He opened the passenger door and gently placed her on the seat. She immediately curled into herself as if trying to disappear into the leather. She was still shivering, and he grabbed a spare blanket from the back, throwing it over her slight shoulders in an effort to give her some sort of comfort and warmth. It was a pathetic sight, and his lips tightened as he looked away.
The woman deserved nothing from him, not a goddamn thing. But she had somehow managed in less than two hours to find the one sliver of humanity that still existed inside of him.
He threw his gear into the back and grabbed his cell phone.
Hitting Redial, he climbed into the cab and turned the key. The powerful rumble of the engine broke the silence and echoed into the quiet evening as Jaxon looked to his police scanner. Turning the knob up, he hit the gas and the truck pulled away from its bed of trees as static from the scanner lessened and he was able to listen in.
The chatter that could be heard alerted him to the fact that local law enforcement had not set up roadblocks. The crime scene was contained to the diner, and so far the perimeter had not expanded beyond that. Second rate work.
Jaxon smiled harshly. He had caught one hell of a break.
Meanwhile, he held the cell phone to his ear as Declan’s recorded voice droned on. He cursed silently, waited for the requisite bleep, and left a curt message.
“It’s Jax. Make sure Ana is there tomorrow night. Libby is…not right. I want her checked out medically by someone we can trust.”
He flipped the phone closed and tossed it into the console, glancing over to where she lay trembling. Exhaling harshly, he gripped the steering wheel tightly with his large hands, blackness riding him hard as turbulent emotions wove their way through his body.
What the hell happened to you Libby? Who did you manage to piss off more than me?
The headlights drifted out over the open road as darkness swallowed the large truck. Jaxon settled in for a long drive. The way he saw it, they’d be hitting Headquarters in about six hours. Hopefully the trip would be quiet and uneventful—the opposite of his night so far.
Libby wasn’t sure how long she’d been out, but judging by the stiffness in her limbs, it had been awhile. Her body screamed for a chance to stretch, but she kept her legs and arms tucked in tight, hiding under the blanket even though the pain was becoming unbearable.
But then, she was used to living with a whole truckload of hurt. It had been her constant companion for as long as she could remember, and even further back than that. She shifted ever slightly, trying to ease the tightness in her side and give her ribs a bit of a breather. Her left side was throbbing, shooting out sharp spasms of pain that came in waves. She clenched her teeth and fought it.
The hum of a powerful engine mingled roughly with the sounds of music that filtered through the heavy blanket. The hard pounding rhythm beat in tandem with her heart, and black panic began to curl along the edge of her brain.
Someone had come for her.
They had found her.
Tears threatened as fog washed over. They had found her.
She couldn’t remember who they were. Not one face, touch, or sound. But the feeling was there, a dark menace and sense of unparalleled power that hung in the air.
And the smell, there was something incredibly familiar to his smell.
It definitely was a male driving the vehicle. She knew that with every fiber of her being. Eyes as black as tar flashed through her mind. The memory of the man from the diner had her heart leaping erratically…and his very essence scared the crap out of her.
He was one of them. He had to be.
She bit her tongue as a fresh wave of terror spliced through her body, and immediately broke out into a sweat. She needed to get the hell out of the truck.
She would die before she let them get her. Images from nightmares blinked behind her eyes, and she used every bit of mental strength she possessed to push them away. If she let those pictures and feelings in, she would be done for. She just couldn’t go back there.
Her survival instinct kicked in and she frantically began to plot.
When the harsh ring of a cell phone broke through the muffled music, it was everything she could do to be still and silent.
A deep voice answered the phone, and her hair stood on end as the richness of it washed over her. Whoever he was sounded powerful and pissed off. Not a good combination. She strained her ears, trying to learn what she could.
“Yeah, Jax here. You better have good news. Is Ana on board?”
Libby realized that with her captor occupied, she could depress the auto lock on her door and he might not hear it click.
Slowly, her fingers crept upward and she felt along the top of the armrest until they came across the indent of a button. She held her breath and pressed it softly. Her head lay against the door and she felt a rush of adrenaline pump through her when she heard the click as the door unlocked.
She paused, hearing bits of his conversation continue, and her heart sped up as she sensed the vehicle slowing down.