Page 53 of Tide and Seek
“Yes.Shaken, but not physically hurt.”He swallowed loudly.“That was terrifying.”
I nodded, forcing myself to unclench my jaw.“We’ll pull over at the bottom of the canyon and call it in.”
“There’s no way that was random road rage, right?”Max twisted in his seat to address me.
“I have no idea what that was.”I didn’t want to give him false assurances, seeing as I had no idea why that person had tried to run us off the road.The attack had felt personal, but then again, anytime you were attacked it felt personal.
By the time we reached the bottom of the canyon, my hands had finally stopped shaking.I spotted a pull-off area near a gas station and eased the Hummer onto the gravel shoulder.I put the vehicle in park and shut off the car, and both Maxwell and I sat in silence for several seconds, the only sound our ragged breathing and the tick of the cooling engine.
“Jesus,” Maxwell finally whispered, running a trembling hand through his hair.“I’m glad you were the one driving, Royce.”
“Me too,” I croaked.“Let’s take a look at the damage.”I really needed to get out of the vehicle, to feel the ground beneath my feet again.
We climbed out on unsteady legs, and I had to grip the door frame for a moment to steady myself.The afternoon sun felt too bright after the shadowy canyon, and the normal sounds of traffic seemed impossibly mundane after what we’d just been through.
The Hummer looked like it had been through a demolition derby.Deep gouges ran along the passenger side where the Mercedes had scraped against us, the paint stripped down to bare metal in several places.The side mirror hung at an odd angle, showing the wiring, and there was a basketball-sized dent in the rear quarter panel where the initial impact had occurred.
“I’ve been complaining about this tank since it was dropped off, but if we’d been in a regular car...”Maxwell shuddered.“Who knows if we’d be alive right now.”
“Yeah, if we’d been driving something smaller and lighter, we’d probably be at the bottom of that canyon,” I said grimly, pulling out my phone with hands steadier than I expected.“I’ll call it in.”
I punched in 911 and pressed the phone tight to my ear.After a single ring, a calm, professional voice answered.
“911, what’s your emergency?”
As I gave the dispatcher the details, including the license plate, the description of the black Mercedes SUV, and the approximate time and location, Maxwell leaned against the Hummer’s damaged side, his face pale but composed.
When I hung up, I walked over to Max.“They want us to wait for someone from the sheriff’s department to come and take our statement.They’ll also check the Hummer for damage and file an official report.”
“That’s fine.I’ll need that for the car rental place,” Max murmured, looking at the road in the direction we’d come.“You don’t think they’ll come after us to finish us off, right?”
I grimaced.“No.If they have half a brain, they’re long gone.”
“If they had any brains would they have driven like that?”Max met my gaze.“I don’t understand why they were so aggressive.”
I frowned.“Maybe I accidentally cut someone off in traffic and didn’t notice?”
“I don’t remember that happening.”
“Me neither.”I sighed.“You should probably call Tippity Top Car Rentals and let them know we were in an accident.”
“I know.I’m stalling.”He slumped.“The rest of our day is going to be nothing but phone calls and problems.We can’t just go to Geoffrey’s and dine on Chilean sea bass now.We’d both be looking over our shoulders every second.”He groaned.“I can’t believe this is how our vacation is turning out.I wanted everything to be perfect for you on this trip.”
“Come on, Max.I don’t care about perfection.”I reached over and brushed a strand of dark hair out of his eyes.“The important thing is we’re both fine.The car can be replaced, and we can go to Geoffrey’s or wherever else you want tomorrow or the next day.”
“Not if someone out there wants us dead.”
“I don’t think that’s the case.”I hesitated, wanting to put him at ease.“I’m sure this was just a random incident.Isn’t LA the road-rage capital of the U.S.?”
“I don’t think it’s ever been officially established that LA is the capital of road rage.”He looked sheepish.“But yes, we do rank high in aggressive driving and traffic-related stress.”
“See there.I probably cut that guy off without knowing it and he was pissed off.”
“Maybe.”He didn’t sound convinced.
“The world is full of crazies, right?”I gave him a cajoling smile.“We’re pretty shaken up right now, but tomorrow, I say we go feast at Geoffrey’s.We’ll just stuff ourselves until we can hardly walk.”
He smiled, his blue eyes holding mine.“You sure it’s safe?”
