Page 57 of Is Anyone Listening?
"I'm coming. Don't move," he shouted.
I was too frozen with fear to move, and as much as I wanted help, I was also scared that if he got too close, the car would slide into the sea.
Before I could tell him to stay back, a light blazed through the broken window next to me, illuminating a face in the dark shadows.
Finn.
My breath caught in my chest. What was Finn doing here? Had he been the one following me? Had he run me off the road and now had come to finish what he'd started?
"Cassidy! Are you hurt? Can you move?"
I pressed back against the seat, unable to speak, my mind spinning with fear and confusion. "I—I…"
"Listen to me," he said. "We need to get you out now."
"I'm afraid to move."
As if to punctuate my words, the car shifted again, sliding another few inches down the rocky slope. Stones clattered down ahead of it, splashing into the ocean below.
I gasped. "Oh, God!"
"Can you unbuckle your seat belt?"
"I can't."
"Try," he ordered. "I'm going to get you out of here, but you have to help."
There was something about his firm, confident voice that calmed my nerves. I reached for the button again, finally getting it to release. As the belt snapped back, he reached inside the window to push the airbag out of the way.
"I'm going to open the door, and you're going to jump out as fast as you can. Got it?"
"I don't know if I can do it."
"You can do it," he said forcefully.
"Okay, one second."
"We don't have a second."
"I need my phone and my bag." I grabbed my phone, which was thankfully on the seat next to me and put it in my bag, then slipped the strap over my head. "I'm ready."
"One. Two. Three!"
He opened the door and I threw myself out of the car and into his arms. He caught me, bear-hugging me against his chest, and threw us both sideways against the hillside as the car gave one final lurch and tumbled away.
We lay there on the rocky ground, gasping, as the car crashed and bounced down the remaining slope, metal screaming, until it hit the water with a massive splash and disappeared beneath the dark waves.
I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. I could only stare at the churning water where my car had vanished, my entire body shaking so hard my teeth chattered.
"It's okay," Finn said, his arm still around me. "You're okay. You're safe now."
"How did you get here so fast?" I asked in bemusement. "Were you following me?" As I looked into his dark eyes, I wondered again if he was the reason I'd gone over the side. But if he was, he wouldn't have rescued me, would he?
"I wasn't following you. But I saw your car go over the side."
"Because the car behind me hit me. They ran me off the road. You saw another car, didn't you?"
"Yes. I saw two cars, and then one crashed through the barrier and flew over the side of the road."
