1. Yvette

Chapter 1

Yvette

The warm afternoon sun filters through the trees lining the road as I cruise toward Romi's house, humming along to my favorite playlist. The engine in my trusty little red sports car purrs along as I step on the gas harder. The Bluetooth dings, letting me know my sister is trying to call me.

"Hello, little sister. What has your husband done today?" I ask, knowing she's calling for sympathy, and I'm pretty sure it has to do with her overprotective husband.

"He's on my last freaking nerve. Ever since the whole incident with the raccoon in the attic last week, Sullivan's been on caveman overdrive. He's got every lock in the house checked twice before bed, and last night he suggested getting a pet owl for security."

I laugh, the sound mingling with the rolling scenery outside my window. "Romi, I swear, you're living in a sitcom. But seriously, you've got to admit it's kind of sweet. At least you've got a husband who loves you enough to go a bit overboard. Meanwhile, I'm over here having a love affair with a bag of pretzels, so count your blessings!"

Her laughter bubbles through the car speakers. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Just wait til I sic him on you during Thanksgiving so I can get stuff done."

"Oh, heck no. You married him; you deal with him." I laugh.

We share a sisterly chuckle. As I adjust my sunglasses, I glance in the rearview mirror, a habit I barely notice anymore. But what grabs my attention is a black SUV coming up fast behind me, weaving through the other cars like an obstacle course.

"What's this guy doing?" I mutter, my grip tightening on the steering wheel.

Romi's voice interrupts my distraction. "What's going on?"

"Some idiot in an SUV is driving like it's the Daytona 500. I think it's… oh, you won't believe this." I blink several times, wondering if I'm losing my mind. Surely it can't be the asshole from my former firm who's decided to make my life a living hell. I squint into the rearview mirror and realize it is him. What the fudge? "It's Richard Hecken, the attorney from my last firm. You remember him, right? Snooty, pretentious, condescending, asshole, case-thief, and an all-around nuisance?" I leave out the part where he's been sending me creepy letters, flowers, and unusual gifts every week for the last few months. I've been keeping that little tidbit to myself because I didn't want to worry my little sister.

"What's he doing in Midnight Falls?" Romi asks, confused.

I have no idea. I'm freaking confused as hell, too. "I'm technically in Silver Spoon Falls right now," I correct her automatically.

She doesn't miss a beat. "If you want to be precise, what's he doing in Silver Spoon Falls, then?"

But before I can answer, my little red sports car jolts violently. The bumper grinds as the shriek of metal against metal fills the air, and I can barely register her shouted question.

"Oh my God, he's trying to run me off the road!" Panic rises in my voice. With my heart thudding in my chest like a desperate tattoo, my mind races, attempting to comprehend Richard's intentions while simultaneously trying to maintain control of the vehicle.

"What do you mean?" Romi's voice is laced with growing concern, but I can barely focus on forming a coherent response.

The SUV is now alongside me, Richard's silhouette visible through his tinted windows, a dark shadow in my peripheral vision. With a sudden, brutal motion, he swerves, hitting the front bumper with terrifying precision.

Time slows. My car spins, the world twisting around me like a carousel gone horribly wrong. Distantly, I hear my own screams cutting through the mechanical chaos. Trees, signs, the road, and the sky all blend into a surreal blur as my grip on the steering wheel becomes my only anchor.

The seatbelt jerks hard against my chest as everything goes black.

For a moment, there is nothing. Slowly, awareness seeps back in through the edges, replacing the black endless void. Warm blood runs down the side of my face and drips into my eyes. I groan and attempt to lift my head from the seat back, but I swear it weighs a thousand pounds.

Sound returns slowly, the urgent chatter of birds and the distant rumble of traffic folding themselves into my consciousness. Pain fires along my side, sharp and unyielding, but nothing compared to the terror of moments ago.

"Yvette? Yvette! Can you hear me?" Romi's voice is echoing through what's left of my car. The Bluetooth remains connected, her calls a lifeline threading the chaos.

"I'm… I'm okay," I croak, almost to myself, before trying louder for her benefit. "I'm okay."

A rustling nearby signals approaching footsteps. Gratefully, I focus on the here and now, blinking against the sharp sunlight, the world slowing down to its regular, predictable pace as the vision of Richard's SUV retreats into a dim memory of confusion and misplaced aggression.

Moments blur together as I'm coaxed from the wreckage, helpers appearing in swirls of color and sound. Questions cascade over me.

"Are you hurt?"

"Can you move?"

"That asshole ran you off the road." At least someone else witnessed the crazy event.

I nod, shake my head, and try to clear my mind from the surreal haze. "Someone needs to call my sister. She'll think I've driven straight off a cliff."

Around me, people move with careful urgency, one of them producing a phone and asking for her number. Lucky for me, her number is ingrained in my memory, and even the horrific crash didn't scramble it. I hear the man speaking with Romi and close my eyes to take a little snooze.

Minutes, hours, lifetimes seem to pass before I'm settled on the roadside, wrapped in a stranger's blanket as sirens approach. Romi's voice, growing louder and clearer as the stranger places his phone next to my ear, fills my head like an echo I didn't know I needed.

"You're going to be okay," she promises, her voice thick with tears and yet impossibly strong. "Sullivan and Sinclair are already on their way there."

With the adrenaline pounding through me, I feel like kicking some asshole ass. The absurdity of Richard's outrageous road rage just adds another layer of bullshit to my already frustrating day.

Leaning back against the gritty softness of the blanket, I close my eyes and let the jumble of sounds taper into a lullaby meant to cradle my world back toward normalcy.