Page 35 of A Ranger for Christmas
“You’re being far too logical.”
“Logic has a way of cutting through the fear.”
She looked at him and a half laugh startled from her. “I bet you’re never afraid.”
“Only crazy people don’t feel fear from time to time. Fear keeps us alive and our senses sharp.”
She unhooked her seat belt. “So I suppose you want me to get out.”
Wide shoulders shrugged under his jacket. “If you want to.”
The fear whispered in her ear. Told her to stay and run from the memories that were sure to bring heartache. “Fine. I’m getting out.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“You didn’t have to.” She opened the door, burrowed deeper in her coat as the cold air bit and snapped. Her shoes crunched along the dirt as she followed the skid marks marring the road. Like Dorothy on the Yellow Brick Road, she walked toe-to-toe, following the black rubber tire marks, hoping they’d lead her to the missing pieces in her life. As she grew closer to the edge of the road, tension tightened around her chest. Memories of the metal tearing and bending accelerated her heartbeat past the safe speed and straight to dangerous.
Lucas hovered close, not speaking but a silent sentinel there to chase away the darkness.
She moved to the ravine where the imprint of her tires remained gouged in the dirt. A trail of flattened brush burrowed down the hillside to the spot at the bottom of the ravine where she’d crashed. The air bag had deployed, smashing her face and jerking her against the seat.
Marisa closed her eyes, remembering that she’d felt suffocated by the bursting bag that had saved her life and left her face bruised. She’d clung to consciousness as she’d heard Lucas’s voice still echoing from the cell phone that had been tossed about the car in the fall.
“I’ll find you,”he’d said.“Hold on.”
She’d clung to bruised and injured thoughts that wanted to scurry into the darkness. Her body ached from the battering. And then there’d been . . .
“A flashlight. At the top of the hill.”
“Who was it?”
“It was the other driver, I think. I don’t know if he’d checked to see if I was okay or if he was coming to finish the job. I closedmy eyes and didn’t move. I barely took a breath.” She raised fingertips to her breastbone. “My heart beat so loudly I thought he’d hear.”
“Did he come down the hill?”
“Partway. I barely lifted my lids, and I could see the light. But he stopped. His phone rang. An odd ringtone.”
“Can you place it?”
Eyes closed, she chased the memory that darted back into the shadows.
“Don’t worry about it. What happened next?”
“The light lingered on the car for a long time, and I was sure he’d come the rest of the way and kill me. But he didn’t. Finally, he turned and left.”
“Just like that?”
“I heard the rattle of his car as he drove off.”
“He had a busted tire. He stopped at a gas station a few miles from here.”
“Do you think it was an accident? I mean, why not finish the job?”
“Maybe he didn’t want to kill you. Or maybe he was sloppy. My guess is sloppy. Assumed the accident had done its job.”
A cold shiver shuddered through her as she studied the isolated land. “The accident didn’t get me but this land would have. Doubtful anyone would have found me for days, and with the cold temperatures, who’s to say if I would have made it.”
“Your father would have gone looking for you.”
