I realized the truck had pitched forward, and I was hanging forward around my belt. The smell of gasoline permeated the air.
Marco had a streak of blood running down his face. He’d gotten out of his seat belt and was bracing himself against the dashboard.
“We have to get out, Carly. I’m going to unbuckle you, but first I need to know if you hurt anywhere.”
I released a soft laugh. “I hurt everywhere.”
“Carly Moore!” Derek called out from up the hill. “We need to have a chat.”
My eyes shot open with fear.
Marco wrapped an arm around my waist and moved in front of me as he unbuckled the seat belt. As soon as it released, I fell, but he caught me with his arm and his body.
A sharp pain pierced my side and I cried out.
“Sorry,” he grunted as he opened the passenger door. It took two attempts before he could get it open with his feet. He climbed out, carrying me with him, and we fell to the ground. The jolt sent another piercing pain through my side, powerful enough that it stole my breath.
A shot rang out, ricocheting off a tree to our side, and Marco scrambled down the hill about twenty feet, pulling me with him until we were behind a boulder large enough to conceal both of us. He propped my back against the rock and cupped my face. Concern filled his eyes as he held up his hand and lowered several fingers. “How many fingers?”
I winced. “Two. I’m fine. Deal with that asshole.”
He gave me a quick kiss, then rose up to look over the top of the rock. “Derek Carpenter, you just ran a Hensen County deputy sheriff off the road. Backup is on the way. Put your weapon down and give yourself up.”
Derek laughed. “Very funny, but my business is with Carly. Did you find the toolbox?”
“No,” I called out.
“You’re a liar. Otherwise, why would you be headed to Ewing to turn in evidence?”
“What about any of that concerns you?” Marco asked, wiping a hand over his forehead to clear away the blood dripping in his eye.
“I’m not stupid,” Derek said, his voice drawing closer. “We set Carly loose to dig it up, and I’m sure she didn’t disappoint. Just give it to me, and you can be on your way. If you give me what I want, I have no reason to harm either of you.”
“He’s lyin’,” Marco said under his breath.
I didn’t need his badge and sheriff training to figure that out.
Then a thought entered my fuzzy head. Had Marco gotten the things we’d found out of the console? I hadn’t seen him go for them, and he never would have grabbed them before he got me out.
Marco squatted next to me and whispered, “Let’s see if we can wait him out until backup gets here. I swerved all over that road, so no one could miss where we went off.”
“That’s good,” I mumbled, closing my eyes to help the pounding in my head.
Marco didn’t say anything.
“Where’s the gold, Carly?” Derek shouted, starting to sound irritated. I wasn’t sure he was going to hold out long enough for help to arrive.
“I told you. I never found the toolbox,” I called out. The effort to shout intensified the pain in my side, and I wondered if I’d broken some ribs.
“You found something, though,” Derek bellowed. “What did you find?”
I took a breath to shout back, trying to ignore the pain. Sweat beaded on my forehead. “I found evidence to use against Bart Drummond. Nothing to do with you.”
“You’re lyin’!” he shouted, sounding close to losing control. The gun went off again to prove it, the bullet striking our boulder and chipping off some of the rock.
Marco shot me a worried look.
“Shooting me won’t get it for you,” I said. “Look what happened when you killed Jerry. You sure screwed that up. I bet Louise wasn’t happy.”
“So I acted prematurely,” he conceded. “Don’t worry. I’ve learned my lesson. I won’t let you die until I get what I need.”
Anger tightened Marco’s jaw. There was no way Derek was getting around him. “Keep him talkin’,” he whispered. “He’s hidin’ in the trees.”
To my surprise, Marco pulled out his phone and turned on the recording app. He set it on a ridge of rock, a little below the top.
I nodded, and pain shot through my head. Gritting my teeth, I called out, “How’d you get hooked up with Louise and Bruce?”
“She and I had a thing