She looked back over her shoulder to see a big, black truck following right on their tail.
“Are you okay?” Izzy’s gaze bounced between her rearview mirror and the road.
“Yeah. You?”
The other woman nodded. “Do me a favor. Can you call nine-one-one? We need to report this asshole before he causes a?—”
The truck hit them again, only this time he slammed into them even harder. Scarlett nearly dropped the phone she’d just pulled from her purse, but she managed to keep her grip tight and dial the emergency digits.
“Ohmygod!” she exclaimed. “He’s doing this on purpose!”
And that was exactly what she told the operator when he answered the call. Scarlett wasn’t able to see the truck’s plate, but she gave the most detailed description she could. The truck’s windshield was tinted so dark, it was impossible for her to see the guy’s face.
Just a silhouette of a man. A man who, for whatever reason, was trying desperately to run them off the road.
They were struck again, this time at more of an angle. Both women cried out, and Izzy struggled to maintain control of her car.
Scarlett begged the man on the other end of the line to send help as quickly as possible. The truck sped up and started to go around. But just when she started to think the asshole was just messing with them and was going to speed off, the truck swerved its front end toward them, Izzy’s car began to spin.
It spun once. Twice, and when they were facing the opposite direction once more, the tires on Izzy’s side of the car hit the grass, the entire vehicle flipped over onto its side.
It didn’t stop. It just kept flipping.
Scarlett’s entire world became a dizzying blur of swirling motion. And by the time the car came to a metal-screeching halt, she was so disoriented, it took her a minute to realize what had even happened.
The car’s interior was filled with a white, powdery cloud. Somewhere in the back of her muddled mind she knew it was from the airbags that had been deployed.
A low moan reached her ears, and Scarlett swung her gaze to where Izzy still sat. Her eyes were closed, and her head was resting against her shattered window. She could see blood running down the other woman’s face.
“Izzy!”
Shock and adrenaline left her mind in a fog and her entire body trembling. Shaking from head to toe, she fumbled around, trying to find her phone.
She spotted it on the floorboard, next to her foot. She reached for it but was stopped by the seatbelt still securely fastened across her chest.
Scarlett’s fingers fumbled, but eventually she unbuckled herself and bent forward. She grabbed the phone, her heart racing as she tried to call nine-one-one again. It was only then that she realized the screen was shattered, and the phone no longer worked.
Izzy.
Her gaze flew to the back seat, where she’d seen Izzy toss her purse after lunch. Scarlett shifted in her seat, so she was facing the back. She reached for the bag, her fingers curling around the thin leather strap. But just as she was about to pull it through the front seats and onto her lap, the window beside her shattered and a meaty hand appeared.
“No!” Scarlett screamed.
A second hand appeared, and though she fought like hell to prevent it, she found herself being pulledthroughthat window. The man who’d grabbed her yanked her from the car. And before she could even try to prevent it, one of those fists came flying straight at her face.
It was the last thing Scarlett saw before everything went black.
15
Olly rubbedthe seasonings into the last of the pork chops and then went to the sink to wash his hands. With the meat primed and ready, and the veggies peeled and cut, dinner was just about prepped and ready for tonight.
He wanted everything to be perfect. He needed it to be. Because tonight, he was going to do something he’d never done before.
Tonight, he planned to tell Scarlett he wanted her to be his. Sure, she lived in Indiana, but they could do the long-distance thing, if that’s what it took. He just wanted to be with her as much as he could, any way that he could.
Because he loved her.
He’d tried like hell to fight it, but it was no use. He loved her, plain and simple. Olly knew it was love because he’d never felt like this about anyone before. It was as if he couldn’t take a full breath when she wasn’t around.