Shameless - Sybil Bartel Page 0,27
side of the mountain instead of the drop-off.
“Oh my God.” Both of her hands went to the Oh Jesus handle. “We’re sliding all over the place!”
“That one was purposeful. The turn sharper than the last one, I wanted this beast hugging the side of the mountain, not flirting with the drop-off.”
“Well, glad you got that covered,” she stated dryly.
Checking the mirrors, watching my speed, I eyed the edge of the road and glanced at the odometer. We could hike it from here. “We’re close.”
She glanced around. “How close? I don’t see anything but snow and mountains and lots and lots of trees.”
There was no way the SUV was going it make the last three hundred yards. It was the steepest part of the drive, and I was sure there was an inch of ice under the snow up here. “You got a thing against trees?”
“Yeah, when they’re not palm trees.”
“You don’t like mountain pines, princess?” We inched toward the last switchback. “Come on, it’s like Christmas every day of the year.”
“These are not Christmas trees,” she complained. “These are like their gangly, missing-too-many-needles-to-be-pretty, lanky step-cousins. Christmas trees should be like Santa, big and wide and round.”
Ignoring her rant, I tipped my chin toward her seat belt. “We’re coming up on a sharp turn. Remember what I told you.”
“You’re not making me feel better.” She nervously rubbed her hand down her thigh before her hand went back to her seat belt release.
“That part comes later,” I carelessly promised as I eased down on the gas and swung into the turn.
“Unless there’s hot chocolate, I’m not interested.”
I didn’t respond.
The front tires gripped the road, but the second the back of the SUV rounded the turn, we fishtailed.
Taking my foot off the gas, holding the steering wheel tight, I issued orders as the rear left wheel went over the edge. “Seat belt off, now. Open your door. Quickly.”
Panicking, she reached for the handle above the door.
The Escalade started to slide backward.
“Seat belt OFF.” Giving the SUV gas, I barked out commands. “Door open!”
Pulling her legs up like the goddamn floor was on fire, she did neither.
My foot on the gas, the tires spinning, I leaned across her, hit the release on her seat belt, and pushed her door open. “Jump, jump.”
“Shade,” she cried.
I shoved her out.
Her ass hit the snow, and the SUV went over the edge.
THE COLD PUNCHED ME IN the face and stole my breath as my ass and hands landed in a soft cloud of hell. The snow so icy it burned, I gasped thin, arctic air and watched in horror as the giant Cadillac went backward off the cliff.
“Shade!” My breath too short to scream, my words died in the eerily silent blizzard.
I pushed to my feet only to fall back down in knee-deep snow as the benign sound of twigs snapping echoed up the mountain. Scrambling on hands and knees and wading through snow like it was heavy surf, I reached the edge of the cliff as the SUV slid like a sled toward the other part of the switchback.
The passenger door hanging open, the beam of the headlights bobbing after every bump, the tires alternately spinning and kicking up snow—the whole scene was like a drunken frat party for SUVs.
My body shivering, my hands going from icy burning to numb, panic crawled up my throat. I fought for thin air to fill my lungs as the Escalade miraculously missed trees but dangerously showed no signs of slowing as it reached the road below.
“Shade!”
This time my scream echoed louder than the snapping twigs, but all at once a horrible crunch sounded as the rear of the SUV dropped off the last part of the steep incline and hit the road below with a bounce.
To my horror, it started to tip sideways.
“No!”
I didn’t think.
Next thing I knew, I was on my ass, feet first, half sliding, half butt-scooching down the mountain.
The SUV rocked back in the opposite direction.
My teeth started to chatter.
The open passenger door swung lazily shut from the momentum, and the vehicle landed on all fours on the road.
I started to slide faster down the steep slope. The twigs and branches the SUV had snapped scraped my back. Snow hit me in the face. Everything felt like icy fire, and too late I realized my mistake.
I was going to fly right past the black hunk of metal with my bodyguard inside, and I was going to careen off the next cliff drop and fall to my death.
I