Second Chances(116)

CHAPTER EIGHTY-FOUR



Linda struggled to her feet, pulling herself up out of the puddle she had just created. She endeavored to pull her wet pants up. She could see the car that had just come to a stop. She didn't recognize the vehicle, but she could clearly identify Dr. Merrick. Julie emerged from the front passenger side of the car. She reached out and opened the back door while at the same time the back door on the driver's side opened and Paige emerged.

Linda heard Cameron growl. In victory? In anger? In pure insanity? She didn't know, but was certain that he was losing it. The rage that he had been stewing in over the past hours while they waited and the fears that had plagued him, now took total control. The people in that car had become the entirety of his world and their destruction was his only goal. She ignored her every instinct and opened the door and started to get in.

There they were. All of them. He believed he could see Jason sitting in the backseat as Julie opened the door. Paige was on the other side of the car and no doubt Nathan was driving. They were all together. It was a gift. Fate had delivered all of them to him. Cameron could hardly believe his eyes.

He twisted the key and the car roared to life. He was vaguely aware of Linda climbing into the car and a foul odor entering with her. Of all the scenarios he had envisioned over the past few hours this had certainly not been among them. But who was he to argue with fate? He flicked on the car's high beams and gunned the engine, Linda cursing as the door slammed against her.





CHAPTER EIGHTY-FIVE



Julie was reaching for Jason just as the world turned bright and the quiet of the night was shattered. She turned and saw the car barreling towards her. She slammed the door shut, leaping back and screamed a warning.

    Paige's eyes went wide, then the world went white as she was blinded by the headlights of the approaching car. She backpedaled a foot or two before tripping over her own feet and falling down. Her screams joined Julie's and she was certain she heard another woman's scream as well.

Cameron slammed into the back end of Julie's car. The night erupted with the tortured sounds of metal on metal. Linda's screaming was cut off as the force of the impact sent her slamming against the exploding airbag. She bounced off the airbag and slammed back against the seat.

The impact pushed Julie's car sideways. The back of the car hit Paige as she was starting to stand and sent her tumbling down with enough force to send her rolling a few feet back. Her body screamed in agony as she slid along the pavement. Nothing had been broken and she immediately began to try to get back up.

Julie picked herself off the ground, not believing she had managed to jump out of the way. Her eyes darted back and forth from the BMW to her car. The back end of her car was crumpled a bit and the front end of the BMW was crumpled a lot. She could see the two front airbags had deployed but couldn't see who was in the car. Not that it mattered, she was quite certain she could guess who had sent the car if not the actual driver.

In the driver's seat, Nathan was rubbing his forehead and looking blearily out the window at Julie. He looked only half-conscious and seemed to be looking at her as if she were a total stranger. She stumbled over to the passenger door and entered the car, immediately turning her attention to the backseat. Jason was slumped over, his seatbelt the only thing keeping him upright. He was a bloody mess, the side window had exploded on impact and she thought she could see flecks of glass embedded in his face. Movement beyond Jason caught her eye and she saw who it was that had been hidden behind the airbag.

Within the BMW, Cameron pushed against the airbag. What had he been thinking? It didn't matter now, did it? He tried to shake the cobwebs from his mind. He tried to focus on the world beyond his spiderwebbed front windshield. Did he get them? Were they dead? He saw movement and tried to force his eyes to focus. Merrick! She was looking right at him, her eyes wide with fear. He saw her turn her attention back to Jason.

So they were still alive. He would have to rectify that. He looked around the front seat. Linda was slumped over half in her seat, half on the floor. Where was the gun? Had he had it or had she? His brain refused to answer. Then he saw it on the ground half under Linda's body. He struggled against his seatbelt.

Julie saw Cameron reaching for something and instantly understood.

"We need to get out of here," she screamed at Nathan. "Now, now, now!"

He knew what she was saying was true, but he knew they couldn't leave yet. There was something missing. If only he could remember what.

Paige slammed against the side of the car, her leg buckling. Nathan was out and by her side in a flash. He reached out and helped her to her feet. The back of her clothing was shredded and his hands came back covered in blood.