Page 97 of Hell Hath No Fury

“He’snotgoing to kill you.” Matthias steered onto the street.

Her laugh sounded anything but amused. “I’m calling him next. He needs to hear it from me.”

“The patrolman who contacted me said Nell’s on her way to the hospital.”

“I wanted to go with her, but they wouldn’t let me.”

“That’s a good thing. It means you aren’t hurt badly.”

“I’m better than she is. Or the car.”

He eased to a stop at a red light. “What happened?”

She didn’t reply right away. Had she fallen asleep? Matthias knew the kind of emotional trauma that would surface for her after her parents’ accident. When she finally spoke, her voice was low, secretive. “We were run off the road.” Even softer, she added, “And I’m pretty sure it was intentional.”

* * *

Less than an hour later, Matthias spotted the emergency strobes in the southbound lanes of Ohio Route 30 as he drove north. Unfamiliar with the area, he had no clue how far he’d have to go to reach the next exit and turn around, so he pulled onto the berm, shut off the engine, and left his hazards on. Traffic was light, making it easy to sprint across the two northbound lanes. Staggering through the grass median strip in the dark was more of a challenge. He climbed over the low concrete Jersey barrier and paused to take in the situation.

A tow company’s flatbed hauler was backed up to Eric’s Prius, which sat at an angle off the side of the highway, nose against a tree. A man in a work uniform was bent over, attaching chains to the car’s rear end.

A highway patrol cruiser was parked to the north of the tow truck and Prius, red and blue emergency lights sweeping the dark landscape. Flares sizzled along the edge of the road, warning what little traffic there was at this hour to slow down.

There was no ambulance and no sign of Emma. Then he spotted her as she stepped out of the cruiser and waved to him.

He returned her wave and waited for a tractor-trailer to roar past, buffeting him with a blast of air, before he jogged across the southbound lanes.

Emma met him at the side of the road, collapsing into his arms, trembling. Matthias noticed the patrolman exit the cruiser and approach. Matthias held Emma with one arm, extending his right to shake the cop’s hand.

“Drake,” he said. “We spoke on the phone.”

“Honeywell,” Matthias said and thanked him for calling.

Drake motioned to Emma. “I know Ms. Anderson wants to get to the hospital to check on her sister, but—” He brought his focus to her. “We’ve put out alerts to the tri-state area about the car that hit you. I know you didn’t get a good look at it, but it shouldn’t be too hard to find, considering it had to have sustained considerable damage.”

Matthias sensed that Emma wanted to say something but held back. Instead, she thanked the cop.

Drake touched the brim of his campaign hat. “I’ll let you both get on your way. I hope you have a better day.” He started back to his cruiser but paused to point in the direction of Matthias’s vehicle. “Watch yourselves crossing the highway.”

Matthias raised a hand in acknowledgment.

He drew Emma to arm’s length away so he could take a better look at her in the light from the cruiser’s headlamps. Remarkably, she didn’t have any visible injuries. Concerned about the invisible ones, he gently cupped her face in his hands. “Are you okay?”

“I think so.”

“Youthinkso?”

“Ask me again when the adrenaline wears off.”

“What about your head? You’re still recovering from a concussion, you know.”

“Yes, I do know,” she said giving him a look filled with snark. “The airbags and seatbelts did their job. I may have some bruises, but I didn’t hit my head.”

He brushed her cheekbone with a thumb. “Good.” He released her face and took her hand. “Let’s go.”

Once safely across all four lanes and settled in the Jeep, Emma exhaled. Matthias shifted in his seat to look at her. “Okay, what weren’t you saying back there?”

She turned her head to meet his gaze. “He said they were putting out an alert to the tri-state area.”