Dazed and choking from some sort of dust, all she could hear at first was her heartbeat in her ears. Her mouth hurt and she tasted blood. Moments later a voice said, “This is your OnStar operator. We show that the car’s airbags have deployed. What is the nature of your emergency? Do you need an ambulance?”
Jenna forced her eyes open. She turned her chin to look at Shane, slumped awkwardly and unresponsive in the seat beside her. “Yes,” she said, somehow finding her voice. “Help. Someone tried to run us off the road. He might still be there. Help.”
The shrill cry of her voice echoed in the car, but it was dampened by the sound of the car engine that was still running. She tried to put the car in Park but her right wrist hurt too badly. She twisted across her body to give an extra push with her left hand then she undid her seat belt and opened the door.
Fear and panic followed closely by fury helped her fight through her scattered aches and pains to slide out of the car and hurry around the back to the passenger side. The door was crushed. There was no way she could open it to help Shane out if he regained consciousness.
Feeling light-headed, she looked around, straining to hear the sound of a truck engine. Was Adam waiting nearby to finish them off? If he’d known the road better, he could have chosen a spot to ram them that would have ensured their deaths. They were lucky they crashed where they did. If he figured that out, he’d be back.
She opened the back end of the car and somehow managed to get her hands on the tire iron. Probably a ridiculously futile weapon if he returned, but this time she’d fight him with her last breath. This time she was defending the man she loved, too.
Carrying the heavy weight in her left hand, she returned to the driver’s side and crawled in, groaning as new pains came to light. The adrenaline was beginning to dissipate, making her more aware of the results the crash had had on her body.
She put her face close to Shane’s. He was breathing, but he still hadn’t moved. She closed her eyes and prayed that he’d be okay. He had to be.
SHANE WOKE to a subtle but persistent pounding in his head. Possibly the worst hangover of his life, he decided, once his brain engaged. But when he opened his eyes, he knew instantly what had happened and where he was.
An accident. He’d heard Jenna’s cry as they hit something…or had something hit them? He wasn’t clear on the details, and only bits and pieces of what happened next filtered through the haze of memory. But he was definitely in a hospital. He’d been there overnight. He remembered waking when a nurse flashed a penlight in his eyes.
She’d told him he was going to be fine and gave him a sip of water to dissolve some of the cotton in his mouth so he could ask about Jenna.
“You mean her?” she’d whispered, stepping to one side so he could see a pile of blankets with a mop of red hair sticking out the top in an armchair. “She hasn’t left your side. And apparently she called in reinforcements since there’s been a pretty steady parade of people in and out till visiting hours ended.”
He slowly turned his head, but the chair was empty. “Shit,” he muttered, trying to sit up. If she left the safety of the hospital, Adam might—
“What do you think you’re doing? Get back in that bed this instant.”
He recognized her voice, but he’d never heard her sound so stern. “Got that bossy-teacher thing from your dad, right?” he teased, inching sideways to see her.
She rushed to his side. He took a quick assessment of the damage. Butterfly bandage above her eye. Right wrist in a brace of some kind. Slight hitch in her step. But she looked perfect to him. His insides bunched in a tight knot from all the feelings that hit him at once. She could have died. First the rape. Now this. He was a curse.
He fell backward and rolled on his side. The pain was severe, and welcome. “Oh, God, Jenna, I can’t believe that happened. I was supposed to keep you safe. Ha,” he cried throwing the arm that didn’t have the IV over his eyes. “I suck. I should have called in a professional team. Once again I underestimated my brother’s depravity.”
She pried his arm down, first gently then with force. “Look at me, Shane. I’m fine. This wrist thing is Mom’s. I had Char bring it from the house. Nothing’s broken, but there might be a slight sprain. This is just to remind me not to use it so much.”
He looked at her wrist but couldn’t meet her eyes. “You were limping.”
“A bruise on my knee. And the cut on my forehead is probably from the airbag deploying. A scratch. The aches and pains are soft-tissue injuries. You’re going to feel them, too, once they take you off the good painkillers. But they say you had a slight concussion, so they kept you overnight. Except for a heightened sensitivity to light and maybe a headache if you read too much for the next couple of weeks, you’ll make a full recovery, too.”
He sighed and closed his eyes. The pain was less than it had been. He craved a shower and food, but other than that he felt pretty good. Surprisingly good.
“Your rental car saved us,” she said. “Both literally and figuratively. Side-impact air bags kept your head from hitting the same rock the car sideswiped. And the onboard satellite thingy called for help just seconds after the wreck. The police figured that’s why whoever did this didn’t come back.”
“It was Adam, of course. Did you tell them that?”
She kicked off her shoes and climbed onto the bed, sitting crossed-legged. She’d changed clothes. The dark taupe running suit and bright pink T-shirt was probably a good idea, given the chilly hospital environment. Her hair was pulled back in a loose twist.
“I told them everything. The rape. Your mom’s deathbed confession. What Adam told you about hurting a little girl. Everything. This morning an officer came by to take your statement, but I wouldn’t let him wake you up. He said Adam had checked out of the Alex Johnson early yesterday morning. They found the truck. It belongs to a Sturgis man. His son, who goes to college at the University of Minnesota, has been driving it to work since he came home for summer break. The father wasn’t clear about what kind of work the kid was doing or for whom. His son hasn’t been home in a couple of days.”
