Page 17 of The Two Last Moments

I stare at the road, at the marks on the neighbor’s lawn.Come on. Remember something. You were here.

I don’t feel…anything.

“I thought there’d be police tape or something.”

“They usually wrap up scenes pretty fast, especially for a public street like this.”

Someone drives by, looking at us curiously, and we have to stand off to the side to let them pass. But then we go back out and stand near the black skid marks.

“Tell me what you saw that night,” I say. “How did it happen?”

“I was out for a jog. Coming around for my second lap. That’s Nina’s place over there.”

He points at a mailbox a few doors down. There are too many trees and hedges in the way to see much of the house. But there’s the corner of a porch. Pale stone.

I feel a tingle of recognition. Then it’s gone.

“You doing okay?” Danny’s got one arm around me, another on my wrist, and I realize he’s taking my pulse. I can feel it thrumming against his skin, fast but not out of control. His chest moves against my back when he exhales. His warm breath tickles my ear and neck.

“I’m fine, doc,” I say. “Not freaking out.”

“Okay. Good. So, I’d just turned the corner and—”

“You can skip the boring parts.”

His breath is soft again on my neck. “Do you want me to tell the story?”

I glance up at him. He still got his hand on my pulse. His eyes are more like the sky than the ocean right now. Cloudy but endless. “I’ll zip it.” I draw the finger of my free hand across my lips.

The corner of his mouth twitches up. “I saw you in the road. The car was heading for you, and you turned and faced the headlights. You were frozen like that. Which is normal, by the way. A lot of people freeze.”

“Okay.” I still don’t like hearing it. Why wouldn’t I run?

“I realized the car was going to hit you. I ran toward you. Shouted. It all happened pretty fast.” He guides me toward the marks on the neighbor’s lawn. “Still doing all right? Your pulse is up a bit.”

“That’s because a sexy firefighter has his muscles all up against me,” I say matter-of-factly.

He makes a choked cough. “You really don’t hold back, do you?”

“Guess I’m not shy.”

“Oh, we’ve established that.”

“Anyway. Keep going.”

He takes a breath. “You landed here on the sidewalk. Then I heard the engine of the car, and I realized the car had reversed. It was…”

My pulse is racing now, and I know he feels it. “Spit it out, Danny. Please.”

“The car came at you again.”

“He was trying to kill me,” I whisper.

“Or put you out of commission.”

Then he succeeded. My knees go weak, and I sag. Luckily, Danny’s already got me by the waist. He holds me up.

“I lifted you into my arms. Ran toward that tree there, the big one. The car jumped the curb and tore up the grass. But he gave up pretty quick. Backed up and took off. I think he may have grabbed your backpack at some point too, because it was gone when I looked. After that, I was in medic mode. Did what I could to make sure you were stable until the ambulance arrived.”

---