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He was one of the few people other than family who called her that To the rest of the world she was Margaret, a rigid, by-the-books, untouchable lieutenant
He didn’t slam the door, just calainst the relentless sleet
STANDING BENEATH THE overhang of the bar with snow and sleet trying to blind his view, the chill of the winter stor down deep to his bones, Saul Boyle watched the man exit her car Must’ve been a short convo His brother, Curtis, would be pleased
"She’s all alone now," he said into the cell
"The roads are shit," Curtis mused, and then added, "I’d feel better about this if Toby ith you"
That er "He won’t be available until toht miss our chance"
"There would be other chances"
He clenched his teeth "I don’t need Toby I told you I got someone to help me"
"Yes, that pathetic dopehead who needs the cash for his next fix"
Why did Curtis have to ridicule every decision he thy pause had Saul sweating before finally, his tone gentle, Curtis said, "I’iddy, the idea of proving hiood as anyone He was better than Toby "I got this"
"Make sure, Saul I need the police offdeeper into , so once she’s gone, the others will back off" Saul started walking toward the van, where his disposable hired hand waited "After tonight, she’ll be a distant memory"
"Perfect Letup
Anticipation building, Saul grinned as he trod through the accu snow Curtis loved the slow torment inherent in their playtime, but Saul lived for the brutality of a surprise attack--as long as it wasn’t directed at him Curtis could be unpredictablebut no His brother was fair Vicious when necessary, but he knehat he was doing
Curtis was the brains It was histhe ether, they made an unstoppable teao watched Dash go until he disappeared into the darkness For reasons she couldn’t understand, defeat burned her eyes
Das?
She turned on her headlights, fastened her seat belt and put the car in gear With no other cars on the road, she pulled out of the lot and onto the icy street, going slow to acco weather
The defroster and her wipers couldn’t quite counteract the ever-for and slowed even ht was over the station would be bombarded with calls The wrecks would pile up Hopefully none of theht, she’d traveled a little over a ed froht Blinded, she threw up a hand to shield her eyesand several realities crashed through her iven the speed of the approaching car it had to be deliberate The i to hurt her, maybe even kill her
Damn it, now she’d never knohat it was like to sleep with Dash Riske
The last thought had barely for crash The force of the impact jarred every bone in her body Her forehead connected with the steering wheeland as a great blackness sloed her up she didn’t see or hear anything else
CHAPTER TWO
THE VAN BARRELING toward Margo’s driver’s-side door snapped away Dash’s brooding annoyance
She was about to get ae slammed into him, but neither of those emotions would help the situation, so he went on autopilot Slowing his truck to keep fro on the slick roads, he locked his hands on the wheel and said a quick, silent prayer that she wouldn’t be hurt
Thanks to the shitty weather, he’d ot there safely He hadn’t planned on her ever knowing about it, but subterfuge no longer uts twisted when the bulky van ra, he half-assed parked his truck at the side of the road and, keeping one eye on the van, launched out the door Knowing he had to reach her, heevery other step of the way
Her car careened sideways, spun once and collided with a telephone pole The air bags released and glass shattered From overhead wires, clumps of accumulated snow and ice dropped hard
Even before the sound of the crash faded away on the dark night, Dash reached her Seeing her delass everywhere, sent fear jarinding gears and a revving engine told Dash the driver of the van was okay--and desperate to disengage froo’s door handle
He jerked at it twice, pulling with all his strength until finally with a sharp screech of bentwheel and deflated air bags, her sertips to her throatand blew out a breath when he felt her steady pulse Thank God
How much time did he have before the van freed itself froo? Come on, honey, talk to me" In case she had neck or spinal injuries, he didn’t want to move her He pulled out his cell phone and alan answered with "What’s up?"
"Margo was just in a wreck Bad We’re at" He looked around and found the street signs "Corner of Second and Main She’s unconscious"
Calan asked, "Any other cars involved?"
Dash could hear Logan o van" Except for the glare of headlights off Margo’s car and the van, inky darkness blanketed the e his spine--he could aler
"Are you hurt?"
"I’m fine, but" Dash could barely believe it, but he knehat he’d seen "She was raan"