Her shoulders felt like they were about to be ripped out of their sockets, and just as fast as the pain began it stopped. His hands loosened, and she fell backwards to the ground. Her head bounced against the metal floor. “Ouch!” She cradled her scalp with one hand. The moisture, she hoped, was from being caught in the rain earlier.
“Sorry,” he said, panting. “I would’ve caught you if I could.”
Kathleen popped up, her backside smarting. Matt leaned against the metal shelf. She turned around and put his right arm around her shoulders before slipping her left hand behind his back. “You’ll need to lean on me like a crutch.”
“If I did that, you might snap.” He smacked his other hand on the edge of the tallest shelf and took a step.
Her shoulders did smart at the pressure as he leaned on her, but she could also tell by the way his back tensed that he was trying to spread the load onto the shelves. The metal creaked underneath his firm grip. With each step, he winced. She wanted to rush him but knew if she tried, he’d be down for the count.
What seemed like thirty minutes, but most likely only took one, left them both shaking and dripping with sweat. She helped lower him down on the box and kicked another behind it, in hopes Matt wouldn’t slide down the truck when she shifted it in gear. Assuming she was able to actually get the thing in motion.
The sun was beginning to win the war against the dark clouds. While clearly daytime, it seemed more like dusk. She turned the headlights on to see farther down the road.
“Use your left foot and press down the clutch as far as you can then turn the key.” Matt’s face looked pale but determined. He was sitting on the box diagonal to her so that his right hand was on the gear stick, and he was able to see what she was doing with the pedals below.
“Why do people call it a clutch? Why not just call it the left pedal?” She cranked the ignition.
“Clutch is shorter. Drive like normal, but keep your left foot ready to press on the clutch when I tell you.” His voice was scratchy and gruff. “I’ll shift. You’ll press the gas at the same rate as you release the clutch. Understood?”
She nodded and the truck shook to life. They had to drive over part of a broken fence to get to the road. But the longer they took, the less chance they had to save her sister.
“You might want to find something to bite onto again,” she muttered. She took off and he yelled, “Clutch.”
The truck jerked forward and back as she tried to follow his instructions. He squeezed the stick shift so tight his knuckles went white when she bounced over the fence. She could hear the metal fence catch and drag along the back wheel for a few seconds before it finally slid off the road.
“We need to push this as fast as it goes,” she said. “I don’t see him. I’m afraid we might be too late.”
She made a right turn onto the highway. Dust and little plant bits flew across the road from the strong wind. She had to keep the steering wheel cocked to the right just to drive straight. “I know some shortcuts that Aldric hopefully doesn’t know.”
She squinted. About a mile and a half straight ahead she saw her car pulled over to the side of the road. “Wait. Is that him? Why is he stopped?”
“Kathleen. Pull over. Now.”
“What? Why?” She had to holler over the roar of the wind. “Do you think he’ll try to shoot our tires out if I pass him? I know a different way into town. We could beat him.”
His eyes were wide and his jaw slack. She lifted her foot off the gas pedal, and the truck shook, choked, and died.
Kathleen followed the direction of his gaze, and her heart skipped a beat. The sky had a reddish tinge to it from all the dust. The dark clouds above had one finger bending down to the ground straight across the road from them.
Her mouth went dry. She licked her lips. “At least it’s not touching the ground.”
As soon as she said it, she did a double take. The red dust turned out to be a swirling cup of debris, a spinning top controlled by the cloud.
And it whirled right for them.
“We should keep driving,” she screamed.
Matt shook his head. “It’s too big. Even Aldric knew enough to pull over, Kathleen. Help me get this guy out of the truck and into the ditch.”
Now that the mammoth engine wasn’t running she could hear the growing roar of the wind, like a house-sized coffeemaker heating water. The sound grew louder. The wind blew through the open delivery door so strong it seemed like the tornado was trying to suck the air through the door on the driver’s side, except it was closed.
She tried dragging the employee’s boots toward the steps. The barrier behind the driver’s seat doubled as a pocket door. She wished she’d noticed that before. She grunted, the back of her legs burning as she pulled the man far enough to get past the box and halfway down the platform steps.
“Kathleen. Duck!”
A plank of wood hit the windshield. She screamed as the back of the van started sliding to the left. There was no time to get the two injured men to safety. Her heart pounded in her throat so hard it burned.
She slammed the delivery door closed and jumped up to shove the pocket door between the cab and the back closed. “Hold on!”
The back end of the truck pulled to the left. Her center of gravity shifted, and she fell against the driver’s seat, her head pressed hard against the locked driver’s door from the force. Matt’s head pressed against the barrier, his good leg pinned between the box and the driver’s seat. He reached out for her hand as the truck spun.
A scream escaped as the truck bounced over obstacles. Nothing could be seen out the windshield but darkness. She couldn’t see where they were or where they were going.
The truck rocked back and forth, and finally stilled. The roar of the wind lessened. She sat up, a hand on the back of her aching neck.
“We’re alive,” she called out. Her breath shook. She bit her lip, closed her eyes, and whispered a prayer of thanks, tears rushing down her cheeks. “Are you okay?”
