Rattled Read Free Page A

you had your helmet on,” Drew said.
    “I always wear one.” Erin gave a wry smile, remembering all the times she’d scolded her students for riding without. “I like my brains inside my skull.”
    Camie stood behind Drew, pointed at him, and mouthed the word “Hot!”
    Erin struggled to keep a straight face and tried not to look at her friend. “So, uh, how do you like the town? Are you finding anything to do?”
    Drew shrugged. “I play pool sometimes at the Black Dog. I’m learning to appreciate green chile.”
    Erin nodded. “That pretty much covers your options. It’s not much of a town.”
    “I’m used to that. I do a lot of my work in remote areas. Transporting equipment for mining or timber, dropping off hunters or fishermen. I worked tourism for a while in Alaska, based in a small town. I don’t mind.”
    “That’s good.” Erin tried to think of something else to say.
    Drew frowned and glanced around the hospital room. “Look, this accident. How much do you remember?”
    “I don’t know.” Erin tried to think back. Her mind filled with the memory of black metal bearing down on her, the feel of flying through the air. She trembled and clenched her fists. Her broken finger screamed at the movement and brought her focus back to the present.
    Drew was leaning forward, elbows on his knees. “I don’t mean to bring back bad memories. It’s just—” He hesitated and glanced up at Camie as she came to stand by Erin’s side. “Maybe I shouldn’t be telling you this right now. But maybe you need to know.”
    Erin stared at him as a feeling of cold lodged in her stomach. Camie’s hand squeezed her shoulder.
    “I was jogging along that road,” Drew said. “I turned a corner and noticed a black SUV in the distance, pulled off to the side of the road—the wrong side. A man was coming out of the ditch. I wondered about it, you know? What he’d been doing. He drove away. When I got up to where he’d been, I started looking in the ditch. And I found you.”
    Erin’s breath felt stuck in her lungs. She had a sudden memory of hands pulling at her waist, of thinking she had help, and then being alone. She stared into Drew’s blue eyes, but she no longer felt the warmth of a summer sky.
    Drew frowned. “Are you sure this was an accident?”
     
     

Chapter 3
     
     
    Erin opened her mouth to protest but could think of nothing to say. She felt cold and tugged the hospital blanket higher.
    “Erin!” Mitchell Broadwell strode into the room, looking as sharp as a lawyer in his expensive business suit. He pushed past Drew’s chair and bent to kiss Erin. “Hello, darling. I came as soon as I heard.” He straightened and glared down at Drew with his hand still on Erin’s shoulder. She had to crane her neck to see him. “Who are you?”
    “Drew Morgan.” He didn’t offer his hand.
    “He found me,” Erin said.
    “I’ll thank you for that,” Mitchell said. “But you have no right coming here and spouting some conspiracy theory. Erin needs to rest.”
    Drew leaned back in his chair and stretched out his long legs. “I’d say she needs to know the truth.”
    Mitchell scowled. “The truth is she was the victim of a terrible accident. If someone hit her and drove off, it’s because he was scared. Probably drunk. It’s terrible, but there’s no need to turn it into something else.”
    The men stared at each other, like two dogs ready for a fight. Erin struggled to catch up with the situation. She knew she should be pondering what Drew had said, but she was too busy blushing about Mitchell’s behavior. She had gone on a few dates with him, but she wished he hadn’t acted so possessive. Maybe she should have been flattered, but she still wished he hadn’t... not in front of Drew. It was foolish to think that the handsome stranger would ever have any more interest in her than what he’d said—curiosity about the fate of the poor creature he’d rescued from a ditch. But Erin had been