Page 27 of Silent Menace
“With your hard head? I’m not worried about you. I’m worried about the other guy’s hand.”
He chuckled, glad his friend had picked up on his need for a bit of humor. “Yeah, yeah, I know.” To his relief, Miguel allowed the conversation to shift, and soon they were discussing an upcoming baseball game the man had tickets for—a far more enjoyable topic.
When the call ended, he stared at his phone. Miguel had somehow managed to talk him into accepting one of his extra tickets and joining the guys for the game in a few weeks. But he hadn’t brought up rejoining the agency again. That was a first.
Maybe Peter should have led with news of his concussion and derailed the recruitment call before it got to that point. But he knew that was only part of the equation. For all his badgering ways, Miguel knew when to push and when to back off. And he really did care. There was no doubt about that. He’d make a great boss ... if Peter ever made it back to the agency.
15
Despite another confrontationwith Stefania, Hailey managed to keep her cool through the end of the workday and the short back-and-forth to ferry Peter to his car, which had sat in the1798Building’s parking lot all weekend. She held it together all the way to the edge of Kincaid. But once she passed beyond city limits and turned toward the family farm, she let her taut smile drop. She took a deep breath, held it, let it out slowly. Repeated the exercise.
When that didn’t calm her churning emotions, she banged her fist on the steering wheel and let out a guttural cry.
For several minutes, she released her anger and frustration in the silence of the vehicle. Now was the time to do so. She was alone. No one could hear or see her.
After a few moments, Hailey pulled herself together. She wasn’t sure her little temper tantrum had helped any, but at least everything was no longer bottled inside.
What a day.
If she had to put up with many more like today, she wasn’t sure she’d make it working full-time as a CPA. But, she reminded herself, data breaches weren’t a normal part of her job. Neither was being yelled at by a client who seemed to think she was personally responsible for compromising their data.
More than that, the stress of the last year and the last several days in particular had been building—stacking higher and higher, like one of Jenna’s wobbly towers. Perhaps that had more to do with her fragile emotions than today’s issues. They’d just been the final ill-placed block that sent everything clattering to the floor.
Regardless, she was so glad to finally be on her way to pick up Jenna. When she was with her daughter, she could push most of life’s problems to the back burner. Somehow, they’d make it through this week, this month, this year. One day at a time.
Thirty minutes later, she and Jenna were on their way home. It felt odd not having Maggie with them on the return trip, but Mom and Dad had both planned to be busy with errands and such today, so she’d left the golden at home rather than have her left behind at their place. She hoped the dog had done all right by herself at the house all day.
When they were about halfway between the family farm and home, a silver hatchback pulled onto the road behind them. The driver edged a bit closer than Hailey was comfortable with, but not quite enough to count as tailgating. She frowned, then shook off her unease. Everything was fine. She was just stressed. But still, she couldn’t keep her gaze from wandering to the other vehicle as she navigated the twists and turns of the country road.
About two miles before the turnoff to her street, she rounded a bend and gasped. A car with its hood up sat diagonally across the road several yards ahead, blocking both lanes. She slammed on her brakes. Her tires squealed, but the Explorer skidded to a stop with a few feet to spare.
Heart pounding, she threw the gear into park and gulped in air. That had been close. Before she had time to evaluate the situation, movement in the rearview caught her eye. The hatchback. Instinctively, she knew the driver wasn’t going to be able to stop in time, but she was powerless to get out of his way. Time seemed to slow.
The first impact was bone jarring. The second, as the hatchback’smomentum pushed them into the stalled vehicle, caused the airbags to deploy.
Hailey’s ears rang, and she felt disoriented. She also tasted blood. Had she bitten her tongue? A wail from the back seat pulled her from her lethargy. Jenna! Was she okay?
She struggled against the airbags and managed to get the door open. Tried to get out. Seat belt. Her seat belt was still on. The door swung closed again as she felt for the release. Her fingers brushed her phone. Yes, she should call for help. Hands shaking, she opened the call app. Before she managed to get anything typed in, she accidentally hit the send icon. Peter’s number popped up. She didn’t have time to figure that out. Instead, she hit send again and let it dial. While it did, she tried again to get her seat belt off. This time, she found the release and pressed it.
“Hello.”
“I’ve just been in an accident,” she blurted over Jenna’s cries. She told him what road she was on. “I don’t know if anyone’s hurt. I need to check on Jenna.”
“Are you okay? Have you called the police?”
“Not yet.” She pushed the door open again.
“Are you okay?” he repeated.
“I think so.” She maneuvered out of the vehicle, but she lost her grip on the phone. It skidded under the SUV. Jenna’s cries pitched higher. Now that her head was beginning to clear, Hailey thought her daughter sounded more scared than hurt, but she still needed to get to her and make sure. She decided to leave the phone for the moment.
She grasped the rear door handle, prepared to pull it open. Suddenly, a hand seized her arm and spun her around. A masked man crowded into her space and pressed a knife to her throat. A second masked figure stood slightly behind him, gun in hand.
Hailey froze. What was happening? More importantly, how could she keep Jenna safe? If that gun went off, her little girl wasdirectly in the line of fire. But she couldn’t move—not with a knife against her throat.
“If you need money, my purse is in the front passenger seat. You’re welcome to whatever’s inside.” She was surprised how normal her voice sounded.
“We don’t want your money,” the first man growled.
