Page 95 of A Cowboy's Trust
But what she heard was a low, menacing laugh. “You know what else? I went to your cheesy little café. Found out all about the Heart Falls lookout. How this is where sweethearts often meet. I figured you came here sometime with Jake, so this is where you get to stay. Maybe they’ll put up stuffed animals in memoriam for you.”
The car rocked suddenly then slowly began to roll.
“You should have left him alone,” Melissa taunted. “He’s mine.”
Crap. The nose of the car had been pointed down the hill toward the sharp U-turn corner. The only things at the edge of the road were rosebushes and scraggy little trees. Beyond that, it was a cliff all the way down to the heart-shaped pool at the base of the falls.
The car picked up momentum, rocks under the tires loud as Tansy scrambled to free herself. She jerked the glow-in-the-dark release cord.
Nothing happened.
22
Don’t panic. Don’t panic.
Easy to think, tough to follow through. The car bounced slowly over the rocky road, and even as Tansy switched gears and pulled the seat latch, she was picturing the cliff edge.
How far away was she?
She scrambled through the opening into the back seat and all but dove for the front. There were too many types of door latches and locks for her to know for sure she could get out of the backseat in seconds, but she could do this much.
Brakes were brakes in all vehicles.
She rolled over the top of the back rest and sprawled into the driver’s seat, foot extended to stop her forward motion as quickly as possible.
A gasp of relief escaped as the pedal depressed and Tansy finally had a second to breathe and look out the window.
The hood of the car was maybe five feet from the edge, a whole lot of open air right beyond it. God. Tansy pressed her hand to her chest to try to stop the pounding?—
“Nooooo.”
Tansy whipped her head around to discover Melissa running at high speed toward her. “Shit.”
No time to get out safely. No keys in the ignition. Not a new enough car to be a push start, and no time to hot wire it. Tansy scrambled for the door panel and hit the power locks just as Melissa grabbed the latch.
“Youbitch.” Melissa smacked her fists on the window.
Tansy jerked up the parking brake then slid over the center toward the passenger door. “Look who’s talking.”
Unfortunately, Melissa wasn’t giving up. She sprinted to the back, planted her hands on the smashed trunk and pushed.
Nothing. She rocked forward futilely a few times as Tansy held her breath, but the weight of the car combined with the shallow incline meant the brake held.
A deafening blare rang out. Melissa had set off the car alarm, which also security locked the doors, effectively sealing Tansy in.
Damn it.Tansy ducked under the dash and went rooting for the fuses she needed. Now the only way to get out was to short the system.
She peeked up every few seconds but didn’t see or hear Melissa. Then again, all she could hear was the alarm at deafening levels as she went back to work on the panel.
Pulling the plug brought sweet silence to her ears, and Tansy breathed out in relief. She reached for the door and froze.
Barreling down the road toward her was her SUV. The red taillights flickered, but Melissa had obviously had the bright idea of grabbing the vehicle to, what? Bump the car over the cliff to finish the job? Make a quick get away?
Tansy wasn’t sure.
What she did know was that ZenBaby’s brakes were even less reliable in reverse, and this trip wasn’t going to end the way Melissa hoped.
For either of them.
