safe while I was driving? I didn’t think so. Car accidents seemed to be their MO. First Aaron’s father’s hit-and-run, then they caused Aaron’s crash, probably by drugging him and sending him down that road, and now . . . me?
I would have stopped for that women with car trouble if Aaron hadn’t warned me. What if I’d stopped and there was someone hiding in the back of her car? What if they’d forced me to get into her vehicle, then driven off to kill me somewhere else and dumped my body? My dad’s abandoned car on the side of the road would be the last anyone ever knew of me. That stuff happened, didn’t it? I’d end up on an episode of Unsolved Mysteries.
“Billy?” Aaron brought me back from an incipient meltdown.
“I’m kind of freaking out right now,” I admitted. I couldn’t hold the phone between my shoulder and ear anymore, so I turned up the volume and placed it on the passenger seat. My hands were shaking. “What do I do?”
“It’s gonna be okay.” Aaron’s voice was calm and reassuring. “Can you drive to the closest police station?”
“I have no idea where that is.”
I considered fumbling with my phone, trying to search on a map. But I was so shook up, I’d probably have a wreck.
“I’ll find one. What road are you on?” Aaron asked.
“Um . . .” It took me a moment to remember. “I’m on 15. South of Corona on my way to Temecula.”
There was a moment’s pause. “Okay. I’ve got a map of the area up. Have you passed Lake Elsinore yet?”
“I don’t think so? I’m not sure. Shit. Sorry.”
“Do you see any signs?”
“Um . . .” I prayed for a green freeway sign, squinting my eyes to see up ahead. One was coming up. I had to get closer to read it. I hadn’t been paying attention, my head too full of Aaron and Emmanuel, Amanda Wilkes and Detective Simmons, what had happened to Aaron’s father. It hadn’t even occurred to me that I could be in danger. So much for horror movies preparing me for the worst. “The next exit is 88. Temescal Canyon Road.”
“Okay. Give me a second.”
I checked my odometer. I was going fifty-five, way too slow, too distracted by the phone call. No wonder cars were passing me. I pushed my speed up to seventy, hoping Aaron could find me a police station and that it was close. I passed exit 88. My mouth was dry.
“Okay. The nearest police station southbound is at Lake Elsinore. It’s at exit 75, Main Street. You’re about thirteen miles away.”
“Thirteen miles! There’s nothing closer?”
“It’s the closest one. Do you want me to hang up and call 911? See if I can get the highway patrol to you?”
I thought about all the time I spent on the phone trying to reach the right person at the police department earlier that day. I’d be at exit 75 long before Aaron could get anyone to take him seriously. Besides, I didn’t think I could do this without him. “No! Please. Stay with me.”
“Okay. I’m right here.” Aaron’s voice was firm. “I’m sorry I freaked you out. Take a deep breath. You’re safe at the moment. But you need to stay calm and clearheaded. Please, babe.”
The emotion in his voice, the worry and subtle desperation, made my chest warm. He wasn’t angry with me. He still cared about me. He cared. And also? He was right. I had to stay rational and calm. Damn. I just wanted to be with him, right now, at Malfleur, where nothing could touch us. I’d give anything to feel him holding me.
“I miss you. There’s so much I want to say to you,” I choked out.
“Me too. I’m so sorry, Billy. I never should have believed Emmanuel. But we can talk after we get you safe. Okay?”
“Yeah.”
I passed a sign that listed three exits—none of them were the one I wanted. Not yet. I glanced at my odometer. Another ten miles to go. But I was okay. No one was threatening me. Right?
“Should I floor it?” I asked.
“Better not. If there is someone on your tail, we don’t want to alert them to the fact that you know what’s going on. Just keep a steady pace, stay in the right-hand lane, and don’t signal when you’re going to exit. Just swerve off at exit 75. Okay?”
“Is the police station right off the freeway?”
“Not quite. You’ll be coming off in town though, at