Her arm flew out, her hand landing on the dash to brace against the sudden impact before she was whipped back against her seat.
“What the fuck!” she heard Nate shout, and her eyes flew to him. He appeared okay with his hands gripping the steering wheel, and his sight trained on the rearview mirror.
His eyes moved to her, seeming to travel over her all at once. Her face. Her lap. Her hands that clutched at the seat belt that crossed her chest. Even her legs. “Are you okay?”
She could only manage a nod. They hadn’t been hit hard. Just enough to jolt her around a bit, but she was still shaken.
The sound of squealing tires drew their attention, and Victoria watched the car that had hit them drive off.
“Fuck!” Nate shouted again, whipping the car into reverse before throwing it back into first and jumping into the next lane to take chase, barely missing the bumper of the car in front of them.
“What are you doing?” Victoria shouted over the roar of the engine as she grabbed the dash with one hand and the center console with the other. “It’s not worth chasing after them. Let the insurance handle it.” She knew he loved his car but speeding through Beverly Hills after a hit-and-run and possibly getting into another accident was ridiculous.
“There’s a pen in the glove box. Get ready to jot the license number down.”
She found the pen easily, but even after a thorough search, couldn’t find anything to write on. Not even an old receipt.
“We’re almost close enough,” Nate warned.
She saw his foot press down on the accelerator and frantically looked for a scrap of paper. Even the compartment in the center console was clean.
“Two X B J,” he started, and for lack of anything else, she pushed up the hem of her dress and started writing on her thigh. “Two, three, five.”
After reciting the plate numbers, Nate slowed and pulled into the next parking lot, bringing the car to a stop in a vacant corner.
“Why did you do that? Was it really worth risking our lives for a stupid accident?” She unlatched her seat belt, throwing it off herself in a rare fit of anger.
She looked over at Nate. He stared out the windshield, jaw tense with his hands still clutching the steering wheel.
After long seconds, as if getting himself under control, he turned to her. He grabbed her hand doing another thorough sweep of her from head-to-toe. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
Her anger dissipated a fraction at his show of concern.
She repeated her question. “Why would you do all that,” she waved her hand at the windshield, “for a simple fender bender?”
“What if it wasn’t a simple accident? What if it was planned?”
“That’s crazy.”
“Is it? Like Smith said, there’s no such thing as coincidences.”
“This is LA. There’re hundreds of car accidents a day. Besides, the police have Chrissy in custody.”
“Maybe they have the wrong person, or maybe she’s been released. I wasn’t taking the chance of maybe letting the person who’s trying to hurt you get away.”
That shut her up. She didn’t have an argument for Nate’s logic.
He got out of the car, pulled his cell out, and stepped out of sight. After a few seconds, she opened her door and followed.
Nate paced behind the rear of the car, talking on the phone, and from his side of the conversation, it sounded as if he was talking to Smith. She looked down at the car and grimaced at the sight of the smashed bumper.
Slipping his phone back into his pocket, Nate stepped over to her, wrapping her in his arms. “He’s on his way. Are you sure you’re okay?”
She held on to him tight, pressing her cheek to his chest. “I’m fine.”
“The baby okay? Do you think we need to go to the hospital?”
“I don’t think that’s necessary. I’m not experiencing any pains or anything.”
“Let me know right away. Even if it’s just a twinge.”
She squeezed him tighter and was thankful for the returned added pressure as his arms hugged her back. While the accident really wasn’t much to speak of, it had been scary at the time. “I will.”
His lips found the top of her head and stayed there, his warm breaths heating her scalp. She wasn’t sure how long they held each other, long enough for the police to arrive.
A uniformed police officer approached them. “Mr. Reed,” he said, tipping his head and pulling out a notepad. “I’m here to take down your account of the accident.”
Victoria saw Nate frown. “Where’s Smith?”
“He sent me, sir. That’s all I know.”
Nate’s jaw hardened, and his eyes blazed. Victoria placed a comforting hand on his arm and spoke softly, “Maybe he was busy or too far away. Don’t ream the middleman.” Her lips quirked, and she gave his arm a squeeze, hoping to jolly him out of his temper.
His chest inflated as he took a deep breath. Releasing it slowly, he gave her a small smile, letting her know he was back in control.
Victoria excused herself when the officer had Nate rehash the accident, and going to the car, she grabbed her phone to check the time.
She hadn’t realized it was so late. Half past one. She saw she missed a call from Byron and quickly called him.
“Where are you?”
Of course, that would be his first question and not concern over why they were late. “We were in a car accident. We’re not going to make it.”
She heard him excuse himself—presumably from the table—and a few panting breaths later, he said in a lower voice, “This meeting is important, Victoria.”