He nodded, pulling on her hand until she was face to face with him. His eyes were red as he reached his hand behind her neck and kissed her, hard. “Two near-death experiences, Kathleen. I don’t know if we’ll get another pass, so I’m not wasting this one.”
She didn’t take time to process what he’d said. She leaned forward and kissed him back, the heat from his lips confirming they had indeed made it out alive. For now.
He groaned, and his face paled in the dim light. Blood seeped through his jeans at an alarming rate. The makeshift bandage wasn’t holding up.
She clicked the ignition one tick so she could click on the windshield wipers. They moved the thick dust away to reveal the circulation in the sky breaking up. They were in the middle of a field, shockingly close to a barn, but they hadn’t flipped.
So where was Aldric? Was it wrong to pray the tornado had gotten him?
Another groan sounded, and the employee stirred. He remained in a ball at the bottom of the steps.
“I’m so sorry,” she cried out. She put her arms underneath the man’s armpits and helped him lift up to sitting. He reached out to grab the handle.
“You were shot, you fainted, and we just survived a tornado.” Her voice was as shaky as she felt.
The driver grabbed his forehead with one hand, bending over. “I think I want to pass out again,” he moaned.
“I know.”
“Movement on the highway,” Matt said.
She straightened. It was her car, and it was driving away. “Sir, I need you to just do your best to hold on.” She maneuvered around him and Matt to get back into the driver’s seat. “I’m going to need your help again, Matt. It’s going to be rough.”
He shook his head. “There’s no way we can catch up to him, Kathleen.”
She grinned. “Not if we stick to the roads. I know this countryside, Matt. I know all the short cuts. But we have to go now.”
He grimaced and placed his hand on the shift. “Off-ro
ading we shall go.”
Chapter Ten
“Clutch,” Matt yelled as he bounced off the box. He pressed his left foot into the side of the driver’s seat in an effort to stabilize, but when he landed, it was all he could do not to pass out. The gears ground together—a sickening sound—as he regained his sense and shifted.
“Pull over,” the employee yelled. “Let me off.” His head was almost between his knees.
“I’m sorry, sir,” Kathleen shouted back. “We’re trying to save lives. There’s a gravel road coming up in just a few seconds.”
Another bounce and Matt was sure by the string of profanity coming out of the man’s mouth that the jarring motion was causing him as much pain if not more.
“Do you have a wife, sir?” Kathleen hollered and cranked the wheel to the left.
The nose of the truck rose, and the crunching underneath the tires signaled they had found the gravel road. The truck leveled off. While it still bounced significantly, it was less than driving over the rows of prepared farmland.
“Yes.” The man groaned.
“Think of how thankful she will be to find you alive after such a harrowing experience.”
Matt shook his head, amazed at Kathleen’s encouragement to a stranger in such circumstances. “See? That’s why I liked you in college.”
She jerked her head to look at him before yanking it back to focus on the road. It was a challenge, given the thick dust in the air from both the tornado and the disturbed gravel. “You what?”
Fighting off succumbing to the pain in his leg left him with a headache. He cleared his throat. “Clutch.” He shifted.
They flew down the unmarked road without signs for speeding. Where was a cop when you needed one?
“In college.” He tried to finish his thought. “I noticed you in the library, helping other students. It didn’t matter how someone treated you, you were so respectful, kind. Yet you didn’t put up with any nonsense, either.”
He grinned. “I remember once, this guy came in with his girlfriend. He was so incredibly rude to you and her. I was about to stand up when you helped him and then turned to the girl and said, ‘We just got in a book you might want. It’s very popular. It’s called How to Avoid Marrying A Jerk.’ A study group behind you started clapping. And then in the cafeteria I wanted to introduce myself, but you were always surrounded by people. Everyone loved you.”
She frowned, and a blush crept up her neck. “Everyone did not love me.”
“Clutch.”
The gears released a horrible grinding noise but kept running. “Besides,” she continued, “I might have never noticed you in the library, but I certainly noticed you in the cafeteria and the commons.”
“Wh—what? No you didn’t.”
Kathleen nodded. “Did too. Everyone knew who you were. Everyone said you were a genius, the most likely to succeed. That was why I was so happy when you came to my art show, and why I was so upset when you—”
“Were a jerk,” he finished.
“No, when you were straight with me when everyone else wasn’t. It hurt my pride more than anything. And my trust. I don’t want to have people hide the truth or real wisdom, just because they see me as a sensitive artist type. There’s a big difference between sensitive and fragile. I’m resilient.” She said the last line with such bravado he wondered if it was for his benefit or her own.
He nodded. “You certainly are.”
“And I’m always there for others. You need something, and I can come through in a—”
“Clutch.”
“I was gonna say pinch.”
“No. Clutch!”
“Oh. Sorry!” The truck lurched. She cranked the wheel again. Ah, finally, it seemed they’d made it to the outskirts of town.
The road smoothed out to actual asphalt. There wasn’t a hospital in town, but there was a medical center, and another one on base. He’d never wanted medical attention so badly in his life. He just wanted to lie down and sleep.
“Matt.”
His head jerked up. The truck sputtered. “Sorry. Restart. Clutch.”
