“Have you read the Bible?” the priest said, “There are several references to angels in there,” he said.
JD waved him off. “Oh yes, I’ll check into that.” She started backing out of the cathedral. “Thank you,” she called and turned to dash outside.
The sky was overcast when she emerged from the cathedral and hurried back to her motel. The wind was biting and it seemed to her, that a storm was coming, but that was the least of her concerns.
As she was checking out, the motel clerk mentioned that a storm was raging through the eastern area of Utah and to be careful of icy roads. It didn’t concern her, much. She was only four hours from Torrey and she was known to be inflicted with a bad case of lead foot. JD was confidant she could beat the storm to Torrey.
About three and a half hours later, she was engulfed in a blinding blizzard. She could barely see the red lights of the car five feet in front of her. Her car slid all over the road, even at the snail’s pace she was travelling. What did that motel clerk mean when he said she needed good snow tires anyway? She thought unhappily.
The next thing she knew, she hit a patch of black ice and her car spun around, sliding backward toward the median strip. With her eyes squeezed shut and gripping the wheel until her knuckles were white, she felt the car spin out of control, hit the median and flip over into a ditch, sliding a ten or more feet until it came to a rest. She found herself dangling from her seat belt upside down.
Pain erupted from above her left ear. She reached up and gently touched the spot. Her fingertips came away bloody. JD could feel the blood run into her hair. Unlatching her seatbelt, she crumpled forward onto the ceiling of the car. All the windows were smashed and snow was starting to drift in. She quickly assessed herself, but aside from some minor cuts and scratches, nothing was broken. There was no other pain, except her head. Just another head wound to add to her collection, she thought grimly. Maybe she ought to wear hardhats more often.
The car began to fill with the fumes of gasoline. A sickening fear of her car exploding with her still in it flashed through her mind. She scrambled out of the car and squinted against the raging storm trying to get her bearings. The car had landed in a ditch between the lanes of the highway. Perhaps she could flag down help, but just as the thought came to her, she spotted the dark forms of people against the slanting white snow coming toward her. Shivering, she reached into her car and retrieved her packages and bag, just as the first motorist reached her.
A burly man wearing a baseball cap and a thick, white beard called out to her, “You all right?” He looked like Santa Claus.
“I hit my head,” she shouted back. Another man, younger and wearing a camouflage coat, came up behind him. “Are you alone?” he asked looking at the car. The gasoline fumes were stronger despite the wind.
“Yes,” she said.
Santa Clause took her arm and said, “Come on. Let’s get out of this storm. We’ll radio a tow truck to get your car.” Santa Claus led her toward his semi-truck parked off to the side of the road. The other guy belonged to a pickup truck parked behind the semi.
She climbed into the rig which was toasty warm. “Thank you,” she managed to say through chattering teeth, trying to get her packages settled on the floor of the cab. Her new sweater under her jacket wasn’t quite up to the task of keeping her warm in this weather. Santa noticed.
“Don’t you have something heavier to wear?” he asked as he got himself situated behind the wheel.
“No,” she said regretfully.
“I’ve got an extra coat here.” He reached behind his seat and tugged on a flannel-lined purple sports jacket. He handed it to her. Thankfully, she put it on.
“Nasty storm. Sometimes it’s just better to sit and wait it out. Where you headed?” he asked, reaching over to switch up the heater.
“Torrey,” she said, sticking her hands out against the warm air blasting through the vents.
“Well, we should get a look at that head.” He turned his head to call back through the curtain between the two seats. “Elly?”
A brunette with short-cropped hair peeked around the curtain, bleary eyed, obviously awoken earlier than she would have like. It only took her a moment to assess the situation from the blood in JD’s hair to the blinding snowstorm raging outside. Santa explained the situation to her needlessly as Elly immediately beckoned JD to the back of the rig where a mini apartment was set up complete with a queen sized bed. Elly tended to JD, checking her head, cleaning the blood from her hair as best she could with bottled water, and tenderly dressing the cut with a bandage. The other scrapes and cuts she had received were also tended to with gentleness. Elly’s face was kind, but she didn’t say much.
