In Plain Sight

by Susanne Matthews

  “Maybe,” said Nick. “It happens. You need a new car, something more reliable with a better safety record than this. You’ve been doing more driving, using the brakes more often on these roads. Take one of the other cars until you can get yours fixed. Mine’s just sitting in the garage gathering dust. You don’t want to fool around with brakes.”

  “I know I’m probably just being a Nervous Nelly, but I think I’ll drive a bit slower tonight. There are a few fog patches and visibility is poor. I’d rather be safe than sorry.”

  As she drove along, the emergency flashers on so anyone coming up behind them would realize her car wasn’t one hundred percent, Misty chatted nervously about some of the plans she and Amos had made for the summer. Nick commented here and there, but gradually they stopped talking. No doubt he could tell that driving under these conditions bothered her, and he didn’t want to interfere with her concentration. She white-knuckled the steering wheel, her nerves on edge.

  Suddenly, the silence in the car was oppressive, and she asked Nick to see if he could find something on the radio. He fidgeted with the radio dial, but nothing came in clearly, and the static just made things worse. He turned if off. He had no better luck trying to find something on his phone.

  After what seemed like hours rather than minutes, the car climbed the last hill on their route, the steepest one before home. Once over the hump, they’d be at the house within five minutes. She took a deep breath and huffed it out. She could do this.

  As she crested the hill, Misty applied the brakes to decelerate so she wouldn’t be moving too fast when she arrived at the S curve at the bottom. It took less than a second to realize that not only were the brakes sluggish, they were gone.

  “Oh God,” she whispered into the silence, her breath catching in her throat, the beat of her heart thundering in her ears. “Nick, the brakes are gone!”

  “Completely? Are you sure? Have you pumped them?” His voice was firm and steady, mooring her, preventing her from giving way to the panic. He was probably as frightened as she was, but he was doing his best to hide it from her, just as she would if it were Debbie in the car. She was determined not to let him down.

  She lifted her foot and pumped the brakes several times, hoping to build up enough pressure in the braking system to slow the vehicle, which continued to accelerate due to gravity. She tried to remember everything she’d learned in the defensive driving course the marshals had insisted she take when they’d first put her in the program. The most important thing had been to remain calm. She squeezed the pedal to the floor and held it there. She shifted into low gear, hoping it would be enough to reduce the speed further, using the car’s own engine to slow it down as she’d been taught.

  “Damn! There’s nothing there. I’ve downshifted, but we’re still moving too fast. I’m going to use the hand brake. Brace yourself. If it works, we won’t stop right away, but we’ll slow even more. I took a defensive driving course years ago, and I’m trying to remember what to do in this situation. It wasn’t one we practiced.”

  “You’ll do fine,” he stated with conviction. “You’re an excellent driver. I’d offer to drive, but then we’d really be in trouble.”

  The nonsensical comment made her giggle nervously. Her fingers gripped the steering wheel so tightly they hurt. She didn’t want to let go of the wheel, but she couldn’t hang on to it and pull the handbrake at the same time. They were quickly approaching the curve at the bottom of the hill.

  She gritted her teeth, forced her right hand to let go of the steering wheel, and pulled up on the handbrake with all her strength. Nothing happened.

  “It should have worked! Why didn’t it work?” Her breath was coming in gasps. “The parking brake worked earlier. This makes no sense!”

  • • •

  Nick heard the terror in Misty’s voice, which matched his own, but he knew he couldn’t let her know how scared he was. The darkness had given way to a blurry brightness edged in black. It took him a few moments to realize what he was seeing was the illumination of the headlights against the night.

  He swallowed his nervousness and turned to look at Misty. She seemed to be a darker blur in the blackness of the car.

  “I don’t know, but it’s unusual for cars, even one as old as this one, to lose both its breaking systems. How fast are you going?”

  “I’m doing thirty,” she answered, her breathing shallow. “I’m going to try to slow us down by riding the shoulder and rubbing the guardrail. Nick, if we go through the guardrail, we’ll either fall ten feet into the ditch or end up in the river.” He heard the tremor in her voice.

