserted roadside in Richmond.
Emmy took over, checking Lara’s injuries while Nick knelt helplessly at her side. The metallic tang of blood brought a lump to his throat. So much blood. On her arms, in her