“JD,” she replied. Elly nodded, “Nice to meet you.”
“My wife and I travel this way frequently, we usually pick up a stranded motorist or two on each trip. There is something about this area that causes havoc for people travelling this way. Isn’t that right, Elly?” he said as he leaned around his seat to watch his wife bandage JD up.
“Yes, John. We’re not surprised anymore by what we find along this route. So we come prepared,” she said as she motioned for JD to lay down on the bed. “It could be a long wait until the roads are safe enough to travel on, and a tow truck can come and get you and your wrecked car.” Elly said gently. “Until then, just rest. We’ll just wait the storm out.”
JD tried to relax, but her head throbbed. She gingerly touched her head wound. I should have waited, she berated herself. Now my car is wrecked, and I’ll probably need stitches again. Gramps is going to lecture me about being too impulsive, again! Stink! Stink! Stink!
Chapter 8
The tow truck dropped JD off at the General Store during the very early hours of Sunday morning, just as the sky was beginning to brighten with the first rays of sunlight.
JD climbed out of the truck and walked around to the back to take one last look at the car that had been her prize inheritance from Gramps. The car was a complete wreck. Gramps will most certainly blow a blood vessel when he finds out, she thought sourly. With a heavy heart, she watched the tow truck drive away with her Thunderbird. How was she going to break the news to Gramps? Well, he didn’t need to know right away – it could wait.
Exhausted, she climbed the stairs to her apartment door. She dropped her keys twice before she could get them into the lock and open the door. But, it wasn’t locked. JD hesitated at the door, positive she locked it. But then again, she had been in a hurry to leave that it was possible she had forgotten. She couldn’t remember.
Pushing the door open, she stumbled inside, and in the semi-darkness of her apartment, she dropped her keys where she knew the coffee table was. When she turned back to close the door, a light came on and startled her. She spun around and gasped.
“Matthew!”
He was sitting on the sofa, his hand on the lamp switch. His hair was longer and his face was deeply tanned and haggard. He seemed thicker around the neck and shoulders that made his leather jacket and jeans seem tight on him. Matthew got to his feet and strode over to where she stood and loomed over her. She peered up at him. He seemed much taller too.
“Where’ve you been?” he said gruffly. The tone in his voice frightened her and she fought to control her emotions. A memory of Gramps’ cool demeanor when confronted by irate clients or sub-contractors came to her then, reminded her how to act in a stressful situation.
“Nice to see you, too,” she said lightly and stepped around him to head for the bathroom, her heart racing.
“I said, where’ve you been?” he insisted harshly turning to follow her.
“Just on a drive,” she said, willing herself to remain calm and trying to ignore the tone in his voice. It worried her to see him like this, so dark, so threatening. Just play it cool, JD thought, like Gramps. She turned on the faucet and splashed water on her face.
“Where did you go?” he demanded as he stood in the doorway – he reached up to grasp the
door trim above his head.
“Does it matter?” she replied evenly.
“It matters,” he snarled. She dried her face and then looked at him. The intensity of his anger burned in his eyes, his shoulders were tense and his jaw was clenched as if he could just barely control his boiling temper.
One wrong word from her might set him off completely, she felt. “I’m flattered by your concern for my wellbeing.” She placed a hand on his arm, smiling. “But you didn’t have to worry. I went to Salt Lake to do some shopping. Can I get you something to drink?”
Matthew blinked. The anger and tension around his eyes seemed to soften. She kept her hand on his arm and led him back to the sofa, motioning him to sit.
“I’m going to make some coffee. Would you like some?” she asked as he sank into the sofa.
“No,” he said gruffly as he watched her, his fists clenched. His foul mood simmered. She left him and took her time fixing instant coffee, stalling while she tried to figure out a way to get him to leave peacefully. His behavior troubled her. It had been months since she had seen him, and during that time, she felt that her heart had finally healed, but seeing him now, she felt the old ache return, and she didn’t know whether she should get angry at him for treating her so badly, or start crying. She steeled her emotions and returned to the living room with a steaming cup.