  “I’m not too keen on either of those options. Here’s what you’re going to do. Try to get down to twenty, and then put the car in reverse gear.” He knew his voice was tense, but she had to know he was worried, too. “It’s tricky and will most likely ruin the transmission, but whatever you do, don’t let the engine fail. If it does, you’ll have no power steering, and that’ll make things a whole lot worse. If reverse doesn’t work, we can try park, but if everything seizes, we’ll be in bigger trouble than we are now. Try to stay on the shoulder; it’ll slow the car more. Rubbing against the guardrail, the guardposts, and the wire will help, too. Keep the brake pedal floored.”

  Nick heard the scrape of metal against metal, but felt the car slow down a bit. He felt the jolt when she shifted the transmission into reverse. The engine made a strange noise, but the wheels momentarily stopped before spinning in the opposite direction and slowing the vehicle further.

  “I have to go back into low! I can’t steer around the curb this way!” she cried, panic close to the surface.

  “It’s okay. Do what you have to do. You’re doing fine, sweetheart.”

  He heard her change gears. She stayed on the soft shoulder on the right side of the road, the screech of the metal against metal jarring in its intensity. Gravel crunched loudly under the tires. Just as the car reached the curve, he felt the jerk as she turned the wheel sharply to the left. He knew she’d be using the full roadway to avoid going over the embankment into the river and prayed there would not be a vehicle coming the other way. The last time he’d been in a head-on collision, things hadn’t gone well. He refused to consider the same outcome tonight. They’d get through this. They had to. He felt her pull back to the right, knowing the shoulder widened here. He felt the car continue to decelerate, slowing to a crawl just before the second loop of the S curve. When it shuddered to a stop, he heard Misty let out the breath she’d been holding and start to cry.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “That’s right,” Nick said. “Pick us up and call Micah to get someone out here to bring her car to the garage.” He hung up. The sound of her crying pierced him. She hadn’t cried since the day she’d moved in. “Nathan should be here in a few minutes.” His heart was still racing, but he knew he had to remain calm a little while longer. “You’re one hell of a driver, sweetheart. Come here.”

  He reached for her, knowing she would reach out to him, and helped her over the console and into his lap. She was shivering, and he could hear the tears as she tried to speak.

  “I don’t know what I’d have done if I’d been alone; I didn’t know you could put the car in reverse to slow it down. Nick, I don’t understand how this could have happened. In this day and age, you don’t lose brakes like that. You don’t lose both of them. It’s impossible!” She was crying so hard he had trouble understanding her.

  He rubbed her back as he’d done before. “It’s okay. You did great, and we’re safe. Go ahead and cry, sweetheart,” he crooned. “You deserve a medal for your driving skills. I’ll bet you got an ‘A’ in the course. This wasn’t your fault. No one could have predicted this, so don’t start beating yourself up over it like you did the fire. Cars break down. It’s as simple as that.”

  He didn’t think there was anything simple about
this breakdown. She was right about one thing — both sets of brakes didn’t just suddenly fail on cars.

  Headlights pulling onto the side of the road in front of them ended the conversation.

  “Are you all right? Neither of you are hurt?” asked Nathan, pulling open the driver’s side door. “Charlotte was just going up to bed when you called. She’s worried sick.”

  “We’re fine, Nathan. A little shook up as you can see, but neither of us is injured. Misty did a hell of a job stopping the vehicle. We can’t get out on this side, but if you help Misty out, I think I can figure out how to get across the seat.”

  A car came around the curve they’d just negotiated, slowed as it passed them, and then sped up, and disappeared around the second curve and down the road. Nick watched the red blur vanish into the dark. He could see color!

  He helped Misty cross the gearshift again, and then, as soon as he knew she was out of the car, he followed suit. He stood on the side of the road and winced at the brightness of the LED headlights on Nathan’s car. He pulled his hand up automatically to shield his eyes. The brightness hurt, proof that he’d recovered more of his vision.

