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But after only half a block, her car sputtered and began to slow down. The steering wheel dragged, fighting her when she tried to direct the car to the shoulder. She managed to pull over before the engine died and the air filled with silence that felt charged. Portentous. She was still on her own street, but it was the time of day when everyone was either home in front of the TV or out to dinner. No one seemed to be out. She couldn’t hear a sound.
Getting out of the car, Anna glanced around, then lifted the hood to look at the engine. She couldn’t imagine what was wrong. She kept her car in great shape and had just had a tune-up two weeks ago.
It was getting dark now, the streetlights finally coming on. However, the spot where she was parked was at an unfortunate angle, far enough from the nearest light to make the shadows more intense, and she didn’t have a flashlight. She turned on her cellphone light. Squinting, she pulled a piece of rubber out of the engine area. Looking around, she found more small pieces. Had a belt disintegrated?
She hoped this would be a simple fix. She loved her old Mercedes wagon. It had been her father’s when he’d been in college, and he’d kept it well maintained. When he won his seat in Congress, the car—Ginny, she’d been named—had been retired to the garage in favor of something flashier, to reflect his rising importance on the national stage. Ginny had become Anna’s on her sixteenth birthday, and she’d tried to be just as good as her dad about keeping it in perfect condition.
She was about to call for a tow truck when a male voice came out of the dark. “Need help?”
She spun, heart racing. A man stood on the sidewalk, hat pulled low—one of those hipster hats, she thought. You saw enough of them in some neighborhoods in DC. She let out a breath. He seemed big—imposing—but he wasn’t holding a gun or a knife, and he wasn’t saying or doing anything threatening.
“It stopped.” She waved a hand at her car. “And I don’t have a clue what to do about it.”
The guy moved closer. For some reason, Anna’s heart kept pounding. She wasn’t usually this wary around strangers. Maybe it was the dark or his size—or the weird book she’d glanced at—but the closer he got to her, she more she wanted to back away.
The street seemed unusually empty, the streetlights dim as the day faded into the twilight that tinted everything into shades of gray. No other pedestrians passed by. Anna tightened her grip on her phone and sucked in a breath.
Car lights flashed over her, and she turned to look up the street. The vehicle pulled up and the driver’s window rolled down. Anna caught a whiff of garlic, and Gage smiled at her. “Problem?”
8
Gage had decided that he was going to show up whether Anna wanted him to or not. Pizza and beer in hand would hopefully be enough of a peace offering. But the last thing he expected was to see her by the side of the road.
She came over to him, smiling. “I’m glad you’re here—you and this other guy can help me figure out what’s wrong with my car.”
Glancing at the empty sidewalk, Gage raised his eyebrows. “Other guy?”
Anna spun, her jaw dropping when she realized no one else was there. She turned back to him and pushed a hand into her hair. “He was…this guy…he just came up. I swear, he was here a second ago.”
Gage nodded. He believed her. That was the problem. The hair was standing up on the back of his neck, and he didn’t like any of this. A car breaks down—nothing necessarily strange about that, but just from looking at the vehicle, he could tell that she took good care of it. Why would it suddenly break down so close to home? And it was too much of a coincidence that that guy just happened to be there to “help,” only to melt back into the shadows the second someone else showed up. It smelled like a setup to him. He forced a smile. “Why don’t I take you home? Before we go, you can call a tow truck. If you need the name of a mechanic, I know a guy not far from here who’s good.”
She bit her lower lip and nodded. She looked pale and shaky. Apparently the mystery guy had really spooked her. “That would be great.”
She ducked into her car and emerged with her purse. She locked the door, glancing up and down the street, then came around and climbed into his truck. He could swear she gave a small shiver, though that might have been due to the evening air. She had on a baggy, button-front shirt in a pale color, loose jeans, and flat shoes of some kind—she didn’t look dressed for a night on the town.
“Were you going out for groceries?” he asked.
She grimaced and shook her head. “After you called—well, I suddenly wanted company.”
“Just not mine?” he asked, slanting a glance at her.
Her cheeks reddened. “I…I didn’t want to…I hate to have to be rescued.”
He glanced at her. “Well, I hate to eat alone. I was coming over to beg my way into your place. Looks like it was a good thing.” Pulling out his phone, he called the auto club. They promised a tow truck would be there within a few minutes, and it appeared right on time.
“Stay put,” Gage told Anna and got out to oversee the towing. Once they got the address for Anna’s mechanic sorted out, the tow company promised to keep Anna’s car overnight and get it to the mechanic first thing in the morning.
“No sense leaving your car on the street all night,” Gage said as he got back behind the wheel.
Biting her lower lip, Anna shook her head. “You’re being so nice about this.”
He smiled. “Only so you’ll have dinner with me. Now, where’s your place?”
It was barely a stone’s throw away. “In here,” she said, pointing. “There’s guest parking, or you can use my space. Do you think my Ginny will be okay?”
“Ginny?” He blinked at her.
She smiled at him. “My car. It’s short for Virginia.” Turning, she waved to the guard. “She’s not on the street, but I hate leaving her anywhere.”
