Page 86 of Canyon of Deceit
I spit out muddy water, my hearing muffled. The three of us crawled to the top of the ditch with the other teen carrying Therese.Please, let her be all right.
“Anyone hurt?” I managed.
“We’re good,” the teen said who cradled Therese. “The lady is unconscious.”
The wails of an emergency vehicle screamed to a halt.
“Thank you,” I said and thanked God. “We’d be dead if not for your bravery.”
“No problem,” the Latino teen said near me. “We were just driving by. Glad to help. You must have had a blowout and the car flipped.”
“Something like that. Did you happen to see a pickup tailing us?”
“No, sir,” the other kid said. “Not a thing in sight.”
“What are your names?” I didn’t ever want to forget these teens.
The Latino kid pointed to himself. “I’m Gabriel and this is Michael.”
Go figure. Angels in ripped jeans and lettuce-hair.
FIFTY
A paramedic inserted an IV into Therese’s battered but conscious body. The ordeal in Dog Canyon and the injuries from the car flip compounded the bruising. I held her hand firmly in the noisy ambulance ride to Pasadena. The sound of sirens split the air coupled with the fainter beeps of equipment attached to her. Whistling from the vehicle’s speed around the doors punched me hard, like a phantom trying to get inside and take her from me.
Not happening. I should call Sergio, and I would once Therese was stable.
The cut along Therese’s hairline had ceased bleeding, indicating no need for stitches. Relief swelled in me unless an ER doctor ran tests and discovered otherwise. She’d need tests to diagnose the extent of her concussion.
I’d prayed more in the last hour than my whole thirty-four years.
The two teens, Gabriel and Michael, drove away as soon as a police officer took their statements. I looked forward to telling Therese about our “angels.”
My head pounded, either from the accident or stress. How had the shooters been alerted to us? Before the pickup arrived on scene, Therese and I had discussed the possibility of a tracker.
“Sir,” I said to the paramedic. “Not sure if you heard me talking to the officers. We were targeted by two men.”
“Yes, you were lucky any way I look at it.”
“Yes,” Therese whispered. “Everywhere I go... someone wants me. Dead.”
“Or us,” I said.
—
At the hospital ER, while the doctor examined Therese, I phoned Sergio. My words sounded like a repeating chorus to a bad song.
“Oh, I heard the news and grabbed my blood pressure meds,” he said.
“Let me help you with this. You’re about to drag me over the coals and I deserve it. First, let me give you the details...”
Sergio listened without a single interruption until I finished. “A tracking device would explain how Falin is on to your every move. The question is, where and how?”
“I’ll talk to her when she’s coherent.”
“Have you learned anything from this?” he said.
“Never underestimate an enemy.”
