Slow Hands (16 page)

As the crowd started a mass exodus, Keira turned to watch Franny, who still held court with two cameramen. She gathered up their programs. As she straightened, she caught a glimpse of a man staring at her from several rows up.

He looked familiar... yet not. Then she remembered the fellow Franny pointed out at the bowling alley. The "creepy-looking" guy. Was it him?

The man met her stare, then stepped backward, disappearing into the crowd. But not before nodding to a second man. A man she didn't see clearly.
But who looked like Ian Griggs.

Keira drew a sharp breath, felt as if she'd been punched. She frantically scanned the crowd.

"What's wrong?" Franny asked.

"I thought I just saw that guy. The one you said worked at the grocery store. At least I think it was. And for a moment I—" Keira shook her head, uncertain.

"You what?"

"I thought I saw Ian Griggs."

Franny's eyes widened. Both women searched the rapidly dwindling crowd but saw no familiar faces.

"How sure are you?" Franny pressed.

"On a scale of one to ten? One. Or less." Now Keira felt foolish. "Maybe I'm getting paranoid."

Her friend shrugged. "I think you're entitled after the incident at the cemetery. But didn't Alec say Griggs isn't allowed out of the halfway house after dark?"

At Keira's nod, Franny held up their tickets. "Then we're safe. And don't forget, we've got backstage passes. By the time we leave, everyone else will be long gone."

They were escorted backstage, where Franny received her autographed T-shirts and collected a number of other autographs as well as snapping a lot of photographs.

When Keira finally pulled her away, Franny was floating.

"Can you believe it? I got a picture of the Smasher kissing me
and
his autograph! Woo-hoo!"

They left through a rear exit. The parking lot was deserted, but well lit. One of the security guards spotted them and accompanied them to Keira's car.

Franny showed off her autographs, then demonstrated her version of the Smasher's signature move—the Death Bomb. "Of course, I can't really drop you over my knee—might kill you," she giggled.

The guard, who looked well past seventy, laughed. "I can think of worse ways to die."

As they left the coliseum, Franny dug out her cell phone. "I've got to call Darryl again." She flipped her phone open, then groaned. "Wouldn't you know! Dead battery."

"And I didn't bring my phone since you had yours," Keira reminded her. "But we'll be home in no time."

By then, traffic was nonexistent. As soon as Keira cleared the Hot Springs city limits, she sped up. She made the drive almost daily and felt like she could navigate it blindfolded.

Franny rifled through her CDs, selected one, and cranked up the volume. Windows down, they sang along with Garth Brooks.

When Keira stopped singing, Franny looked at her. "What's wrong? Don't tell me you forgot the words."

Keira shook her head, eyes flicking to her rearview mirror. Another car had come up behind her and was closing in fast.

'Tailgater." Keira sped up, but so did the driver behind her.

Franny twisted in her seat. "What's his problem?"

Keira glanced at her speedometer. She was doing a little over eighty, which was as fast as she felt safe driving at night. The road had a few turns, and while it was currently deserted, another vehicle could come up at any time.

The car behind her turned on its high beams, nearly blinding her, as the bright halogen light reflected like magnified solar flares off her rearview and side mirrors.

Temporarily blinded, Keira looked away, flipped the rearview up to break the reflection. Then she pushed her side mirror out. Franny did the same.

Blinking, Keira swerved slightly then started swearing. "I'm going to slow and let him pass." She removed her foot from the accelerator and tapped her brakes.

But instead of passing her, the car behind her slowed.

Keira straightened her side mirror cautiously. As she watched, the headlights disappeared completely.

"Whew! We lost them."

"What a jerk!" Franny craned her neck backward, confirming no other lights were visible on the roadway. "Lucky for him we didn't stop and kick his ass. He doesn't want any of this—"

No sooner had the words left Franny's mouth than they were hit from behind.

Keira's Blazer jerked, then fishtailed as she accelerated to get away.

The other car's headlights suddenly came on, and Keira realized the other driver had been following them all along, but without lights.

"I'm going to floor it."

Keira sped away from the other car. This stretch of road was a straightway. If she could pick up speed, she had a decent chance of losing them.

But the car stayed right on her bumper, forcing Keira to maintain her high rate of speed even as they approached more curves.

"Where's a cop when you need one?" Franny yelled.

They were rammed from behind again. Both women bounced against their seat belts as Keira tried to get her car to go faster. But the Blazer was maxed out.

"He's passing us," Franny said.

Keira caught a glimpse of headlights in the side mirror as the car overtook them. With sickening clarity, she knew the other driver's intent.

"He's going to run us off the road."

At that moment, the vehicle banged hard against Keira's car door. She got a clear look at the vehicle, a black pickup with tinted windows, could scarcely make out the silhouette of the driver and a passenger.

"Look out!" Franny shouted the warning.

Keira looked up and saw another car coming straight on. The truck was in the wrong lane, which meant the driver would ram her again to get out of the other car's path. The oncoming car started swerving as well.

"Hold on!" Keira hit her brakes, but it wasn't enough.

