Page 8 of Hard Evidence
“Sure thing, ma’am.I’ll top off the oil and coolant while you’re gone.”
“Thank you, I really appreciate it.”
I drove a mile and a half away to a street that didn’t look particularly nice, parked the Lexus outside a convenience store, and left the doors unlocked with the key on the seat.Its fate was in the Lord’s hands now.With any luck, it would find its way to a chop shop and not back to Ridge.With Shiro by my side, I wasn’t worried about walking back to the Motor Mall alone, and it gave us both the chance to stretch our legs before what promised to be a long drive.I just wanted to put as much distance between us and Maine as possible.
Although I’d never return to Alabama.I’d been happy there once, but my childhood memories had been tainted by what my father did.North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee… Maybe I’d make it as far as Georgia?Or even Mississippi?
Honestly, I didn’t care, just as long as I was nowhere near Ridge.
CHAPTER5
JESSALYN
Make it to Mississippi?Ha.
We were driving through rural Pennsylvania when an amber warning light blinked on, and I realised the temperature gauge on the car was creeping toward the red.That meant it needed coolant, right?Shaun had promised to top it off before I left the Motor Mall, but maybe he’d forgotten?Hell, I needed to find a gas station, preferably one with a helpful, capable attendant who knew where the coolant went because of course the owner’s manual was missing from the glove compartment.A cup of coffee would be good too, plus more water for Shiro, although staying hydrated wasn’t so much of a problem seeing as it hadn’t stopped raining since we left New York state.
I checked my new phone for the hundredth time.It had become a habit over the past day, but there was still no reply from Saylor.I’d tried calling too, but all I got was a generic voicemail, and I needed to thank her.Thank her for everything she’d done.For seeing whathe’ddone.Everyone else had bought my excuses about hormones making me tearful or Shiro bruising my ribs, but not Saylor.We only managed to snatch whispered words during dog training classes, but they’d been enough, and we’d stayed in touch via text and a secret email address she’d helped me to set up.
“This sucks, boy.But at least you’re not in the kennel, huh?”I tried to sound upbeat.Animals picked up on your mood.“And Ridge can’t threaten to leave you swinging from the garage door ever again.”
The needle crept higher, higher, in a game of vehicular Russian roulette, but my nerves gave out before the engine did.Okay, just breathe.All I had to do was take a rest while things cooled down, and then I could find a gas station.We were doing fine, I kept telling myself that.We’d driven through five states, avoiding any toll roads, and survived a night in the car.If I reclined the passenger seat back as far as it would go, then wrapped myself in blankets, it wasn’t too bad.Better to sleep next to Shiro than next to Ridge, who expected me to spread my legs on command before he turned his back on me and snored until morning.Plus Shiro took his role as head of security very seriously.At two a.m., he’d hurled himself against the window, barking, and I’d poked my head out of the blankets in time to see a shadowy figure skedaddling into the darkness.Who cared about diamonds?A dog was a girl’s true best friend.
I fed Shiro a treat, then closed my eyes.Only to be rudely awakened a while later by barking, but this time, the man watching me through the glass didn’t flinch.No, he peered closer, one hand shielding his eyes from the driving rain.I rolled down the window a crack.
“Howdy, ma’am.Everything okay?”
“Just taking a rest.I don’t suppose you know where the nearest gas station is?”
“About five miles south of here.You out of gas?I got a spare can in my truck I’d be happy to let you have.”
I tried to swallow the lump in my throat and ended up coughing.Kindness in a man both made me tearful and scared me.Ridge had seemed kind at first, and my dad was a big bad wolf in sheep’s clothing.
“I-I-it’s not the gas.”I still had half a tank left.“It’s the coolant.”
“You have a problem with the radiator?”
“I guess?”The amount I knew about car maintenance could be written on a fingernail.“I’m just waiting for the engine to cool.Maybe it’s okay now?”
“Did you add more coolant?Or water?”
“No?”
“How long have you been waiting?”
“Uh…” I checked my phone.“Almost an hour?”
“Pop the hood, and I’ll take a look.”
“Uh…”
“The release is on the left by the steering wheel.Used to have a buddy with an Altima.”
If I stayed in the car, I’d be safe, right?Plus Shiro had stopped barking now, and he was a good judge of character, much better than me.I mean, he’d bared his teeth at Ridge the first time he laid eyes on him.I opened the hood, and the stranger peered underneath.
“Yup, you need coolant.I’ll top it off with water for now, but you’ll need to add antifreeze when you get to the gas station.Automobile this age, you’ll want to get the radiator checked for leaks too.”
Did it leak?I thought back to the discussion at the Motor Mall, to Shaun saying the Crown Vic ran better.Had he knowingly sold me an unreliable vehicle?If so, that was just one more reason I’d never trust a man again.I could hardly drive back to Keene and complain, could I?
