But she didn’t hear a shout. Had it not worked?
All she could do was continue ahead and pray that was correct. The wind whipped through the open window and strands of her hair wrapped around her face. But she refused to let go of the steering wheel.
She pressed the gas pedal all the way down and heard the engine whine at a higher pitch. Was she supposed to do something else? Shift? But how?
No. She was supposed to brake. No. That was only if Rick shouted. Had he?
“Chais!”
That was her cue. She stiffened her body, bracing for whatever was coming, and pressed the brake.
But the car slid into something in front of her, and she smacked her head on the steering wheel as the limousine came to a stop. The engine hissed and sputtered.
Whatever she hit caused her to lift her feet off the pedals, andshe released the steering wheel. Her mind swam for several seconds, and a pounding grew in her forehead.
She put a hand to it and forced her mind to clear.
Where was Mel? The children? And Dr. G?
Were they all right?
Scuffling sounded in the snow in front of her.
“Chaisley?” Mel’s voice.
Her door opened, and warm arms lifted her up as the brisk air greeted her face.
“Are you all right?”
Rick. He pulled her into his arms.
“I conked my head pretty hard, but other than that, I’m fine. Is Mel okay? Did we stop them?”
“Thank God. I was worried when I saw that you weren’t stopping.” His arms tightened. But then the deep rumble of his laughter filled her ears. “Didn’t I tell you how great you would be at driving?”
She released ahumph. “Where’s Mel? I heard her.”
“I’m here.” Her nervous laughter joined Rick’s, and another set of arms surrounded Chaisley. “I can’t believe that you just drove the car!”
“Where’s Dr. G? Whathappened?”Her frustration with not knowing what had transpired grew with every second.
“Don’t worry. I’m right here too.”
The man who’d been her guardian all these years joined the hug.
Chaisley wriggled her way out of their grasp and stomped a foot. “Who’s going totellme what happened?”
“I take it back. I think youarebetter at everything than me. Even driving a car.” The relief in Rick’s voice soothed her frazzled nerves.
But it was Mel who rescued her from going crazy. “My brother was the one who kidnapped Dr. G and stopped me in the road. He wanted to take me back to Berlin so I could tell him how to decipher your code.”
“Oh no.”
“At that point, I knew I couldn’t risk any of us being taken back to Berlin. I would die before I let that happen, I just didn’t know what to do. I knew you guys were out there, but I wasn’t sure if you knew what was happening, so I did everything I could to keep us stuck. When I saw your car coming toward us, I knew there was hope. My brother was yelling and screaming orders at me so I burst into tears and let go of the wheel, being as dramatic as I could. He was so focused on gaining control of the car that he didn’t realize you were coming. Rick shot out two of the tires, which made it impossible for us to go anywhere. I let the car stall, and then you slammed into us.”
Rick pulled her under his arm even tighter. “That was when Dr. Grafton surprised us all. He yanked the door open, dragged Mel’s brother out, and tied him up.”
“After I gave him a sound punch in the nose and took the gun away.” Dr. G sounded quite proud of himself. “That fellow whacked me over the head. I was madder than a hornet.”