“Where’ve you been?” she asked conversationally as she stood in the kitchen doorway.
“What?” His eyes darted to hers as if surprised she was still there. She repeated her question. Matthew shook his head dismissively. Silence. He didn’t want to talk. He just stared, unblinkingly, at the coffee table.
“How long have you been here?” she asked, trying to put a smile in her voice.
“Since Friday morning.”
JD bit her lip, remembering the feeling she had that Friday morning to hurry and leave Torrey. What would have happened if she hadn’t hurried and had returned Friday? She surely would have encountered Matthew and she wondered what would have happened then. Maybe sitting here in her apartment for two nights alone had made him more angry? Or perhaps softened his mood? She couldn’t tell which mood he may have arrived at her apartment in.
“If I had known you were coming by…” she trailed off casually.
“Yeah?” Matthew challenged. “Well, three is a crowd, don’t you think, JD?”
JD’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
“Nathan! He was here on Thanksgiving,” Matthew raged. So that was it. Matthew was jealous. Did he still have feelings for her? Confusion filled her heart and mind.
“Matthew, there is nothing…” she started to explain, but even as she started, she knew it wasn’t true. There was something going on between her and Nathan, and she wasn’t quite sure what it was.
Regardless of what she was going to say, Matthew cut her off. “You’re right. There is nothing between you and Nathan, because I won’t let anything happen. You understand? If I see him again anywhere near you…” he left the threat hanging. JD felt like she had been struck.
Matthew exhaled harshly. “Never mind. I came by to show you something.” JD was still reeling from his threat and couldn’t answer.
“I want you to come with me,” he said. His face and eyes had once been so handsome and beguiling to JD, but he now wore a mask of hatred and anger.
“Right now?”
“Yes.”
JD offered a weak laugh. “I’m kind of tired, Matthew. Tomorrow would be better.” She lifted her cup of coffee to her lips.
“No. You have to come now. I insist.” He stood and took two steps toward her and snatched her wrist. Her cup of coffee flew from her hands and splattered all over the floor.
“Matthew, I said no.” She resisted, trying to break his grip with her other hand, but he was much stronger. He bent and flipped her over his shoulder then strode across the room. He threw open the front door with a bang and stalked through it without closing it behind him.
“Matthew!” she screamed. No one was in the parking lot. She wondered if anyone could hear her. Surely Liu was home, but at this hour, would she even be awake?
As she kicked and screamed herself hoarse, Matthew calmly walked around to the front of the General Store where he had parked his truck. He opened the driver’s side door and shoved her inside, climbing in after her. She scrambled for the passenger side door, clawing at the lock to open the door, but the lock was broken off, and so was the door handle. Slamming his door as he fired up the engine, he hit the accelerator and peeled away.
“Where are you taking me?” she screamed at him. He ignored her. She glanced about, searching for some sort of weapon she could use to attack him with, but all she could see was scattered paper littering the floor of the cab. She glanced up to see where they were headed. Perhaps a plan of escape would come if she knew where they were going.
Just then, a police cruiser came up over the hill. She leaned forward, knowing instinctively that it was Roy. Matthew growled. She hoped Roy would notice her; see the panicked look on her face, but before they got close enough, Matthew yanked her back against the seat roughly.
Twisting around to look behind, she saw that Roy passed without so much as a glance in their direction. JD closed her eyes in despair. She was already foggy from too little sleep, and her head ached. When she opened her eyes to stare at the disappearing cruiser, it turned around, just as Matthew crested a hill. The cruiser disappeared out of sight. Hope flared inside JD. She had to distract Matthew−keep him off guard until Roy could catch up to them.
“Matthew, I’ve got to get back to Torrey,” she informed him calmly. “I’ve got a conference call with Rick in a few hours.”