  “Misty?” he asked, knowing she was not near him.

  “I put her right in the car. As soon as we get home, I need to talk to you. Vince called a little while ago. Let me lead you over to her now. I wrapped her in a blanket and put her in the back seat. Can you tell me quickly what happened?”

  “She thought the car was acting oddly when we left the bar. She said the brakes were sluggish, and then they just went. But Nathan, the parking brake did, too. As much as it scares me to admit it, this wasn’t an accident. Something spooked her the night of the fire. I heard her ask Amos if he thought they’d found her again. I want to know who she thought ‘they’ were, and I want to know the truth about those brakes — and I want to know yesterday.”

  “Yes, sir. I’ve arranged for Micah to have the car towed. Our man will be at the garage before anyone else can look at it. I’ll make the call.”

  Reaction still had Nick’s heart pumping madly, but he realized that he didn’t want to lose the relationship he’d forged with Nathan over the past two weeks. “It’s still Nick,” he said. “I’m sorry for snapping at you. I think we’ve become more than employer and employee these last couple of weeks. I’d like to keep it that way.”

  “So would I, Nick. I’ve got stuff to tell you, but it can wait until we get home. She’s pretty upset and scared like hell. See if you can talk her into staying home for a couple of days until we find out what the hell’s going on. Charlotte and I both think something’s up. Apparently Misty’s been getting prank calls on her cell. That phone of hers is an old one and not equipped with GPS. It could be someone trying to triangulate her position, but with that antique, they’d need some pretty sophisticated equipment to pull it off, not to mention having to keep her on the line a decent amount of time to do it. Her phone’s off more than it’s on, so it’s slowing them down. If whoever is looking for her saw her in the musical, they could have followed you to the bar and messed with her brakes. She must be a hell of a driver to have gotten you off that hill and around that curve in one piece.”

  Visions of another accident flashed through Nick’s mind again, this time, momentarily paralyzing him. This could have turned out the same way. Rebecca had panicked, let go of the steering wheel, and covered her face. Nick had reached for the wheel, but he’d been too late. He owed his life and Misty’s to her ability to remain calm in the presence of danger. Now, reaction had set in, and she needed him. Almost as much as he needed her.

  Nathan opened the car door, and Nick got into the backseat beside her, immediately pulling Misty into his arms. She was shaking, but the tears had stopped. That scared him more than a deluge would have.

  “We’re just going to wait for the tow truck,” he said soothingly. Nathan had turned on the heat, and Nick found the car uncomfortably warm, but Misty’s hands were freezing. He pulled her more tightly to him, taking both of her cold hands into his warm ones.

  “When we get home, you’re going to have a large glass of brandy and a hot bath. After that, you’re going to bed, but I am not letting you out of my arms. This isn’t up for negotiation.”

  He bent his head toward her, and when his mouth touched hers, it captured her lips with an urgency fueled by the fear and terror he’d endured in the car prior to its stopping and the helplessness that had struck him as he realized that he’d almost lost the woman he loved. He let go of her hands and put his arms around her, pulling her so closely that she almost became a part of him. Theirs was one body, one heart, one soul.

  He opened his mouth, his tongue slipping between her slightly parted lips, and she welcomed him with a need that matched his own. This was not a gentle kiss; it was a kiss of passion and demand, almost punishing in its intensity. It was a kiss demanding proof of life. He fed from her as if her sweetness was the only thing that would sustain him. He pulled his mouth away and covered her face in light kisses before capturing her mouth again. It was as if he needed to absorb her into his very cells to survive, and as his tongue sought admission to her mouth once more, he delighted in her response. There was a mindless, uncontrollable hunger in them, a basic, instinctive desire to prove to themselves they were alive, but this was a craving that could not be assuaged by kisses alone.

  The flash of headlights coming into the car dragged him back to the present, and he winced at the pain the brightness caused. Their breathing was ragged, and he tried to bring his quick and shallow breaths under control.

