Page 96 of Well Aware

“My sister is in front of me, weaving in and out of traffic,” I grumbled. “She’s drunk.”

“Goddammit,” he said. “Where are you?”

I explained my location, and he said, “I’m about a half mile in front of you. Koen’s behind me with Ida Bell. I’ll tell him to pull off and…”

It happened almost before I could blink.

My sister started drifting off to the side.

Koen’s work truck pulled to the middle turn lane to turn onto the road that would take him to Shaw’s place, which allowed Black’s lights from the other side of the road to be seen.

Seraphina, seeing the lights, panicked and swerved hard to her side of the road. But she overcorrected, then violently swerved back to the left.

Right into where Ida Bell and Koen were stopped, ready to turn across traffic once it was cleared.

Seraphina slammed hard into the back of Koen’s truck, which pushed him forward and to the right into oncoming traffic.

The eighteen-wheeler coming toward him in front of Black tried to swerve, but it was no use.

The eighteen-wheeler T-boned Koen’s work truck.

Heart in my throat and lungs screaming in agony, I pulled as close as the accident would allow me to get and bailed from the truck.

I wasn’t even sure if I’d put it in Park.

I was running toward Koen’s truck before I’d consciously told myself that was what I was going to do.

The truck’s big diesel engine shut off and the man bailed out of his own truck, repeatedly saying, “Oh god. Oh god. Oh god.”

It was only when I heard the “please, please, please,” of my own voice that I realized I was having the same reaction.

“Koen!” I heard Black cry out. “Koen, can you hear me?”

Nothing.

No words, no nothing. Well, nothing but the sound of groaning and heated, popping metal.

I got to the side of the twisted metal frame that was once Koen’s truck and glanced into the cab window.

I was on the passenger side, and I could see Ida Bell’s long black hair lying over the powdery white pillow of an airbag, but nothing else.

“Ida Bell?” I called, pulling out my knife and puncturing the airbag that was blocking my view of her.

Nothing.

I followed the same route with the other two airbags that I could reach just as Black’s grim face appeared at my side. “Koen’s gone.”

I closed my eyes as a well of anger and hate started to overwhelm me.

“Ida Bell?” Black asked when I didn’t say anything.

“Don’t know yet,” I said as I got the last airbag down and her face was finally revealed to me.

Miraculously, the metal wasn’t totally squishing her like I could see that it’d done to Koen on the other side.

I looked away fast, my stomach souring at what I saw of the man that I’d seen last night looking so lively at Ida Bell’s side.

“Fuck,” I hissed as I reached in through the broken window and placed my fingers against Ida Bell’s throat.