Marco sped into the next curve, and the top-heavy Explorer felt unstable as he whipped around first that one and then another. A large delivery truck blew past us in the opposite lane, and the Explorer shook from the wind gust. Marco fought the wheel. We took one more curve before we reached the short downhill straight portion of the road. The black truck was only twenty feet behind us.
I turned around and saw Derek behind the wheel, a maniacal smile on his face.
“How did he find us?” I asked.
* * *
“Me,” Marco said. “I probably alerted him when I radioed dispatch. I knew it was a risk, but I wanted to keep them aware of what was going on in case we encountered some trouble, with Bart, or him and Louise.” He shot me an apologetic look. “I’m sorry.”
“Stop. You did the right thing. I suspect he would have found us anyway. At least now if he manages to run us off the road, we won’t be missing for hours before anyone starts looking,” I said, gripping the door. “Just keep driving.”
We went through another set of curves before we came to a straightaway that stretched on for several hundred feet, trees on either side.
The truck sped up and slammed into our back bumper.
The Explorer shook and skidded to the side of the road before Marco righted it, but the truck hit us again, and Marco braked hard. The Explorer went sliding, weaving all over the road, then shot over the shoulder and down a ravine.
My seat belt locked, cutting into my neck, and I clutched the door and the console as we bounced down the hill and crashed into a tree.
Then everything faded to black.
Chapter Thirty-Three
“Carly? Carly!”
I could hear Marco’s voice as he shook my shoulder.
I felt like my head had been split in two, and when I cracked my eyes open, the light made me want to close them again. There was an uncomfortable pressure on my chest, and my arms felt heavy. As I opened my eyes, I realized the truck had pitched forward, and I was hanging forward around my belt. The smell of gasoline permeated the air.
Marco had a streak of blood running down his face. He’d gotten out of his seat belt and was bracing himself against the dashboard.
“We have to get out, Carly. I’m going to unbuckle you, but first I need to know if you hurt anywhere.”
I released a soft laugh. “I hurt everywhere.”
“Carly Moore!” Derek called out from up the hill. “We need to have a chat.”
My eyes shot open with fear.
Marco wrapped an arm around my waist and moved in front of me as he unbuckled the seat belt. As soon as it released, I fell, but he caught me with his arm and his body.
A sharp pain pierced my side and I cried out.
“Sorry,” he grunted as he opened the passenger door. It took two attempts before he could get it open with his feet. He climbed out, carrying me with him, and we fell to the ground. The jolt sent another piercing pain through my side, powerful enough that it stole my breath.
A shot rang out, ricocheting off a tree to our side, and Marco scrambled down the hill about twenty feet, pulling me with him until we were behind a boulder large enough to conceal both of us. He propped my back against the rock and cupped my face. Concern filled his eyes as he held up his hand and lowered several fingers. “How many fingers?”
I winced. “Two. I’m fine. Deal with that asshole.”
He gave me a quick kiss, then rose up to look over the top of the rock. “Derek Carpenter, you just ran a Hensen County deputy sheriff off the road. Backup is on the way. Put your weapon down and give yourself up.”
Derek laughed. “Very funny, but my business is with Carly. Did you find the toolbox?”
“No,” I called out.
“You’re a liar. Otherwise, why would you be headed to Ewing to turn in evidence?”
“What about any of that concerns you?” Marco asked, wiping a hand over his forehead to clear away the blood dripping in his eye.
“I’m not stupid,” Derek said, his voice drawing closer. “We set Carly loose to dig it up, and I’m sure she didn’t disappoint. Just give it to me, and you can be on your way. If you give me what I want, I have no reason to harm either of you.”
“He’s lyin’,” Marco said under his breath.
I didn’t need his badge and sheriff training to figure that out.
Then a thought entered my fuzzy head. Had Marco gotten the things we’d found out of the console? I hadn’t seen him go for them, and he never would have grabbed them before he got me out.
Marco squatted next to me and whispered, “Let’s see if we can wait him out until backup gets here. I swerved all over that road, so no one could miss where we went off.”
“That’s good,” I mumbled, closing my eyes to help the pounding in my head.
Marco didn’t say anything.
“Where’s the gold, Carly?” Derek shouted, starting to sound irritated. I wasn’t sure he was going to hold out long enough for help to arrive.
“I told you. I never found the toolbox,” I called out. The effort to shout intensified the pain in my side, and I wondered if I’d broken some ribs.
“You found something, though,” Derek bellowed. “What did you find?”
I took a breath to shout back, trying to ignore the pain. Sweat beaded on my forehead. “I found evidence to use against Bart Drummond. Nothing to do with you.”
“You’re lyin’!” he shouted, sounding close to losing control. The gun went off again to prove it, the bullet striking our boulder and chipping off some of the rock.
Marco shot me a worried look.
“Shooting me won’t get it for you,” I said. “Look what happened when you killed Jerry. You sure screwed that up. I bet Louise wasn’t happy.”
“So I acted prematurely,” he conceded. “Don’t worry. I’ve learned my lesson. I won’t let you die until I get what I need.”
Anger tightened Marco’s jaw. There was no way Derek was getting around him. “Keep him talkin’,” he whispered. “He’s hidin’ in the trees.”
To my surprise, Marco pulled out his phone and turned on the recording app. He set it on a ridge of rock, a little below the top.
I nodded, and pain shot through my head. Gritting my teeth, I called out, “How’d you get hooked up with Louise and Bruce?”
“She and I had a thing goin’ on,” he said. “And I knew Hank’s schedule through my dad. But Louise got arrested the day after we took the money. Stupid idiot didn’t go to work and Hank got suspicious. Bruce visited her in jail and told her he’d buried it and put it in a safe location. We’d get it back together as soon as she got out.” He released a bitter laugh. “I think he would have followed through too.” His tone turned menacing. “Until Hank had him killed.” His voice trailed off, sounding like he was moving to my left. “I kept in contact with her. Even visited her from time to time. We started talking about building a future together once she got out.”
“With the gold of course,” I said.
“She loves me with or without the gold. And I love her. Even if she doesn’t look the way she used to.”