Page 69 of Forever Dark
“Get some sleep,” she answered.“Then the funeral arrangements.Sometimes going through the arrangements helps give you something to focus on.”
“Thanks,” he said, his eyes red with tears.He walked out of the station.Selena watched him.
“Poor kid,” Cheryl said.
“Yeah,” Selena answered.“We have to catch this bastard.”
“I hope you’re not talking about me,” Connor said, entering the reception.
Selena saw he was holding a piece of paper.“What’s that?”
“I checked online,” he said.“We know where that revival will be.Thought we’d best check them out.North Benton tonight.Then Canaan Ridge tomorrow.Then Harper County by the weekend.”
“Do you know this Elias Croft who runs it?”Selena asked.
“No,” came the answer as Connor stood there, looking at her like a man waiting for directions.
Selena took a deep breath.“Then it’s about time we introduced ourselves.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Connor was crossing the sheriff’s department parking lot when he heard it.Selena made it as far as turning the key before the trouble announced itself.The engine gave a dry, useless churn, then died.She tried again.Same result.The rental shuddered once beneath her and fell still.He looked over in time to see her sit back in the driver’s seat with both hands still on the wheel, as if stubbornness alone might get the thing moving on the third try.
It didn’t.
He changed direction and headed for her car.
By the time he reached the driver’s side window, Selena had already rolled it down, which told him she knew exactly what this looked like and hated it.
“Gremlins?”he asked with a grin.
Her mouth tightened.“No.I just enjoy sitting in parking lots going nowhere.”
Connor rested one hand on the window frame and glanced at the dash.“Try it again.”
She turned the key.The engine coughed weakly, caught for half a second, then gave up.
Connor nodded once.“Pop the hood.”
Selena looked at him for a second too long before pulling the release.
He walked around the front, lifted the hood, and leaned in.He was no mechanic, but years in a county this size taught a man enough to spot the obvious.Battery looked secure.No glaring loose cable.He checked a connection, tightened one clamp by hand, then rapped lightly against the housing with the side of his fist more out of experience than confidence.
“You got roadside through the rental company?”he asked.
“I’m sure I do.Somewhere in the glove compartment under a thousand pages telling me not to drink the windshield fluid.”
“They obviously know you.”
From the corner of his eye, he saw her almost smile, then think better of it.
Connor bent lower, moved one wire, then straightened.“Try it now.”
Selena turned the key again.
This time the engine sputtered harder, rose for a second, then died with a dull choking sound.
Connor let the hood down halfway, then stopped it with one hand.“All right.It’s not dead dead.But it’s not going anywhere right now either.”