Shane tried to recall any details from the crash but drew a blank. “I can’t remember squat. You said something about a truck tailgating us, then—” His pulse sped up until she grabbed his hand.
“Shane,” she said briskly to draw his attention. “It’s okay. This is out of our hands now. The police have a warrant out for the kid for leaving the scene and attempted murder. If they find him, he’ll give up your brother, assuming, of course, that Adam paid him to do it. If Adam was behind the wheel, then the police will make a case against him. The cop told me they’d taken fingerprints from the truck, and they were even going to the Mystery Spot to see if any of the prints match this guy. They think he might have been working for Adam for some time.”
Shane blinked in surprise. That connection had never crossed his mind. He turned his hand palm up to interlace his fingers with hers. His heart rate was almost back to normal and the metallic taste in his mouth was lessening. “Can I have some water?”
She scooted off the bed and poured him a glass. “Are you hungry?” she asked. “The nurse said we could get a tray whenever you woke up.”
He swallowed the cool liquid gratefully and nodded, wincing slightly at the echoing chain of pain the motion set off. She leaned close and kissed him. “Easy there, sparky. Small movements. I’ll order your breakfast.”
He closed his eyes to rest while she was gone. What seemed like seconds later, he smelled the arrival of a tray and opened his eyes to see someone he vaguely recognized deposit it on his bedside table.
“Hi. I’m Kat. We sorta met at the wedding. I’m one of the book-club members. Jenna’s in the lobby talking to a detective and she asked me to make sure you got this.”
He placed her as soon as she said her name. She had two sons. They’d accompanied her to the wedding. He remembered thinking she looked too young and innocent to be the twice-divorced mother of
two, but up close he could see a certain ageless wisdom in her eyes. “Thank you,” he said, trying to sit up.
“Let me do that.” She grabbed a remote control of some sort and punched a button, making the head of his bed raise up. “I used to work in a hospital. Back when I thought I wanted to be a nurse. Emptying bedpans cured me of that idea in a hurry,” she added with a wink.
She removed the plastic warming covers and opened a sealed bag of eating utensils, setting everything within reach and handing him the paper napkin.
“Where are your children?”
Her smile changed her from pretty to beautiful. “One’s with his dad and the other is taking a summer arts program put on by the college where I go to school. I’m finishing up a minithesis for one class this summer, then I’m scheduled to student teach this fall. That means I was available to run by the hotel and pack up your stuff when Jenna asked. She gave me the key. I moved everything to Libby’s.”
Even though he felt funny eating in front of a stranger, his hunger got the better of him and he attacked the surprisingly fluffy mound of scrambled eggs. Even devoid of seasoning, which he didn’t bother taking the time to apply, they weren’t bad. “Why there?” he mumbled between bites.
She slathered a glob of purple jelly on a triangle of toast and gave it to him. “Coffee black or with artificial, hydrogenated white stuff?”
He grinned. “You make that sound so appealing. I’ll have mine straight, thanks.”
“Good choice.” She passed him the cup. “Um…why Libby’s? Jenna called Cooper and Lib. They’re on their way back. Libby suggested you and Jenna stay in the guest house. Libby’s brother lives right next door, and he’s…well, nobody messes with Mac.”
“Okay.”
She smiled. “Good. I’m glad that’s decided.” She paced around restlessly a few moments, checking her watch. “She should be here by now. I’m going to go check. I know it’s silly to worry. She was with a cop, right? But, it’s the mother in me. I’m neurotic. Just ask my sons.” She was halfway out the door when Jenna appeared. Kat practically wilted with relief.
The two of them spoke softly a few seconds, then Kat leaned back into the room to say goodbye. “Gotta dash. Get better soon.” She wiggled her fingers at him, then disappeared.
Jenna came toward the bed considerably more slowly than her high-octane friend.
“I like her. She’s interesting.”
“Should I be jealous?”
He pushed the portable table away and made a place for her to sit. “I’ve been in love with you ever since college, Jenna. I didn’t realize that until a few days ago, but you’ve always been in my heart. For most of that time you were a ghost of an ideal woman whose life would have been different if I’d done something. Not that I knew what that was or how I could have prevented what happened to you, but you were always in the back of my mind. And then, when my mother told me about Adam, you were in the front of my mind. Wrapped up in a neat little ribbon of guilt. And now I nearly got you killed.”
She shook her head. “I hate it that you keep taking the blame for your brother’s actions. The cops better hope they find Adam before I do. He’s got a screw loose, okay? This isn’t your fault. You’re his brother, not his maker.”
The food he’d consumed settled heavily in his belly. “But we’re identical twins, Jenna. We came from the same egg. We have almost matching DNA. What if that propensity for evil is in my genes? What if I were to pass it along to future generations? At this point, the world’s lucky. Neither of the Ostergren brothers has found a woman willing to bear his child.”
