Cold Case Justice. Sharon Dunn

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СКАЧАТЬ her like a wave.

      Rochelle did not have the strength to resist the man as he dragged her toward the exit. She turned to stare down at Matthew, who had already begun to stir. “Who are you?”

      “Look, lady, I was hired by a man. I’m supposed to take you to him.”

      “The man you work for is a bad man. He wants to kill me.” She tried to pull her arm free, causing her to drop Matthew’s phone. The thug kicked the phone down the hall out of view. Pain sliced through her torso like a thousand tiny knifes.

      “That’s not true.” Blondie squeezed her good arm tighter. “Just come on. He said you’d be resistant. He only wants to talk.”

      She doubted Elwood only wanted to chat. Why go to all this trouble for a conversation? The only thing Corben wanted from her was her silence, and the only way he could get that would be to murder her. It seemed odd, though. If Corben wanted her dead, why not hire someone to kill her outright?

      With a grip like iron on her upper arm, Blondie pushed her toward the exit. Any resistance she put up only caused more discomfort and made her light-headed. He led her out a side door into the employee parking lot, which unfortunately was empty. He shoved her into the back of the car. She laid her head against the leather seat. The pain had grown so intense she was having a hard time focusing let alone moving.

      He grabbed her uninjured arm and pushed it upward toward the one in the sling. He pulled a piece of wire from his back pocket and secured her hands together with the insides of the wrists touching each other. She glanced around hoping, praying, that someone had seen them. He placed a blindfold over her eyes and then pushed on her shoulder. “Now get down.”

      The thug got into the front seat and sped off through the parking lot. Any hope that Matthew would recover fast enough to help her faded. He’d already done more than any stranger should have and for that she was grateful. But now she was on her own.

      Her captor swerved through traffic and then picked up speed. They must be headed out of town. She tried to push herself up, but when the pain intensified, she collapsed onto the seat. Her heart raced as fear surrounded her every thought.

      This was it then. She wouldn’t see Jamie again. He was all that mattered to her. Jamie had guardians, a nice couple from her church. She’d made the legal arrangements shortly after he was born. He’d be loved and taken care of, but she wouldn’t be with him. Images of her son as a baby and a toddler flashed through her mind. Her eyes warmed with tears. He was her whole life.

      She slipped in and out of consciousness, uncertain how much time had passed. At one point, the noise the tires made indicated that the road had changed from paved to dirt. The car came to a stop, and she heard the driver’s-side door open. She struggled to push herself up, but putting any kind of pressure on her injured arm was excruciating.

      The back door opened. She assumed it was the thug until she heard a soft tenor voice. “Rochelle, it’s me.” Matthew slipped the blindfold off her.

      She stared into the deep brown of his eyes, and gratitude washed over her.

      He tugged on the sleeve of her good arm. “He’s making a phone call. Sounds like he’s lost and getting directions. Crawl out this way so he doesn’t see you.”

      She inched across the seat, careful to keep her head down. Matthew’s courage amazed her. If it wasn’t for him, Elwood might have a gun to her head right now. She slipped out of the car and crouched, taking in her surroundings. The sky had turned dark gray with the promise of evening less than half an hour away. They were on a country road. Elwood must have rented a secluded cabin somewhere. The thug continued to talk on the phone and look out at his surroundings, probably trying to assess where he was.

      Matthew pulled her into the cover of the trees and then quickly untwisted the wire that bound her hands together. “My car is down the road. I turned around when I saw he’d stopped.”

      Twenty feet away, she could hear the shouts and expletives of the blond thug as he realized she’d escaped.

      Matthew grabbed her good hand. “Come on, it’s not far.” He pulled her through the shelter of the trees. Out of breath and barely able to walk, she stopped and bent over. He wrapped his arm around her waist and all but carried her the remaining distance. Finally Matthew’s car came into view. She yanked open the passenger-side door, glancing over her shoulder. Blondie’s car rounded the corner. Matthew pressed the accelerator of his car just as she sat in the seat and closed the door. She belted herself in. Every part of her body felt like it was on fire and each inhale caused physical anguish.

      She glanced over at Matthew, who focused on the road in front of him. What was going on with him that he would take this kind of risk for her?

      Matthew gained speed. The other car loomed dangerously close.

      He gripped the wheel tighter and pressed the accelerator to the floor.

      The other car bumped against them. Rochelle braced herself on the dashboard with her good hand as her heart beat out a wild rhythm. There was a second and a third bump and then their car rolled down a steep hill. The front end impacted with a fallen log, coming to a jerky stop. She flew forward but the seat belt held her in place. Her whole torso flared from the trauma.

      Matthew’s hand touched her shoulder. Concern filled his voice. “You all right?”

      The intensity of the pain nearly blinded her, but she managed a nod. The warmth of his touch calmed her.

      His hand brushed over her cheek. “I’m so sorry. The last thing you needed was to be in another accident.” He stared at her so intensely it was clear he was doing his paramedic thing and assessing her responses.

      “Why are you doing all of this?”

      He looked directly at her. “I just figure a kid who doesn’t have a dad deserves to at least have his mom around.”

      His comment pierced straight through her. He was willing to do all of this for Jamie.

      He clicked the key in the car, but nothing happened. “I’ve talked to your kid a couple of times when we ran into each other in the neighborhood. He’s a good kid. He deserves a shot at a normal life.” He shook his head. “I don’t think this car is going to start.”

      Still reeling from what he had said about Jamie, Rochelle was seeing Matthew in a new light. For nine years, she’d been alone in caring about Jamie’s future. With Dylan gone, she’d assumed it would always be that way.

      Rochelle glanced around. They’d rolled down a steep, snowy embankment. The road was above them, a forest on the other side. Blondie had hit them with such force that his own car had rolled down the hill, too. It was upright, but the smashed roof indicated that it must have turned over at least once.

      Matthew tried his car one more time. Clearly it wasn’t going to start. He drew his attention to the thug’s wrecked car. “I’m going to make sure that guy is okay. And see if his car will run.”

      Rochelle was amazed. Matthew never stopped being a paramedic. Blondie had nearly killed them, and Matthew still cared enough about his fellow human being to check on him.

      “Be careful,” she said.

      “I can handle it. He’s not getting out of the vehicle. He’s probably incapacitated.” Matthew pushed СКАЧАТЬ