I typed back. Will do! Congrats on the goal and the win!
My phone rang.
Thanks! See you and the girls later.
I could see it already—my friends hanging out with Shane in his room, flirting like crazy with him. I shook my head and scrolled to Kade’s text.
“You really like Kade, don’t you?” Megan asked, her voice serious.
I glanced at her. “I love him.”
Her eyes widened, but she didn’t look all that surprised. “Wow, that’s huge.”
It was huge. Being with Kade felt right, and I wouldn’t let Laria come between us again.
I chewed a fingernail as I stared at the cursor. I wanted to tell him that it was good to see him too…and so many other things, but I wasn’t sure where to start.
I exhaled. My breath came out in a fog, and goosebumps rose on my flesh.
Megan’s hand abruptly slapped over my wrist once again. Her hand was freezing cold.
My heart jumped in my chest. “Megan, what are you doing?”
Her hand squeezed tighter.
She turned to me and stared at me. There was nothing behind her eyes. Just a cold, dead expression on her face that terrified me.
“The road,” I said, trying to jerk my hand away.
She held firm; a strong grip that shocked me.
“Watch the road, Megan,” I said, horrified and amazed when she took a corner without even looking at the road.
How the hell…
“Riley,” she said, but it wasn’t her voice, but rather a deep, creepy voice that shouldn’t have come out of her.
Oh my God. I had nowhere to go, and Megan, or Laria, or whoever was in there, wasn’t watching the road.
My hand was going numb. “Watch the road!”
A malevolent smile appeared on her lips as her head proceeded to turn toward the back of the car.
A horn blared as we came inches from the car that passed by us.
“Megan!!!!” I screamed.
She accelerated, and I gripped the dashboard with my free hand, listening with dread to the cracking and popping of her neck. The car veered off the road, into a fence and straight for a giant oak.
The wreck with my mom flashed before my eyes and I yelled, “Stop!”
Megan slammed on the brakes…but it was too late. We were going to collide with the tree.
I braced myself for the impact, but it never came. Instead the car abruptly screeched to a stop. Megan’s head was resting against the steering wheel, her hair flung up and around it.
With shaky hands I unbuckled my seatbelt and reached for the door handle…just in case “Megan?”
She moaned and lifted her head. I sighed in relief. She looked like Megan.
Blinking a few times, she glanced at the tree, then at me. “What happened?”
Was she serious?
“We ran off the road.”
“Bloody hell.” Unbuckling her seatbelt she scrambled out of the car and ran around to look at the damage. I was right behind her.
“Oh thank God,” she said, putting a hand to her chest. The car was two inches from the tree. “I can’t believe it. Look how close that is.”
It was crazy close, and I knew someone was looking out for us. Someone had prevented us from hitting that tree. There was just no other explanation.
She stopped in her tracks. “Oh my God, you already have a concussion. Did you hit your head or anything?”
“No, I’m fine. I swear.”
Sliding her hand down her face, she glanced at me, then at the car. “I don’t remember anything before the wreck. I just remember leaving the game.”
First it was Shane, then Kade, and now Megan.
I could feel cold all around us, and the breeze picked up. Being on an isolated stretch of road was nerve-wracking, especially with a maniacal ghost on the loose. “Let’s get out of here. Do you want me to drive?”
She shook her head. “No, we’d both be in deep shit if you were caught driving without a license.”
We got back in the car. She backed up but the car was stuck in the mud.
“Put it in gear. I’ll get behind the car and push.”
She rolled down her window. “Are you sure you don’t want me to push and you drive?”
“Just drive,” I said, the scratches on my body starting to burn again. Laria was relentless. I grit my teeth against the agonizing pain.
“Give it gas,” I yelled.
Megan gunned it. I pushed with all my might, but the tires just spun in the mud. Seconds later I felt mud splatter against the entire right side of my body.
Great.
Megan looked in the side mirror. “Oh shit, I’m sorry, Ri!”
“Try it again.”
This time she didn’t hit the gas as hard, but it was clear we were making matters worse. The tires were sinking further into the mud.
I heard a car coming our way. Seeing a school bus, my heart missed a beat.
It passed by and every person on board was looking our way.
The football team.
The driver pulled over fifty yards up the road. The doors opened and the driver called out. “You need help?”
The words weren’t out of his mouth before Shane wedged past him and ran toward us. “Are you guys okay?”
“Fine,” we said at the same time.
Kade was on his heels. His gaze quickly assessed me from head to toe. “Are you all right?” I could see the concern in his eyes.
“We’re fine.”
“What happened?”
“We missed the turn.”
“Apparently,” Shane said, humor in his voice now that he could see we were okay. “You took out a good section of fence there, Meg.”
“Just help push the car please,” Megan said with a droll smile, getting back in the car.
Shane positioned himself behind the car. “Get inside with her,” he said, sounding more like my dad than my brother. “MacKinnon and I will push.”
“I can help push,” I said, joining them.
“Riley, you have a concussion,” Kade said. He reached up, brushed his fingers over my cheek. His lips curved softly. “You have mud all over you.”
“Oh,” I said, lifting my hand. Our fingers touched briefly. It might have been a small contact, but I felt it all the way to my toes.
“Riley, let’s go,” Megan said, her frustration obvious to everyone.
“I gotta go,” I said, walking away. I slid into the passenger’s seat.
Megan hit the gas, and the guys had us out in two seconds.
“Come on, lads!” the bus driver yelled. Curious onlookers had slowed, and traffic had backed up.
Kade stopped at my side of the window, his fingers gripping the door. “I need to talk to you, Ri. Please…”
I could see the desperation in his eyes and hear it in his voice.
“The girls are staying over tonight, so how about tomorrow?”
His shoulders sagged and he grinned, his relief obvious. “Name the time.”
I bit my lower lip. “Um, how about I call you?”
By his expression, it wasn’t the answer he wanted. “Promise you’ll call, Riley?”
I slid my hand over his and squeezed it. “I promise. We have a lot to talk about.”
Coming Spring 2012
THE DEPARTED
Book three in the MacKinnon Curse series
Acknowledgements
A HUGE thank you to my good friend and critique partner Patrice (P.T.) Michelle for your honest input on this story. You’re a lifesaver.
Thanks to Pam Berehulke for your wonderful edit. You pointed out so many helpful things.
Thank you to the reviewers and readers who enjoyed The Deepest Cut. I appreciate your support more than you’ll ever know.
Last, but certainly not least, thanks to my wonderful husband, who puts up with late dinners and quiet nights when I’m on deadline…or when I just can’t seem to pull myself away from my imaginary world & c
haracters.
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