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A fine mist turned to drizzle. Kate clicked on the wipers and checked to make sure her window was closed tight, then shoved the heater knob to high.
A road sign warned of a sharp curve. Kate downshifted and felt the powerful engine slip into Second. From what Tina had said, a bridge crossed Mercy Creek just ahead.
The rain strengthened. Fat drops splashed against the windshield. A blast of wind hit full force. Kate gripped the wheel to keep the car from crossing the yellow line. As the wind surge died, she flipped the wipers to high and scanned the road for the bridge. The turnoff to Tina’s should be on the far side of the creek.
From out of nowhere, a deer charged into the beam of her headlights. Kate pushed in the clutch and stomped on the brake while her hand shoved the gear into First. The tires squealed in protest as the car skidded across the road.
The animal hit the front bumper with a loud thump, soared in the air and crashed against her windshield.
The massive carcass blocked Kate’s view. Instinctively, she turned against the skid. The deer shifted to the passenger’s side, smearing a bloody trail along the windshield.
Her heart slammed against her chest.
The Mustang was headed for the creek.
The car broke through the guardrail. A jagged edge of steel grated against the door, ripping a gash in the passenger side. For half a second, the auto teetered on the edge of the bridge, then plunged into the raging current below.
Kate screamed. Ice-cold water rushed in like a tsunami, flooding everything in its path.
She floated somewhere outside the realm of consciousness until a searing pain in her leg and bone-chilling cold snapped her back to reality. Where was she?
Try to think. The car, a deer, the bridge…
Oh, dear God.
Water swirled around her knees. She couldn’t feel her left leg, couldn’t move it. The right one throbbed with pain.
Get out. Kate unbuckled her seat belt and pushed on the driver’s door. Locked. She reached for the button to release the latch, grabbed the handle and shoved. Nothing budged.
She tried the automatic window. A grinding noise filled the car, and the glass lowered ever so slightly.
“Help me,” she shouted through the crack. The wind caught her words and erased them from the night.
She wanted to cry, but she was too terrified, and there was no time. She had to free herself.
Dipping her hand into the swirling eddy, she grabbed her cell phone from the console and shook out the water. Kate pushed the power button. No light. No start-up jingle.
The rain pounded against the car with an unrelenting fury. The water continued to rise. Waist high. Cold. Dark. Her teeth chattered as she gasped for air. Don’t panic.
She smashed the cell phone against the window, hoping to break the glass. Crash-resistant silicon proved stronger than cellular technology. Enraged, Kate threw the phone against the far window and heard the plunk as it dropped into the pool of water filling the car.
The horn.
She hit the center of the wheel. A momentary blare erupted, then sputtered out like a dying engine.
This couldn’t be happening.
“Oh, please.” She pushed on the door with all her strength, but it wouldn’t move.
A sound cut through the storm.
She strained to hear. The wind howled and thunder rumbled.
Nothing.
Maybe a hallucination from hypothermia.
Numb. That was how she felt. Not cold. Not hot. It wouldn’t be long. As much as she needed to hold on to hope, death seemed inevitable.
But giving up had never been her style.
What had she read? People didn’t respond to calls for help.
“Fire,” she screamed through the opening in the window as she continued to push against the door. “Help me. Fire. Help me. Fire.” She repeated the sequence until her voice cracked and finally gave out just like the horn.
Tears streamed down her face and mixed with the water now at chest level. Soon her mouth would be covered, then her nose. How long before death would take her? Two minutes? Three?
God, help me.
A speck of light flickered through the darkness.
“Here I am,” Kate cried out, her voice weak even to her own ears. She hit the horn. Nothing.
The light zigzagged through the tall pines. Too far away to see her. She had to make some sound.
Her right leg broke free from the tangled metal of the brake pedal. She raised her foot and strained to reach the shoe that slipped through her outstretched fingers. She lunged. A driving pain sliced through her left leg. Kate shoved her hand deeper into the water and caught the heel of her pump. Raising the shoe to the windshield, she pounded against the glass.
A dull thud filled the night. Would anyone hear her signal for help?
The light disappeared.
Water lapped around her neck, but she wouldn’t give up. Over and over again, she slammed the shoe against the window.