He gave her a strange look and then snarled, “Sorry sweetheart. You are going to miss it.” JD’s mouth dropped open. She glanced back and saw Roy was cresting the hill. Matthew noticed immediately and punched it. They rocketed along the highway. The cruiser’s lights came on, but it only served to propel Matthew faster as he swerved along the winding road.
JD felt adrenaline surge through her and she screamed for Matthew to stop. He ignored her and glared at the rearview mirror. She twisted around again, seeing Roy right behind them, matching Matthew’s speed and driving skill.
She turned back to Matthew and leaped at him like a mad, wet cat, clawing at him frantically. If she could get Matthew to slow down enough, perhaps that would be beneficial to Roy.
But Matthew didn’t slow down. Instead, he smacked her hard with the back of his hand. Hard enough to jar her teeth and awaken her recent head injury as she hit the passenger side door. She cupped her left jawbone with her hands as her eyes watered. JD turned and looked out the back window, startled to see how close Roy was to the truck’s rear bumper. Roy was rapidly speaking into a CB, his eyes focused on her. She could see he was mad. JD looked over at Matthew, feeling a deep loathing for him.
How dare he hit me! She quivered with anger.
“Matthew?” JD said, changing tactics. She had to try something, anything to get him to calm down long enough for her to make an escape. He glanced at her, his eyes held a red glint, like pure liquid hatred.
“Where are we going?” She could feel panic swelling within her and her breathing become erratic. He didn’t answer. “Matthew?” she pressed.
He remained silent with a determination in his look that caused her to feel that he would do anything but pull over for Roy. She looked back at Roy. He was slowing down, backing off.
What’s wrong? “No, no, no,” she said quietly.
Roy pulled off to the side of the road and turned around, heading the other way.
Don’t abandon me! she thought. Her panic increased.
“Matthew, please, where are you taking me?” she tried once more. With Roy gone, Matthew seemed to relax a little, but he didn’t slow down.
“To Quabin,” Matthew replied gruffly.
“Quabin? Who the hell is Quabin?”
“Exactly,” he said.
“What? Wait, why?”
“To finish it.”
“To finish what?”
He would say nothing more as they sped along the highway. He stared intently ahead. She couldn’t bear to look at him any longer. She stared out the window and recognized where they were going. They were headed to Cassidy’s Arch.
Chapter 9
Matthew’s erratic driving prompted JD to grab for the seatbelt. She struggled to slide the metal clasp into place just as he made a sharp turn and stomped on the brakes, slamming JD against her seat belt. The truck bucked as it fishtailed toward the line of police cars in front of them. She heard and felt a series of loud pops as the tires rolled over spike strips. Matthew barely kept the truck from flipping over as it skidded across the road, going up on two tires before slamming down hard again.
Without a moment to waste, Matthew grabbed hold of JD’s seatbelt with one hand and yanked it from its anchors, snapping it easily. JD gasped in shock as Matthew grabbed her by the arm and jerked her out of the truck. JD fell hard to the ground. She tried to get to her feet as Matthew hauled her across the embankment and into the woods, but ended up being dragged across gravel and through brush that tore at her arms, face and hair.
She could hear the police shouting at Matthew to stop, but of course he didn’t. “Let go,” she tried to yell, but the force at which he dragged her along prevented her from making much more than a gasping plea. Matthew slowed just a moment for her to get on her feet before taking off again. She could barely stay on her feet, slipping and struggling to keep up with him.
He barreled through the underbrush as low-hanging tree branches and undergrowth caught at her clothes and her skin. With renewed determination to fight back, she screamed at Matthew to let her go, but his grip only tightened and he increased his speed. She couldn’t keep up. Her legs went out from beneath her and she bounced along behind him, her thighs and hips banging painfully against rocks and tree roots. Matthew’s unnatural pace didn’t slow as pulled her toward him and throw her across his right shoulder, knocking the wind from her. She gasped as tears streamed down her face. His muscular shoulders were like boulders that kept jabbing into her ribs.
If I Fall...: Will You Forgive Me? (Angelore Saga Book 2) Page 5