Page 12 of Emily's Escape

I race around to the trunk and rip it open with such force I’m surprised it doesn’t fly off. Then I snatch up the coil of tow rope tucked in the back; the one I’ve never used but always carry just in case.

Uncaring of the horns blasting and the frantic shouts all around me, I sprint towards the wounded sedan. With every step, terror builds. Gruesome scenarios inspired by the horrors I’ve seen come at me from all directions.

It’s hard to breathe past them.

Emily unconscious and bleeding out from a gunshot wound.

Emily’s body broken beyond repair.

Blood bubbling from her mouth from internal bleeding.

Her bright blue eyes dulling as death takes over.

It can’t be true,my heart insists.She has to be okay. She has to be.

But I know all too well how indiscriminate death can be.

It can take the best people while leaving the truly evil ones alone.

And Em…

She’s the best person I’ve ever known.

“Stay back!” someone yells. “The police are coming! Let them handle this!”

I pay the warning voice no heed. Instead, I run faster.

If I cared to waste my breath, I’d tell them that the woman I love is in there. That, thanks to the investigative resources ofIndy’s company, I was able to follow the signal of Emily’s phone to find her. That I caught a glimpse of her distinctive hair above the passenger seat, so I know she has to be in there.

“As long as she’s got a phone or smartwatch on her,” Indy told me, “we can use GPS to find her location. Once we get a hit on it, we’ll loop you in with real-time updates. They should hopefully get you close enough to ID the car and notify the police.”

“I’m not waiting for the police,” I replied grimly. “Once I find Em, I’m getting her out of there myself.”

Indy didn’t try to convince me otherwise because he’d do the same. And he knows I have the skills to back up my claim.

Or at least I used to, before I lost my leg.

Pain flares as my jaw clenches.

I have to be enough to save her.

Unless you got here too late,a terrible, doubting voice reminds me.Unless she’s already gone.And all my training, the hours of physical therapy, and my skills as a combat medic will mean nothing.

No.

Ruthlessly, I slam the door shut on that train of thought.

What-ifs mean nothing,I remind myself. Speculation doesn’t help. Just get there, assess the scene, and figure out a way to get Em out of there. Everything else can come after that.

The cacophony of sound grows as I near the edge of the bridge. Worried voices buzz. Shouted warnings are heard and quickly dismissed. The rhythmic whoop of sirens approaches.

But nothing is louder than the frantic drumbeats echoing in my head.

I thought I knew fear before. If I’d been asked before today, I would have said the moment when the IED exploded was the most terrifying moment of my life. Breathless, weightless, flying through the air, not knowing if I’d survive or if my parents wouldreceive the dreaded notification that I’d been killed in action, I couldn’t have imagined anything more frightening than that.

But I hadn’t met Emily yet.

I didn’t know what it was like to love like this.