Slowly, warmth engulfed her, as if the water temperature had risen twenty degrees. A sense of euphoria swept over her. She was swimming in her old neighborhood pool. Tina sat on the edge of the deep end next to Eddie with his broad shoulders and lifeguard tan. Kate smiled, waved and…
Something jarred her. The door wrenched open. Hands touched her.
“It’s okay. I’ve got you now.”
A man pulled her from the car. Her head fell against his shoulder.
“Hold on, honey.”
Instinctively, she clung to him. “Eddie?”
They were moving. Going through the water, but Kate felt nothing except the strength of his embrace. She wanted to drift to sleep in his arms.
“Stay with me,” his voice warned.
Suddenly, she was lying on the cold, hard ground. Rain pelted her face.
She blinked her eyes open.
Eddie hadn’t saved her. Someone else had.
He dropped to the ground beside her and lifted her into his arms.
“I know this hurts,” he said.
She pushed her hands against his massive chest, but he drew her closer. “No!”
She couldn’t move. With one hand, he held her tight against his body. With the other, he reached for something. A heavy wool coat wrapped over them, and he hunkered down under its protection.
A siren wailed in the distance. Kate heard it, or thought she did. Only partially aware of the sound, she was totally aware of the man holding her close.
Her eyes were heavy. She wanted to sleep, but his gentle voice urged her to stay with him.
“Don’t leave me,” he said over and over again, as if they were a team working together to keep her alive.
A chorus of voices broke through the night.
“Over here,” he yelled. “North side of the creek.”
Help was coming. But Kate didn’t want to leave the protection of his embrace.
“What happened?”
“She went off the bridge. Hypothermia. Keep her warm.”
Blankets covered her. Kate felt their weight at the same time he pulled out of her grasp. She shivered, unable to control the spasmodic jerking of her muscles.
“She’s in shock.”
He touched her hand. “I’ll follow the ambulance to the clinic. Is there someone I can call? Maybe a relative?”
She swallowed, tried to speak. Her voice came out a whisper, cracked. “Call Tina Esp—”
He gasped. “Tina Espinosa?”
Kate nodded.
“Later.”
She shook her head. “Now. Let Tina know I’m hurt. She’ll help me.”
“Tell her, Price,” a voice demanded.
Price? The man Tina worked for. Kate latched on to his arm and wouldn’t let go.
Another voice chimed in from the foot of the stretcher. “Truth is, ma’am, Tina—”
Sounds swirled around Kate. What had he said?
“Hush!” Nolan glared at the person who had spoken.
Kate gripped her rescuer’s hand even tighter. “What happened to Tina?”
Nolan bent down, his face close to hers. Dark eyes, brow wrinkled with concern.
“Tell me,” she pleaded.
“I’m…I’m sorry,” he finally said. “They found her a few hours ago. Tina’s dead.”
TWO
Nolan Price would rather be anywhere than outside Mercy MedClinic’s emergency room. Hand him a financial portfolio to study or a corporate merger to broker and he was home free. But tubes pumping blood and oxygen into dying patients gave him the creeps.
Maybe it was the memories. Eight months and the pain hadn’t gone away. He doubted it ever would.
He glanced at his watch—10:00 p.m. Over three hours since he’d pulled the woman from the creek. Surely medical science, even in this rural facility, could determine the extent of her injuries in that length of time.
Kate Murphy. He’d finally learned her name.
Nolan shook his head. Too much had happened in one afternoon. The phone call about Tina, and then her friend had almost died in his arms.
God had a strange sense of timing.
Of course, he’d found that out with his wife’s tragic death.
At least he still had Heather. Not that raising a fifteen-year-old single-handed was anything but tough. Every time he thought he was making headway, she retreated into her shell. He couldn’t relate to his daughter no matter how hard he tried. Or prayed.
Maybe they should have stayed in Los Angeles.
He sighed, then pulled his cell from his pocket, hit the home listing and listened as the phone rang and rang.
The answering machine clicked on. “I’m sorry we’re unable to take your call. Please leave a message….”
Why wouldn’t she answer?
“Heather, I know you’re there. Pick up the phone.”
No response.
“I’m not mad.” Anymore, he wanted to add.
If only Olivia were alive.
“Make sure the doors to the house are locked, and don’t open for anyone. I’ll be home as soon as I can.”
