Confer, Lorelei - Deadly Revenge (BookStrand Publishing Romance) (2 page)

He punched numbers on the cell phone in his hand. “Hold on. I’ve got the police on the line.” He held the phone to his ear as she watched him glance around. “Whoever pushed you off the road is long gone by now. Do you know where we are?” he asked her as he held his handkerchief against her forehead to stop the bleeding.

He seemed like a man used to being in charge and looked so frustrated and out of his element without anyone around to issue orders to except those on the phone.

She would have laughed, but her body trembled as the trauma began working its way through her.

“Just hang in there,” he encouraged her. “The police will be here any minute. They were finally able to triangulate our location.”

Tory reached across the seat to make sure her camera and bag were still intact. As her hand curled around the camera case, she closed her eyes in relief. The graduation gift from her father was fine.

“Shh, try not to move,” he said softly.

She let out a deep breath. His voice soothed her. She reached her hand to her eyebrow, but he stopped her. Fresh blood dropped onto her fingers. She needed something more to stop the bleeding. Blood had already dripped onto the front of her blouse.

“I need to get out of here,” Tory insisted. She gulped air. “I feel trapped...need to stand up.”

“Okay, look at me. Do you hurt anywhere other than your head?” he asked her as he rearranged his handkerchief over her cut.

”No, it’s just my head. My legs and arms are fine. My neck is fine, too.”

“Let me help you. Go slowly.” He helped her out of the car. First one leg and then the other, he held her elbow and half lifted her out of the car. After standing on wobbly legs she finally got her balance. They walked slowly to a soft, grassy area on the bank behind the car and sat down.

He wrapped a protective arm around Tory’s shoulders, enveloping her with warmth and security.

“I’m Dave Miller,” Dave said as he offered her his hand.

“I’m Victoria Richards, but just about everyone calls me Tory.” She shook his hand and an electric tingle ran up her arm and through her body, settling in her core. She looked into his eyes and was transfixed. She wanted this man as only a woman could. She thought about what it would be like to lay with him, to have sex with him, and to have his children. She slowly looked down at their still held hands and began to pull apart.

She held his handkerchief against her eyebrow. With so much blood, she figured she’d need stitches and have a nasty scar to show for it.

Echoes of the approaching siren and flashing lights announced a police car. The tall man got out of the car with his radio in hand. “What’s the EMTs’ ETA?” he asked into a two-way radio. A muffled response echoed in the cool breeze, indecipherable to those even a short distance away.

As the officer neared, she recognized him. Michael Carr. Rumor said he had been elected Police Chief last year. He came directly over to Tory with a wrinkled forehead and dark circles under his eyes. She remembered him from high school. He was a few years older than her.

Chief Carr asked, with a little astonishment in his voice, “Victoria Richards? Is that you?” When she nodded, he continued. “It’s always nice to see you, but geez, this is no way to make an entrance into town.” He grinned. He had always called her Victoria, never Tory, as all her other friends had who had a crush on her at one time.

“The uniform suits you, Michael.”

“Thanks, I worked my way into it.” Michael looked at the man who held the handkerchief against her forehead.

Dave introduced himself. “I’m Dave Miller. I was behind her when it happened.”

Michael looked around and said, “The EMTs should be here any minute.” Michael pushed his hat back on his head. “In the meantime, Mr. Miller, can you tell me what happened?”

Dave and Michael stepped a short distance away from Tory. Dave identified himself further to Chief Carr. “I’m a former officer on the Suffolk, Virginia force. Now I’m a detective assigned to the federal human trafficking task force. I was on my way to Hickoryville to visit my parents. I’m also working as a possible trafficking interceptor.”

“Do you have any identification on you?” Michael Carr asked.

“Sure, here’s my ID and badge.” Dave flipped open his badge case for Chief Carr.

“Nice to meet you, Dave.” He offered a hand to shake and Dave took it. “I’ve known your parents for years and they’ve spoken of your work with great pride. Good for you. Now, can you tell me exactly what happened to Victoria, what you saw?”

“This car came barreling around the turn from behind and crowded her off the road. No, forced would be a better word for it. I was following her, and she had to move out of the way or get T-boned.”

“This might answer some unsolved mysteries we’ve been having in the area. We’re a straight shot from I85 or I95 and straight into Washington.”

Sirens blared, and red and yellow lights flashed from a fire truck and an ambulance as she saw them pull up nearby.

Chief Carr directed the EMTs to Tory. As the two EMTs carried orange cases in each hand, Tory recognized them from high school. They had all graduated together.

“Tory, is that you? Good to see you again. What happened to you?” Walt asked, looking at the wound on her eyebrow while Tim put a blood pressure cuff on her right arm.

“I was forced off the road and my head hit the edge of the open window.”

“Your blood pressure’s a little elevated,” Tim said as he continued to check her vital signs.

“Is that bad?” Tory asked.

“Naw. It’s within normal limits considering the circumstances.”

Tory glanced at Walt who cleaned her cut. “Am I going to need stitches?”

Walt briefly scowled. “A couple of butterfly bandages should do the job.” His fingers lightly pressed her forehead. “You’ll
probably have a headache for a few days. You should see your family physician as soon as possible to make sure you have no lasting effects.”

Tory heard Dave answering Chief Carr’s questions about the offending car. “It was a newer model Lincoln Town Car, black with tinted windows. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the opportunity to get the tag number.”

