Page 64 of Something’s Brewing

Madison tightened her grip on the steering wheel.

Without warning, the skies unleashed a blinding downpour. The wipers thrashed uselessly, barely clearing the torrent.

The truck surged forward and slammed into her rear bumper again. The back end fishtailed. She counter-steered on instinct, but the tires lost their grip. The road disappeared beneath her as the SUV slid into the ditch.

The seatbelt knocked air from her lungs, and the airbag released. For a moment, everything was silent except for the drumming rain. She sat frozen in place.

“Okay,” she whispered hoarsely. “Okay . . .” She pushed the airbag to the side and looked around. The road above her was empty. The truck was gone. The warning, back off, was obvious. Message received loud and clear. If they were this desperate, she was getting close.

Her hands shook as she reached for her phone, following the charging cord until her fingers closed around it. She hit Garrett’s name before she could second-guess herself. He answered on the first ring.

“Hey.”

“Hey . . . it’s me.”

He paused. “What’s wrong?”

Madison forced a breath. “Why do you think something is wrong?”

“Madison.”

The way he said her name, tight and already worried, made her chest ache.

“I need you to pick me up,” she said.

Chair legs scraped faintly through the phone. A door banged open.

“Okay. Where are you?” Garrett asked.

“In a ditch about ten minutes out of town on County Road Twenty-Nine.”

His voice sharpened. “Are you hurt?”

A truck door slammed on his end and his engine roared to life.

“I’m fine,” she said. “Just a little . . . shaken.”

“I’m on my way. Stay on the phone. Don’t hang up.”

His breathing was fast now. “Madison, are you bleeding? Did you hit your head? Madison?”

“I’m here.”

Rain thundered on the roof. The car ticked and creaked around her. “Someone ran me off the road,” she said.

Silence. Then a quiet, furious, “Who?”

Garrett barely remembered the drive.

Rain hammered his windshield so hard it sounded like gravel. The wipers thrashed back and forth, losing the battle. Headlights blurred into long streaks across the black ribbon of the county road.

Madison’s voice crackled through the truck speakers.

“I’m still here.”

Garrett let out a shaky breath.

“Stay with me,” he said for the hundredth time. His hands were white-knuckled on the wheel. “Talk to me.”