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Since leaving after high school, she’d only been back for holiday visits. Now that she’d lost her job, she was running back to her parents for help. Without income or savings to pay the rent, the friend she shared a condo with kicked her out faster than a flash sale at Holt Renfrew. It was humiliating and a little bit terrifying.
She pressed the button for her car’s hands free. “Call Brad.”
“Calling Brad,” the onboard computer said.
The phone rang three times before the answering service kicked in.
“Hi, you’ve reached Brad Martin. I’m not available at the moment. Please leave a message or contact my administrative assistant, Keith, at Martin Greene Logistics.”
Beep.
“Bradley.” Kylie put on her best helpless voice. “It’s your baby sister again. This is the third time I’ve called, and it would be super awesome if you could hit me back. Since I can’t get a hold of you, I’m heading to Camden to stay at Mom and Dad’s. If you didn’t want me crashing at your place you could say so instead of ignoring my calls. I love you, stupid face.”
She pressed the button to disconnect, and the radio switched back on.
The upbeat song lifted her spirits for the moment, and the drive was almost enjoyable. The road wound through woods, past open meadows, and around a couple of smaller lakes. Her brain stopped stressing out for a minute, and she listened to the music and breathed in the fresh air.
As the tension in her shoulders began to release, a flash of red and blue lit up her rearview mirror and she cringed at thewhoop whoopof a siren.
Was I speeding?
Checking the speedometer, she’d taken the car a full forty kilometers per hour over the speed limit.
Oh, man.
~ * ~
Constable Derek Carson watched the silver hatchback pull onto the shoulder and stop. He was technically off duty now, but on his way to do something unpleasant and could stand to put it off for a few more minutes. Plus, speeding like that on such a winding road was a terrible idea. Out-of-towners never understood how dangerous it was to speed through this area until they jumped the guard rail and wound up in the lake. Or worse, didn’t see a cyclist until it was too late. As the area’s sole law enforcement, he was more than happy to dole out tickets to reckless drivers on his roads.
Stepping out of his Ontario Provincial Police cruiser, he smoothed his hair back to put on the black uniform hat of the O.P.P. He needed a haircut, but he’d been so busy lately. As he approached the vehicle, he could see the driver’s hands on the wheel.
Delicate hands with ornate nail polish and shiny jewelry.
He marched up to the driver’s side and tapped on the glass.
“What seems to be the problem, officer?” The driver sounded chipper.
She was done up like she was on the way to a red-carpet event with meticulous make up behind her pink sunglasses and a poofy white fur jacket. Her white smile was gorgeous, but the red lipstick was a bit too harsh. Brown hair hung in long waves.
Where on earth is she going looking like that?
“Do you know how fast you were going?”
“Was I speeding? I’m so sorry, I didn’t notice. It’s such a nice day, and I had some good driving music on. I’ll slow down I promise. I’m sure you have much more important things to do, saving lives and such.”
Was she trying to flatter him? That never worked.
“License and registration please.”
“Yes. Of course.” Her shoulders slumped.
He took the documents from her shaky hand and went back to his cruiser. Using the on-board computer, he checked the plates and license. Kylie Martin? From high school?
Wow. She’s…different.
He hadn’t seen Kylie around since the summer after graduation, but it was a surprising amount of change. She wasn’t a Camden girl anymore, that was for sure.
He scribbled out the ticket then stopped. It was a harsh penalty, but really, she wasn’t a local anymore and she was driving dangerously. Bracing himself, he took the ticket back to her car.
