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ChapterTwenty-Eight
BRINLEY
Someone was following us.
Over the last few weeks, Rowan had been clear to watch my surroundings and I’d been trying to do that.
It was a Friday night and Rowan was working late. He’d been working so hard and also worrying about the threatening note even though things had been quiet.
Quiet didn’t matter though. I’d learned once before that it could mean the complete opposite. Sometimes the silence meant something bad was going to happen and your world was going to be turned upside down.
I found that out the hard way when my heart was ripped to shreds after Luke had been killed.
So until whoever put the note on Rowan’s truck was found, we needed to stay alert. I’d thought I’d been doing a pretty good job of that, but that didn’t always mean things couldn’t go sideways.
Zander and I decided we’d pick up some food for Rowan and the guys so they could eat during their meeting. We stopped at one of their favorite pizza places and then headed in the direction ofNo Surrender.
Besides him working hard, I wanted to see and be near him, even if just for a second. Especially after the tense call I’d got from Luke’s mother earlier that had me upset. I was going to wait until he got home from work to talk to him, but when our son whined that he wasn't seeing his dad for dinner, the idea to surprise him and fill his stomach sounded like a nice plan.
That was until my Spidey senses went off and a tingle at the back of my neck started. Something else that Rowan had taught me not to ignore. I was looking in my mirror for a short time and noticed a truck staying right behind us. There was always the chance they were going the same way, but something was telling me that wasn’t the case.
If anything happened to my son because I hadn’t been paying close enough attention, I would never forgive myself.
There we were traveling down the dark, isolated road next to a hillside and I knew that I needed to get us somewhere with more cars. Or better yet, to Rowan. As soon as I sped up a little, so did the vehicle, and then before I knew what was happening, it bumped our back bumper. A small intimidating tap as if to let me know they were right on top of us.
And there was nothing I could do about it.
Thump, thump, thump.
My heart raced and I fought to calm it the best I could so I didn’t scare my son any more than he already was.
“Mommy, what is going on?” His breathing was rapid and the fear in his voice not only made me sad but pissed that someone would do something so reckless and possibly hurt a child.
Mychild.
“Baby, take my phone and call your dad,” I said.
Carefully picking my phone up out of the console, I handed him my cell. Keeping my eyes on the road in front of me, I gave quick, small glances in my rear-view mirror to watch the truck behind us.
When I heard Zander talking to his father, frightened, and begging for him to help us, my heart crumbled to pieces. Then my son told me Rowan wanted to talk to me and placed the phone on speaker.
I took a deep breath and hearing his voice calmed me for a second because I knew he would help us.
“Rowan, someone is—”
We were rounding a curve when I started to tell him what was going on and the next thing I knew the truck didn’t just tap us, it slammed into the back of us at a startling high speed. Zander and I both screamed, the phone went flying, and my car spun out of control.
I tried. I really did.
Working to keep the car on the road was my goal, but it wasn’t in the cards. The impact was too hard and the truck was so much bigger.
“Mommy!” Zander’s tearful voice called out.
“Baby, hang on!” I cried out in response, hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly I was surprised it didn’t bend in half. “I promise I’m gonna take care of you!” I prayed that was the truth and it wasn’t the last time I ever got to hear my baby’s sweet voice or look into his beautiful face.
As the words left my mouth, our car left the road completely and flew off the deep embankment.
It was impossible to do anything as it was happening so fast. Bumps, bangs, metal crunching, glass breaking. Each horrific sound registered in my head as the world around us imploded and we went over rocks and tree limbs slammed against the car. And then the car came to a sudden stop as we smashed into a huge tree trunk with substantial force.
