a distinctly predatory gleam. She had noticed everything he’d noticed about Keith, and she would have had the same first aid training Cooper had had. She knew all the stealthy dangers of head injuries, especially ones bad enough to leave the person stunned and confused. They wouldn’t be headed to a small town jail now—they’d be going straight to the closest hospital.
She gave Keith a reassuring pat on the shoulder, and then she lowered her voice and said to Cooper, “I’m going to unlock your door.”
This wasn’t even like his Christmas had come early. It was way more baffling than that, like someone had just walked up to him on the street and handed him a Christmas tree. He didn’t even know what to do with it.
“Um,” Cooper said. “Why?”
Keith was humming softly to himself, not listening to them. It sounded like a weird collage of half the songs the radio had given them before it had turned to nothing but weather reports and static. At least it meant he wouldn’t blow his top at Gretchen halfway freeing him.
Gretchen said, “I know it’s crazy, but if I don’t get out of the car now, they’re going to know something’s wrong. There’s a chance I’ll need backup, and Keith can’t give it to me right now. And he can’t protect you, either. If something goes wrong, I’m not leaving you exposed and helpless.”
It took him a second to understand her.
She didn’t think it was a coincidence that they’d gotten bumped that hard. She thought they were in serious trouble.
Well, if she thought so, he thought so too. He trusted her instincts.
But that didn’t mean he had to like this plan.
He shifted forward, ignoring the pulse of panic as the seatbelt put more pressure on his chest. “Gretchen, if you’re that worried, don’t get out of the car.”
“Who’s worried?” Keith muttered vaguely. He had one hand pressed to his head now. He tacked on a stream of gibberish that might have been him trying to remember the words to “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
Gretchen shook her head. “I need intel. And I recognize that car.”
Cooper craned his head to look back over his shoulder. They’d been hit by a heavy, old-model hulk painted an unusual dark teal color. He didn’t think he’d ever seen it before.
“Where did you see it?”
“It’s the black car.” Gretchen unbuckled her seatbelt. “From the gas station.”
“But it’s not black.”
“I know. I’m probably wrong. It’s insane. But I’m not going to take chances with your life, not again.” She put her hand on the door handle. “Keith, call 911. I want this place flooded with sirens.”
She got out of the car, and a second later, Cooper heard the muffled click of her unlocking his door.
She had just set him free. He still had the handcuffs and the leg shackles, but her attention was all on the two men she was approaching, and she was right, Keith wouldn’t be able to intervene to stop him, not right now. If he could reach his griffin, he could break through the chains, and he’d be home free.
And none of it mattered. He couldn’t leave her in danger.
He watched Gretchen warily approach the men from the not-black black car. They looked harmless enough in their brightly colored parkas and thick woolly hats, but the most hardened killer Cooper had ever seen had looked like a sweetly smiling kindergarten teacher. Anyone could look harmless. He had a bad feeling about all of this, and he couldn’t let her face it alone.
7
This was crazy.
Beyond crazy. Welcome to Paranoia Town, population: Gretchen.
It made no sense at all to think that the dark blue-green car she was looking at right now was the black car from the gas station. She knew there was something about the gas station incident that she couldn’t remember, but she really doubted that it involved the black car’s driver telling her about how he’d invented some new kind of chameleon automotive paint.
She wasn’t an expert on cars, but she was pretty sure the make and model of this one was different too.
Smart money said that this was a completely separate car, and the two men standing in front of her—ordinary-looking middle-aged guys in winter gear—were guilty of nothing more than careless driving.
They would have to have been driving pretty damn carelessly to rear-end someone that bad on a road with this little traffic.
Then again, they were probably trying to get home before the storm hit. People had done worse and weirder things when they