An image of his mother admitting that she’d given birth to a monster suddenly filled the all-too-receptive screen in his head. What if he and Jenna had a child like Adam? The anguish would kill her. As it had his mother. He’d be responsible for killing the woman he loved.
The only other alternative was to remain childless. Or adopt. But Jenna deserved everything wonderful that life had to offer—including a little red-haired child with laughing green eyes and a sweet disposition—without worrying if that first tantrum might foreshadow some terrible personality flaw.
The pain in his head blossomed into a black pressure that moved downward toward his lungs. He had to breathe shallowly to keep from gasping like a fish out of water.
“Shane? Look at me. Are you okay?”
He couldn’t bear to see the worry on her face that he heard in her voice. The same worry he’d always known was in his mother’s heart. “Headache,” he choked out.
“I’ll call the nurse,” she said, squeezing his hand supportively.
The nurse came in and made some kind of adjustment on his IV. The drug it was delivering into his vein worked fast. His panic started to recede, but he still couldn’t bear to look at Jenna and see everything he knew he was going to have to give up, so he lay still and pretended to fall asleep.
She leaned close and brushed her lips across his cheek, then whispered, “I came to tell you that I’ll be gone about an hour.”
His eyes flew open and he started to protest. “It isn’t safe. Where are—”
She put her finger on his lips. “Relax. Rest now. I have a police escort waiting in the lobby. They picked up the college student I told you about and they want to see if I recognize him from the Mystery Spot. The nurse said your doctor should be making rounds within the hour. If they release you today, I want you to promise you won’t try to leave until I get back, okay?”
He still didn’t feel good about her going somewhere without him. Then the irony struck him. Not only had he failed to protect her, he planned to leave as soon as he was able. But he couldn’t abandon her as long as his brother was a threat. “The car—”
“Was totaled, but I called Mac. He brought my car here and parked it in the lot.” She fished a set of keys out of her purse and jiggled them. “As soon as you’re released, I’m taking you to Libby’s. With friends around, Adam wouldn’t dare try anything.”
Once she was gone, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep, but images he didn’t want to see kept rolling on the closed loop in his brain. Jenna at the party—bubbly and animated while flirting with his clean-cut brother. Then, just a couple of days later, sitting in the backseat of her of parents’ car. Shattered and lost. Adam at their mother’s funeral. Staring at Shane as if trying to guess whether or not she’d divulged his awful secret. Jenna behind the wheel as the car was forced off the road.
Adam was right about one thing. Shane’s coming here had been completely self-serving. Maybe if he’d been honest with himself and admitted that he’d been in love with her from the first moment he saw her, he might have been strong enough to do the noble thing and stay away.
Now he had no choice but to leave. Jenna deserved a hell of a lot more than he had to give her. Children, of course, and a chance to raise them in the kind of place where she grew up, not in the hectic, demanding chaos of smog-bound L.A. She’d be better off with someone like Libby’s brother. And he planned to tell her that as soon as she got back.
He squeezed his eyes tight and clenched his fists against the pain that surged once again in his head. He knew this was a minor discomfort compared to the anguish he was going to feel after he did the right thing and told her goodbye.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“NO, DAMMIT, I didn’t recognize him,” she told Libby while she waited on a bench outside the police station. She’d collected all her and Shane’s personal belongings from the damaged rental car, which was still being held as evidence. Her stomach had nearly emptied when she saw the mangled mess of the front end.
To her vast surprise, she’d discovered Shane’s phone still had a charge, so she’d punched in Coop’s name and Libby had answered.
“We’re making good time because my husband has a lead foot,” she said, a loving lilt in her voice. “We should be home in a few hours. Mac said Kat delivered your things to Gran’s cabin. Good. You’ll be safe in Sentinel Pass.”
Safe, bu
t what good was that going to do her when the love of her life was convinced he shared the same genes as a psychopath? Jenna had been near tears ever since she left the hospital, and the disappointment of not ever having seen the skinny blond kid the police had hoped she could identify was galling. The guy had admitted to breaking into the Mystery Spot and even took responsibility for damaging the water main a few weeks earlier. He said he’d been contacted at his MySpace page by a guy he never met. The mystery man paid him to play some harmless pranks on the owners of a business that was obviously a rip-off.
“The police believe Adam is on his way back to Minnesota,” Jenna told Libby. “He’ll lawyer up, and even if the police can make a connection from the Internet, which isn’t likely, Adam would probably claim the kid was a stalker or something.”
“Who was behind the wheel of the truck that drove you off the road?”
Jenna sighed. She was tired—physically and emotionally. “The kid claims the truck was stolen, so it was probably Adam. But he must have worn gloves. No prints, except the kid’s and his father’s.”
“Bummer. Cooper wants to know how Shane is doing.”
“Good. He might be getting his walking papers as we speak. I’m just waiting for my ride. I—” She glanced up, sensing another presence. She assumed it was the same female cop who had escorted her to the station. Officer Hardgrave. But it wasn’t. It was a man with a small, silver gun pointed straight at her.
“Hello, Adam,” she said, hopefully loud enough for Libby to hear.
He took the phone from her hand and tossed it into the bushes. “Let’s go.”
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