  “I think we’d better wait until we get home to take this to the next level,” he said, barely controlling his frustration. He kissed her gently.

  She giggled, her breathing still erratic, but he could sense the nervousness in her. “I think it’s a little hot in here, don’t you?”

  Nick burst out laughing. “That, darling, is the biggest understatement I’ve ever heard.”

  Nathan was in the car within minutes. “They’re taking her vehicle to Pine Hills Motors. No one will touch it until they hear from us.”

  “Good,” said Nick. “Now, take us the hell home, turn down the heater, and don’t spare the gas.”

  His plans for a brandy, a bath, and bed were derailed the minute they entered the house. Charlotte ran from the living room to the kitchen to take Misty in her arms.

  “Oh, my Lord, Misty. When Nick called, I was so scared. Are you okay?”

  Misty stood in front of him, and when he felt her grip his hand, he understood she was as disappointed in the change in plans as he was. He squeezed her hand to reassure her. He wasn’t ready to give up on his plans just yet. He was astonished to see he could pick out the individual shapes of those in the room. Misty was short, as he’d known she was, but he had expected Charlotte to be taller. Nathan’s body was easily recognized.

  “Yes, I’m fine; we’re both fine. I knew the car needed servicing — there never seems to be enough time to do everything. We were lucky there was no one on the road and I didn’t have the girls with me. Right now, I need a drink. Is there any of that brandy left?”

  “Yes,” said Nathan, coming into the house and taking charge. “I think brandy is a good idea for all of us. Misty, I believe you could use a spa bath as well. It’ll help you get warm and loosen the knots in your muscles. There’s no way you’re not tense after that experience. I know Nick won’t mind if you use the hydrotherapy pool in the sunroom. It’ll fix you right up. Charlotte, why don’t you take her back and get her settled? Here, I’ll pour the brandy. You’ll find towels and robes in there.”

  Nick could hear Nathan pouring brandy into glasses. “I need to talk to Nick for a few minutes. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He handed Charlotte two glasses.

  “Um, okay,” Charlotte said, and Nick could hear her confusion. This was obviously a change of plans. “
Misty, the spa is incredible; I used it the other night after work, and it did wonders. Come on; let’s give the men some privacy.”

  “Goodnight, Nick,” Misty said, letting go of his hand. “Thank you.” She kissed him softly, and he heard her follow Charlotte out of the room.

  “I’ll get you organized, and then I want to hear all about what happened,” said Charlotte as they moved out of the kitchen. “Oh! I almost forgot. Amos called and said you should call him as soon as you got this message. I thought he sounded upset. I hope Beryl’s okay.”

  Once the sound of Charlotte’s voice was muffled by the distance, Nathan placed a brandy snifter in Nick’s hand.

  “You’d better have a good reason for this.” He picked up the glass and drained it — not the way to savor twenty-year-old brandy. “This is not where I want to be at the moment.”

  “I know.” He heard Nathan refill his glass and set the bottle on the table. “I realized the windows in my car were fogged up for a reason, and this wasn’t how I’d planned to spend the night either. I told you I had some information for you, but when I was parking the car, Vince called again, and things fell into place.

  “When I came here, you asked me to look into four people. The first three were easy, but Vince had a hell of a time with the last one. There is absolutely no record of a Misty Smith or a Debbie Smith, and there’s nothing on Misty and Debbie Starr until eight months ago. So Vince backtracked through what he could find. Everything about her is false.”

  “Vince has to be wrong; Amos and Beryl wouldn’t accept a love child born after their son’s death as their own, and believe me, everyone in Pine Falls knows Debbie is their granddaughter,” interrupted Nick. “Amos practically flashed the DNA report in their faces.”

  “I know, but here’s the crux of the matter. Two days ago, Vince got a call from Matt Weston, the deputy-director over at the Witness Protection Program. He and Matt go way back to when Vince was a US marshal. He asked Vince not to make any more inquiries. He just said everything was on the up and up and not to worry about Misty Starr and her daughter.