Page 3 of Double Take

Cars passed her from the opposite direction, splashing even more water on her windshield.

A truck approached from behind, lights on and going too fast. Lainie sped up a fraction. On this stretch of road, there was no place for her to safely stop, so she crept along.

The truck behind her revved, came closer, then shot into the oncoming lane, making his intent to pass her clear. She took her foot off the gas. “Fine,” she muttered. “Go around me, you lunatic.” Which he did—until his back end clipped the left side of her vehicle, sending the wheel spinning under her hands. A scream escaped and her little Subaru hatchback went over the side of the mountain. She bounced once, twice, then crashed sideways into two trees.

The seat belt held her in place. Her coffee cup lay against the passenger window, leaking precious liquid over the glass.

Panting, stunned, heart pounding in a way she’d only felt once before in her life, she sat still for a moment, taking stock.

She was alive. And while she might have a bruise from the seatbelt and some sore muscles from the jerking, she didn’t think she was seriously hurt. She rotated her neck and nothing felt off. “Thank you, Lord.”

But someone had just run her off the road and kept going.

With shaking fingers, she activated her Bluetooth and ordered it to call 911.

“911. What’s your emergency?”

Lainie gave the dispatcher the location. “I’m off the road, though, so they won’t be able to see me. I’m down the hill and against two trees.”

“Can you get out of the vehicle?”

“I’m not sure. I’m not completely sideways, but the seat belt’s the only thing holding me in the seat.” She glanced out the coffee-covered window. “I’m afraid to do anything that would shift my car. It’s a long way down if the car moves.”

“Then stay put. I’ve got people on the way and looking for you. The nearest fire truck is only about a minute from that road, coming from another call. Is there any way you can signal them?”

“Um ... yeah. I can use my phone’s flashlight.”

“Do it. They’re heading up the mountain now.”

Lainie tilted her gaze up and saw a man standing on the edge of the road, looking down at her. She sucked in a hard breath and rolled down her window to get a better look, ignoring the light drizzle that started to plaster her hair to her head. “Adam?” He jerked out of sight. “Adam!” No, it couldn’t be. “Hey! Who are you!”

Bracing herself, she reached over into the glove box and removed her gun. She almost thought better of it. She was freezing. Shaking. Slightly nauseous.

Shock.

She looked up again and could see the back of his truck, almost make out the license plate. Then he was back, peering over the edge at her. For several seconds, they stared at each other. He swung a leg over like he planned to try and climb down to her. To help her? Or—

Approaching sirens stilled him. Then he scrambled back up and disappeared, the roar of his engine fading.

It isn’t him. It isn’t.

Maybe not, butsomeonewho looked like her dead fiancé had just run her off the road.

HE RAKED AHANDover his head, then gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. Almost. So close. He hadn’t thought she could survive falling off the side of the mountain, but ... she had. And he’d looked over to see and found her terrified gaze locked on his.

Her face had gone slack, her lips formed into theOshape of shocked recognition.

Oh, she’d recognized him all right. No doubt about it. What would she do now? Tell everyone? The police? Would they be looking for him?

Sweat broke out across his forehead and he pulled in a deep breath. No matter. They might look for him, but they’d never find him. If they even bothered. He wasn’t worried about the police, but frustration pounded through him.

Lainie wasn’t dead. His plan had failed. All those months of planning, going back and forth, fleshing out one idea only to discard it. Then he’d settled on a foolproof way to get what he wanted and it had failed.

Failed!

Now it was time to regroup, refigure, and recommit to the undertaking. Albeit a new plan, but maybe it wouldn’t take too much restructuring to get to the same outcome.

Unfortunately, he’d lost the advantage of a surprise attack, but the more he thought about it, the more he smiled. She’d be looking for him. Okay. Fine. He’d have to work with that. He pressed his palm against his forehead. It would take some scrambling andinclude working through a lot of little details in a short amount of time, but he could come up with a new plan.

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