The truck rammed her yet again, knocking her car off the road as it shot out and cut in front of her. She skidded, fighting to keep control, fighting to avoid going into the opposite lane and hitting the third car.

But the forward momentum was too great.

As her right front tire spilled off the edge of the road, the tire blew, spinning her vehicle directly toward the oncoming car.

By eleven-thirty, Alec was watching the door. The program had gone off the air at ten. Traffic would have been heavy getting out of the sports arena, he figured. They should arrive at any time.

After another fifteen minutes, he quit bowling and paced outside, trying Keira's cell phone. No answer.

He went back inside to tell Darryl he was going to go looking for them when Darryl's cell phone rang.

Alec watched him take the call.

"Franny! I was worried." Darryl moved toward a quieter part of the bowling alley, his face serious. Alec followed.

"We're on our way." Darryl snapped off his phone. "They were in an accident. They're unharmed, but Keira's car is totaled."

"Come on." Alec headed out the door.

Darryl recounted what little he knew as Alec drove. The news that the women had been purposely run off the road enraged Alec.

They reached the emergency room in Hot Springs in record time. Keira and Franny were in an alcove near the lobby, talking with a police officer.

Franny stood as soon as she spotted Darryl and launched herself into his arms.

Alec walked straight up to where Keira sat motionless. She looked pale and upset, her brow furrowed.

He was torn between wanting to scoop her up and kiss her, versus shaking her for not being more careful. Logic didn't apply, and it didn't matter that it wasn't her fault. It only mattered that she remain safe.

"You're okay?" he asked, voice tight.

She nodded, avoiding his eyes.

Physically, she and Franny had been extremely lucky. She'd narrowly missed the oncoming car, but ended up crashing sideways into some trees. The fact they didn't hit head-on or flip was a miracle. They could have both been seriously injured ... or killed.

Alec bent low, catching her chin gently in his hand. Dark eyes scanned green ones. He recognized the fierce look she used when tears threatened, knew she was emotionally shaken.

She'd had two traumatic incidents, back to back. Griggs at the graveyard, now this. He pressed a kiss to her temple, then straightened as the policeman quickly recounted the facts of the accident.

The third car had skidded, unharmed, into the ditch. The driver quickly hurried to render aid to Keira and Franny as the black truck sped off in the night.

"Unfortunately, they weren't able to get a tag number," the policeman said.

"Anybody get a look at the driver?" Alec asked.

"Too dark. Miss Morgan thinks there were two people in the cab. We've put out an APB on the truck, and we'll see what happens." The policeman's shrug said
don't hold your breath.
"In the meantime, these ladies are free to go."

Keira stood, her arms wrapped tightly across her chest. Alec put his hands on her shoulders and squeezed. When she didn't resist, he pulled her close and followed Darryl and Franny outside.

Alec drove, Keira beside him in the passenger seat. Franny recovered her voice first. "Did you see us on TV?"

Darryl laughed. "Couldn't miss you, honey. Half the town saw you, too."

"Our seats were awesome. And I got the Smasher's autograph."

Franny talked about the match most of the way back to Freedom. Alec noticed Keira remained quiet—as if lost in thought.

They drove to Franny's first. 'To hell with propriety. I'm spending the night," Darryl had announced, as they climbed out.

When Alec and Keira finally reached her apartment, she stopped outside the door, fumbling for her keys.

"Is there something you're not telling me?" he asked.

Keira paused, then looked at him, debating whether to voice her worry. Uncertainty gnawed at her. "I thought I saw Ian Griggs tonight—but he couldn't have been there, right?"

Alec leaned close, pressed for details. "Did you get a good look at him?"

"No." Now that she thought about it more, she regretted mentioning it. "Actually, I only saw the back of a head. Crazy, I know. I'm not even sure it was Griggs. Or the other guy."

"What other guy?"

Keira described the creepy-looking guy.

Alec's frown deepened. "Sounds like Griggs's roommate, Beau Watson. Works at the grocery store. Neither one of them
should
have been there."

If Griggs had found a way to circumvent the halfway house security system, he posed an even bigger threat to Keira.

But at the same time, Griggs would be a fool not to take advantage of the breach and escape undetected— with his money.

Alec reached for her keys, but Keira pulled them back.

She didn't want him following her inside. She felt too needy, too fragile. If he came in, she wouldn't want him to leave. And if he stayed ...

He could guess what was on her mind. The same thing that was on his.

They'd slept together last night—platonically—but he knew she'd been aware of him. The sexual tension between them simmered even when they were unconscious, asleep. She'd caressed him once in her sleep, slipping her hand inside his briefs. The minute her fingers had closed over his rigid flesh, she'd awoken and withdrawn, startled.

He'd lain there in misery, pretending to sleep, fighting the urge to ejaculate, holding back.

He hadn't mentioned it that morning, knowing it would embarrass her. And tonight, well, he didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable by staying. Not after what she'd been through.

Besides, he needed to check on Ian Griggs and his roommate. Beau's car was a beat-up, rusty Toyota—not a black truck—but Alec would still look for clues.