Page 41

How had she survived?

Butterflies took flight in her belly when they brought out a contraption that had two sharp saws at the end. The firefighter wasn’t kidding. They were cutting her out of the vehicle with the Jaws of Life. Fabulous. But she clung to that word . . . life.

Thank you, God, we’re both alive.

The car vibrated from the tool, then a loud grinding sound set her teeth on edge. She kept telling herself the firefighters were trained for this and she’d be fine. The seat bounced as pieces of metal gave way. She drew in a shallow breath and willed herself not to have a panic attack. Visions of being impaled by a jagged piece of metal taunted her. Would this be how she died? Trapped in a car on a mountainside, alone? No, not alone. Bryce was with her. Not in the car, but somehow she knew he was watching. Waiting for her to be pulled from the wreck. Bryce. Good-looking, straitlaced, by-the-book Bryce. She really liked him. She shouldn’t, but she did.

And if this was the end for her, why was she thinking about Bryce?

Sparks flew from the grinding of metal. With one final crunch, two firemen lifted the car off Kira’s legs. Blood pumped through her veins once more, and her feet prickled as they woke up.

“Can you move your legs, ma’am?”

She tried and succeeded. And wonder of wonders, she didn’t think anything was broken. She’d been trapped but not crushed. Her legs ached. She was banged up and bruised but relished the sensation returning to her feet.

A paramedic helped her stand. She wobbled, and he held on to her. “I think you’ll get your feeling in your legs back soon. Have a seat with your friend, and we’ll get you both to the hospital to get checked out.”

She stepped over the wreckage while leaning on the paramedic’s arm and hobbled to the ambulance.

Bryce sat on the edge of the ambulance with his head wrapped in a bandage. She parked herself next to him.

“I’m so glad to see you,” she said to Bryce.

“Not as glad as we are to see you,” a paramedic said. “We almost couldn’t convince him to stay put while you were being cut out of the car.”

She smiled.

Bryce grabbed her hand. “That was a close call. But who called 911? This place isn’t exactly a hub of activity.”

“Oh, you’ll be surprised. It was Ivan Sokolov.”

“Why . . . how?”

She smirked. “I think those were my exact words. He must have tracked us.” A paramedic handed them each a bottle of water, and she dropped Bryce’s hand to take the drink.

“And we’re supposed to believe he’s on our side?” Bryce moved his arm and winced.

“I’m starting to believe Ivan is one of the good guys. He wasn’t the one in the truck. I think that’s his car there.” She pointed to where a Mercedes sedan had pulled off to the side. “If he wanted to kill us, he wouldn’t have rescued us. Right?”

“Good point.” Bryce winced again, and a paramedic walked by at the perfect time to see the expression.

“Let’s take you both to the hospital to be checked out. You two dodged a bullet. We’re all shocked that you walked away from that crash.”

Not a bullet. A Dodge Ram used as a weapon against them.

Kira wasn’t arguing with the professionals about getting checked out. And they were stuck with a mangled car. Bryce would hear from Turner on that one. Hopefully the FBI had good insurance.

An officer rescued her designer bag from the wreckage. The inside contained glass shards, but the contents, including her phone and notebook, had survived. The officer handed Bryce his iPhone, but the spiderwebbed screen signaled its demise.

“At least we are in good shape,” Kira said. “Your phone looks like someone dropped a bowling ball on it.”

He nodded, and they rode in silence in the back of the ambulance to the hospital, where they received separate rooms. Kira’s checkup confirmed her legs were going to be big-time sore, but there wasn’t any permanent damage. She’d have a nice-sized bruise on her hip where the door collapsed into her. But things could have been so much worse. She headed to the waiting room to watch for Bryce.

Once there, she called Turner and gave him a rundown of the day’s events. She was about to call Violet for an update when the sliding doors to the room parted. A man walked in and made a beeline for Kira.

Ivan Sokolov.

Maybe she’d finally get some answers.