“You won’t help anyone by getting killed en route,” she said softly as he took the corner on two wheels and shot down Main Street.
He slowed, but only to the point of reason and well in excess of the speed limit. He’d done enough training and high-speed chases to know precisely what his own limits were on the road. He drove with total concentration, allowing his mind to wander only long enough to utter a few fervent prayers that Sharon Lynn and her new husband would be all right.
What in God’s name had happened? Kyle was a good driver, the roads were practically deserted this time of night and he’d bet the ranch that neither of them had had more than a glass of champagne during the reception.
“I see the flashing lights up ahead,” Patsy murmured, fear in her voice. “It looks as if there’s a lot of them.”
“That just means they’re getting all the help they need. Nothing to panic over.” He said it as much for his own benefit as hers.
They arrived just as an ambulance sped off toward Garden City in the opposite direction, siren blaring. There were two more on the scene and paramedics seemed to be everywhere, most of them volunteers who’d come scrambling in pickups, lights flashing on their dashboards and casting an eerie glow in the dark.
A huge spotlight was shining on the twisted wreckage of Kyle’s car, guiding him through the maze of rescue vehicles, police cars and ambulances. One glimpse was enough to make Justin want to retch. He heard Patsy’s gasp beside him at the sight of the crushed passenger compartment.
“Get back into the car,” he said. “There’s nothing you can do to help. I’ll find out what’s happening.”
“Sharon Lynn,” she began in a whisper every bit as tormented as his own thoughts.
“Shh, don’t think the worst. Let me get some answers.”
He herded her back toward his car, then moved again through the tangle of debris and people. He saw the expressions of sympathy and knew then that the news wasn’t going to be good.
Swallowing hard, he forced himself to face the deputy in charge. “My cousin,” he began. It was all he could say without falling apart.
“Sharon Lynn’s badly injured, but she’s going to make it,” Dusty assured him. “She’s unconscious, but her vital signs were good. She’s already on her way to the hospital.”
Justin’s gaze was drawn back to the collapsed mass of metal on the passenger side. “But how?”
“She was driving,” Dusty said succinctly. “The air bag saved her. Kyle took the brunt of the impact.” He looked as if he wanted to cry, too. “He...he wasn’t so lucky, Justin. There was a faint pulse when we got here, but we couldn’t get him out in time to save him. The guys did everything they could.”
Justin felt the world begin to spin. Sheer will kept him upright. “Do you know what happened?”
“A drunk crossed the center line. It looked as if Sharon Lynn tried to get out of his way, but with no shoulders and those deep ditches, there was no place to go.”
“Is he dead?”
Dusty looked startled that he cared. “The drunk driver?”
Justin nodded.
“No, he’s over there. Some minor cuts and bruises. He’ll walk away.”
Pure rage made Justin see red. He turned in the direction the deputy had indicated, ignoring Dusty’s commands to stop, to let it go. He had to see for himself, had to look into the face of the man who’d murdered his cousin’s husband, who’d almost killed her, as well.
And then he might very well beat that face into a bloody pulp.
Chapter Nine
Patsy saw Justin walking toward the side of the highway. There was something about his jerky, dazed progress that brought her scrambling from the car and heading straight for him. She reached him just as a deputy she recognized as Dusty Patterson got to his side and clamped a hand on his shoulder.
“Get away from me,” Justin demanded, his voice like ice.
“Don’t do this,” Dusty pleaded. “You’re not thinking straight.”
Anger radiated from Justin in palpable waves. Even without knowing what was going on, Patsy sensed that he was about to do something he would come to regret. Instinctively she stepped in front of the two men.
“Justin?”
When he didn’t even glance at her, she spoke his name again, more sharply this time. As if he’d been drawn out of some distant hell, his gaze finally shifted to clash with hers. The