“Jesus must have left them out,” Ginny offered an explanation.
Gavin gave her the empty bag back to repack the items he had tossed aside.
Putting it in the back seat, she resumed drumming her fingers on the door. Becoming bored, Ginny took out her cell phone and started working on a song she was writing.
“What are you eating?” Gavin suspiciously took his eyes off the road.
“Nothin’.”
“Hand it over.”
Ginny ignored the hand he held out. “No.”
“It was a big bag. You’re not going to share?”
“I wouldn’t consider the bag big, and no, I’m not.”
“So, you do have the candy.”
Her big mouth had let her walk right into that trap. “No.”
“Why aren’t you sharing?”
“I don’t know,” she said sarcastically. “Probably because you were going to leave me in the woods if a cop hadn’t stopped you.”
“How many times do I have to tell you that you would have only been left for maybe two or three minutes at the max?”
“Okay,” she mocked, swinging her head sideways while keeping her eyes forward. “You’re really not getting any candy. They’re all mine. And they’re good, too.”
She deliberately bit down on the hard-cherry candy to crush it between her teeth, knowing the big jerk would hear what she was doing. Loudly twisting the plastic covering on another piece of candy to open it, she popped it in her mouth.
“How did you sneak the candy out the bag, anyway? I saw it in there when I tied the bag.”
“I don’t know. Maybe you were too preoccupied being a big jerk to notice.”
“I’m not a jerk.”
“No, you’re not. You’re a big one.”
Gavin took one of his hands away from the steering wheel to go to his jacket pocket.
“What are you looking for? The way you’re swerving, we’ll get pulled over again,” she berated him.
“I’m trying to find my cell phone. I’m going to call Jesus to come and get you.”
“He’s over an hour away.”
“I know.”
“Are you joking?”
“Are you going to give me a piece of my candy?”
“Fine.” Ginny reached in her pocket to take one out to give him. “Satisfied?”
“Yes. You can go back to giving me the silent treatment.”
“I’ve lost the desire. It gave you too much enjoyment.” Placing her phone in her pocket with her candy, she twisted her body to the side to face him more fully. “Do you want to play another game?”
“No—”
When Gavin cut off what he was about to say, Ginny looked out the windshield. A car had their hazard lights on. Straightening in her seat, she felt the car start to slow.
“Is it safe?”
“Probably not, but I can’t leave them stranded.” Easing onto the shoulder behind the car, Gavin parked.
“I want you to crawl over the console and get behind the wheel when I get out of the car. If anything goes wrong, I want you to get the hell out of here and call Viper.” Taking out his phone, Ginny saw him text Viper the license plate number of the car in front of him.
“I’m not going to leave you.”
Gavin reached over the console to take her by the face. His firm clasp had her staring into his flinty eyes.
“You fucking do what I’m telling you.”
Ginny lowered her eyes. “I can’t,” she whispered.
“Unless you promise, I’ll drive away and leave them.”
“Then let’s leave. No one is more important than you.”
“Fucking hell …,” Gavin swore, releasing his grasp on her to open the door as a man got out of the car, frantically waving toward them. Swinging away from her, he got of the car. “Lock the fucking door. Ram the back end of his car if I raise my hand in the air.”
Ginny started climbing over the console. “That I can do,” she promised.
Gavin slammed the car door as he walked toward the man who was urgently motioning inside his car.
Ginny gripped the steering wheel when Gavin ran around the car, opening the passenger door and bending down.
Fear for Gavin had her watching the other man to make sure Gavin wasn’t being blindsided. Alarm filled Ginny when her headlights illuminated Gavin pulling an unconscious woman out to lay her next to the car. When the stranger fell down to his knees beside her as Gavin began doing chest compressions on the woman, Ginny couldn’t stay in the car. Jerking the door open, she ran to kneel next to the man who was watching Gavin try to resuscitate the woman.
“Get back in the car!” Gavin yelled, his experienced movements not breaking the pumping rhythm he was using on the unconscious woman.
“Have you called an ambulance?” Ginny asked calmly, trying to help the only way she could and defying Gavin’s command.
“They’re on their way. I missed the turn-off to the hospital.” The man sobbed. “We were on our way to Krista’s mother’s house. She wanted to stay with her until the baby comes. She started to feel lightheaded right after we left… We’re not from around here ….”