“Keep talking. It’ll help you stay conscious. Tell me why you left Wall Street.”
“Don’t want to wait for coffee, huh?”
“You didn’t want to wait to kiss me,” she said, her cheeks flushed with the words.
“Fair enough. Clutch. I was more driven than wise. I wanted to help people with their finances while making a nice living. And on Wall Street, especially just starting out, you have to live and breathe it. Five years after essentially living in a cubicle, I felt like I had turned into a servant of money.”
“You can’t serve two masters,” she said softly.
“Exactly. Believe it or not, I remembered you. Someone who knew how to live life, enjoy people, and I wanted more of that.”
She smiled as he yelled, “clutch.”
“You’re right. I would’ve loved that story over coffee.” She turned on her blinker to turn left.
“Who are you doing that for?”
“Habit,” she said. “But that gives me an idea.” She made a sharp left turn into an alley between two buildings. “We should be a few minutes ahead of him if I take this all the way down to Fourth Street.”
A horrible screech caused him to flinch as sparks rained on the windshield.
“What are you doing to my truck, lady?” the employee groaned.
“Just misjudged. Tight fit. We’re fine now.” The truck barely squeaked out of the tight alley as she made a wide right turn. “The sheriff’s office is on the way to the library. We don’t have time to stop in, but I think I can get their attention.” She glanced at them for a second. “I really need you to hold on tight.”
With her words, his head lost that faint feeling. His heart beat faster. “Kathleen, what are you doing?”
She grimaced. “Something my dad would kill me for.”
“Are you sure this is a good idea?”
She shrugged and gripped the steering wheel. “If we get out of this alive, yes. If I save my sister and her family, it’s totally worth the fines or jail time. I have savings and vacation built up,” she added. “I need to pick up speed.”
“Clutch.”
She bit her lip and hopped the sidewalk. “Or I could leave the country. I have my passport.” It was as if she was talking to herself.
Matt dared to peek out the windshield. “I don’t think many employers would count it as vacation time if you were running from the law.”
The impact jolted him forward. The sound of metal crunching filled the air as she plowed directly through a meter.
“Ah, lady, what are you doing to my truck? Why don’t you just kill me and get it over with.”
“Sorry!” She glanced at Matt. “That should get someone’s attention.”
He tried to look out the right side window, but could only see the mirror. Sure enough, someone in a uniform ran out of the sheriff’s office.
A moment later she clicked on her blinker for the library. There were only a few cars in the parking lot.
“I don’t see him. Do you see him?”
Just past her beautiful head he could see her car speed down a side street. “He’s barreling this way.”
“What do I do? The library is still closed, but if I drive through the front glass doors, then that gives him a chance, too.”
“Drive parallel. Right up against the glass doors. Block his way.”
She grinned as she drove. “Everyone was right. You are a genius.”
His heart sped up, but that was actually a bad thing. It made his leg throb. She hopped the curve. Matt tried not to yell from the jarring pain, but it couldn’t be helped. The APS man’s own hollers drowned his out.
When they were stopped, Kathleen climbed over his leg and past the employee on the stairs. She opened the door and started pounding on the sealed glass doors.
“Honk the horn for me.”
Matt leaned into it. Between the horn a
nd the crashed meter, help had to be on its way. It just had to be.
Jessica ran through the scanner doors, her hands up, her face scrunched in confusion. Kathleen waved her hands frantically, beckoning. Jessica quickened her stride and pulled out her keys, though her expression remained the same.
Matt turned around to check on Aldric’s location. The maniac had steered straight through the parking lot with no signs of slowing down. “He’s about to hit us,” Matt yelled.
Kathleen hopped back up onto the truck step. She frantically waved at her sister. “Get out of the way!”
Chapter Eleven
Kathleen prayed her sister got out of the way before the car hit the truck. Jessica frowned but stepped to the side where she hit a red button. The glass doors slid open just as the car made impact.
The collision flung Kathleen’s torso halfway out the door. The employee grabbed her right calf in an effort to keep her from flying, but her left shoulder felt as if it had been ripped out of its socket from holding on to the handle so tightly. The nose of the truck swung into the lobby of the library, but they didn’t go far.
She looked back at Matt, unsure of what her next step should be.
“Just go,” he encouraged.
“Close the door behind me, and try to stay safe.” She jumped out of the truck and reached for her sister’s hand, dragging her back through the scanner and the main entrance.
“Where’s the painting?”
“What is going on?” her sister screeched.
Kathleen didn’t slow. She ran toward the library counter. “Guy with gun wants the painting I gave you. Has information that could kill Cameron.”
Jessica’s pace slowed, her face went slack. Kathleen grabbed her hand and yanked again. “Don’t freak out now! Call the police on the landline, and show me where the painting is!”
They ran around the edge of the counter. Jessica pointed to the frame leaning against the desk in the open area between the counter and the closed break room. “Anyone else here in the library?”
Jessica shook her head, the phone already pressed up against the mop of curls. “No. They don’t get here until ten. I had to prep for storyti—Yes! We need police—”
Team Love on the Run Box-Set #1 Page 17