Chief Carr immediately spoke on the radio, be on the lookout “
BOLO
”
for a newer model Lincoln Town Car, black with tinted windows, heading south southeast on Old Route 53.” Then he turned to Tory for her side of the story. When she reiterated everything Dave had told Chief Carr, he said, “Let me warn you. There are tons of locations and places a car or person can hide in these mountains for an indefinite period of time, but we’ll keep the case open.”

Tory, up and about after the EMTs left, retrieved her purse and camera bag from the front seat of the car while Chief Carr made arrangements with a local towing company to get her car out of the ditch.

“They’ll tow it to the dealership in Hickory since it’s the closest.”

She watched as her car was pulled out of the ditch to be loaded on the tow truck. She was amazed at the amount of damage to her car. The entire right side of the car was smashed in from front to back. All the windows were broken. She was very lucky she wasn’t hurt more seriously and was glad she didn’t have a passenger in the car. They could have been killed. She quickly snapped a few photos of her car for further evidence if needed for the insurance company.

Now all she needed was a way to get home.

“I’ll tell you what,” Dave said. “How about a trade? I’ll take you the rest of the way to Hickoryville as long as you give me the directions to my parents’ house.”

Tory agreed, “Sounds like a plan.” She grinned at him while her head began to throb. She just wanted to get to her mother’s house to lie down. Dave seemed like a nice guy, really cute and all, and his parents lived in Hickoryville, too.

After Dave opened the trunk of Tory’s car amid more breaking glass and a loud creaking, he began transferring her luggage and other belongings to his SUV while she talked to Chief Carr.

“Thanks, Michael, er, Chief. Is it okay if I call you Michael?”

“Of course, Victoria. We’ve been good friends for way too long for it to be any other way.”

“I appreciate your help, Michael.” Michael nodded in agreement, tipped his hat, and went to his cruiser parked a short distance away.

She had things to do, important things, and not having her own car to drive wasn’t going to stop her.

As Tory and Dave made their way to her car to get the rest of the luggage, he offered, “Tonight you get a good night’s sleep, and I’ll take you to get your rental car tomorrow if that’s all right with you.”

Before Tory got into Dave’s car she looked at her car hooked up to the tow truck. She remembered the jewelry box in the glove box. She said, “Oh no. There’s something in the glove box of my car I have to have.” She started toward her car when Dave touched her arm.

“I’ll get it for you. What is it?” Dave offered.

“It’s a small white jewelry box,” she said to Dave as she waved good-bye to Michael, as he drove off.

Dave returned quickly, handed her the box, and helped her into the car. She shoved the box into her purse and said, “Thank you, Dave, for everything.”

“No problem. Now I know for sure I’ll find my way into town.” He grinned at her.

“Were you lost?”

“I’ve been all over these mountains looking for a good road in and out of Hickoryville.”

“Now you’ll know the best way.” She smiled back but halfheartedly, while she picked up her cell phone and called her mother.

“Hi, Mom, just wanted to let you know I’ll be a little later than planned. I had a mishap on the road and got pushed off into a ditch.”

“Are you okay, dear?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Just a little scratch on my forehead, and you know how head cuts bleed, so I have some blood on my blouse.”

“When do you think you’ll be here?”

“Probably within thirty minutes or so. I got a ride from someone who stopped behind me so I’ll be there soon, Mom. Don’t worry. See you then. Bye, Mom.”

“My poor baby. Bye, hon.”

Tory was anxious to get back on the road and make the short drive there. Her head began to really pound as they started out on their way to Hickoryville. Her hands trembled and her heart felt hollow. She wondered if it was an accident or if someone did this to her on purpose. Who would do this to her? Why?

She studied Dave’s silhouette as he managed to maneuver his car through the winding roads. She felt safe with him but also wary. Could he be in cahoots with the person who ran her off the road?

* * * *

On the drive to Hickoryville, Dave, suspicious by nature, interrupted Tory’s thoughts. “Do you have any enemies or know of anyone who would want to hurt you? Keep you out of town?”

“I haven’t been home in two years, and I can’t think of a soul who’d want to hurt me. No one except my family knows I’m coming.” She once again rubbed the back of her neck.

“I know how it is in a small town. Everybody knows everyone and everything about everybody.”

“You’re right about that.” She sighed.
Yeah, they sure do. What will he think of me when he finds out I’m known as the runaway bride?

“I know how to do a great neck rub, if you’d like. It really relieves the tension.”

“I’m fine. Just a little shook up.”

“Where are you going in Hickoryville?”

“To my mother’s house on the edge of town. My mom turned the house into the Mountain View Bed and Breakfast, and my room and a bathroom are the last rooms to be converted. So I got my own place for six months, but unfortunately it isn’t quite ready yet.”

“I’ll take you home to your mother’s and make sure you’re okay. Then you can give me the final directions to my parents’ home.”

“I’ll write them down so you’ll be able to follow them better,” Tory answered, her head thumping with every beat of her heart. She was eager to get home and lie down. Away from any questions from anyone.

Tory dug in her purse for a piece of paper, and when she found one she quickly wrote down the directions from her mother’s house to Dave’s parents’ house.

“Thank you again, Dave, for rescuing me. I sincerely appreciate it. I don’t know what I would have done without your help. I owe you one.”