Page 118 of The Sister's Curse
At least Monica was covering her own ass.
But I had fucked up. Again.
And now I had to go admit it.
I shoveled the dog back into the rental car and called Owen Destin.
He picked up on the second ring. “Hello?”
I took a deep breath. “This is Anna Koray. I have to tell you…Viv was abducted from the hospital.”
There was silence on the other end of the line.
“Who?” he asked at last.
“We don’t know. Not yet. I’m so sorry, Owen—”
“I should’ve known better than to call the cops,” he said quietly, then hung up the phone.
—
Heart heavy, I headed for home. There was one upside here. I didn’t think Viv was my killer—she’d been in her hospital bed when the guy drowned in the retention pond. She hated the Kings, but that wasn’t against the law. She was a victim, just like her sister. And someone wanted to silence her forever.
Likely, I would need to sit tight until Sumner or Lister led Monica to Viv. Then we could—
I stopped myself. I had no authority whatsoever in this situation. I was just a civilian. Anna. Not Lt. Koray.
I frowned. Night had fallen, and I was zinging down two-lane country roads toward home. Beside me, Gibby sat in his harness, buckled to the seat belt, sniffing the air. I heard an engine behind me, but I didn’t see headlights in the rearview mirror.
Somebody behind me was running dark, and that was no good.
I rolled up the windows and stepped on the gas. If somebody meant me ill, they had another thing coming.
“Hold on, Gibby.”
I rocketed over the hills, my stomach pitching into my throat. I killed my own lights, intending on not giving the jackass behind me an easy way to follow me.
I knew these roads like the back of my hand; there was no way some rich boy with his sports car was going to catch me…
A shadow crossed the road. In the moonlight, I saw a fox on the road. I slammed on the brakes, swerved…
…and a car hit my rear left quarter panel, shoving me off the road. Trees flashed past and metal squealed, until we landed in the ditch with a thud and the powdery puff of airbags.
“Gibby!” I gasped, punching down the airbag and reaching for him.
Gibby sat in his seat, whining. I ran my hands over his ribs and limbs. He seemed uninjured, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
I unhooked his harness and kicked open my door. I scanned the road. I was vulnerable here, in the middle of nowhere, but my best chance would be to retreat to the forest if they came here on foot.
The pursuing car had stopped on the road. I heard a car door open. They were going to come after me and finish me off.
I saw a figure climbing down an embankment, gun in hand. If I squinted, it sure looked like Rod’s brother, Timmy.
I grabbed Gibby’s harness, and we retreated into the woods. Timmy wouldn’t be able to track us. I just had to bide my time.
I heard some half-hearted thrashing around in the brush, but Timmy seemed to have forgotten to bring a flashlight. He gave up after a short time, to my relief.
I waited until I heard a slamming car door and the receding rev of an engine.