She was instantly pissed off. Damn him and his one-track mind. “It was a small fender bender. Scary, but we’re fine. Thanks for asking.”
Her sarcasm was hard to miss. He didn’t. She heard him sigh. “Obviously, I was concerned until you called.”
“Obviously.” Yes, her reply still dripped with sarcasm.
She heard him sigh again. “Listen, let’s start over. I’m glad you’re okay, but seeing as it was—in your words—a small fender bender, do you think you can still come now? I’m sure Gideon won’t mind waiting if I explain the situation to him.”
“I don’t know. The police just arrived so it might take a while.”
“The police were called for a mere fender bender?”
“Nate thought it was a good idea in light of what’s been happening lately even though the police already have a suspect in custody.”
“Wait. The police have someone in custody? How did I not know that? When did that happen? Who is it?”
She was startled by his rapid-fire line of questioning and was reluctant to give away too much information not knowing what Smith would consider confidential. She kicked herself for saying anything in the first place. “Um, I’m not sure. I think sometime this morning and some crazy fan.”
“But they didn’t tell you who?” His tone was a little weird, but she brushed it off as his insistence on needing to know everything.
Nate waved to her, and she said into the phone, “I’ve got to go. We’ll talk later. Please give my excuses to Mr. Warren and tell him if he’d still like to meet, I’ll accommodate him, on his time schedule.”
“Now that the person has been caught, are you still leaving at the end of the week?”
“Everything’s happened so suddenly, I’m not sure what our plans are now.” For some reason, she held back informing him she and Nate still planned to leave. Them getting married was something she definitely didn’t want Mr. Big Mouth to know about.
“Please keep me in the loop, Victoria. You know I need to know these things.”
“Bye, Byron.” She hung up before he could say anything else. That man could talk!
She joined Nate and the officer, Nate’s arm coming around her as soon as she drew near. “Sweetheart, you got the license plate number of the car?”
Her lips quirked sheepishly as she raised her skirt. She saw a trace of a smile and the slight shake of Nate’s head. “What? Your car is spotless. Not even one scrap of paper lying around.”
“Before I let you guys go, there is one question I’d like to ask you, Ms. Lee,” the officer said after jotting down the number. At her nod, he continued. “Did you get a look at the driver of the hit-and-run?”
“Everything happened so fast, I didn’t think to look.” She turned to Nate. “Did you see the person?”
Nate shook his head. “I tried right after it happened, but with the glare from the sun on the guy’s windshield, I couldn’t see anything.”
Victoria nodded, remembering him looking in the rearview mirror right after the crash.
The officer tucked his notebook back in his pocket. “Okay, someone will be in touch.” He gave them a small smile while tipping his head their direction before turning and walking away.
They went straight home, and Nate disappeared into his office. She’d made them some lunch and was just pulling the garlic bread out of the oven when he strolled into the kitchen.
“Something smells good,” he said, taking the hot tray from her and setting it on the counter.
“Well it’s not the Four Seasons, but I figured I couldn’t mess up spaghetti too badly.”
They sat at the table eating quietly after that, Nate lost in thought. The silence was killing her. She gave him until the middle of their meal to brood before saying anything. “I’m sorry about your car.” She reached over placing a hand atop his.
He flipped their hands, entwining their fingers. “It’s just a car, sweetheart. It will be good as new in a couple of weeks.”
After a few minutes, when he didn’t volunteer more, she tried again. “You don’t think it was an accident, do you.”
His chest swelled as he took a deep breath. He let it out slowly before he said, “No.”
“Why do you think that?”
“I don’t know. I’ve been trying to reason it out, but it’s not adding up.”
Bingo. The reason for his silence. “Maybe if you talked it out, it would help.”
He was silent a moment, but it wasn’t the same kind of silence as earlier, more like he was collecting his thoughts. She waited him out.
“I think my biggest question is, why did the guy speed off?”
Victoria shrugged. “Could be a number of reasons. Maybe his license was suspended. Maybe he doesn’t have insurance. Hell, maybe he was just scared because he hit such an expensive car.”
“That’s why I’m questioning it.”
“I don’t understand.” And she didn’t. “Why would you rule those things out?”
“It was a rental.”
“What?” Why was this the first she was hearing of this?
“The car had a Hertz license plate frame. The guy couldn’t have rented it with a suspended license. And even if he didn’t have insurance, the rental company does.”
Victoria had another idea. “What if he was drunk driving?”
Nate shook his head. “With the way that guy maneuvered in and out of traffic as we chased him, there’s no fucking way he was drunk.”
She thought a minute. “Then the only other thing I can think of is maybe the guy was a criminal. Had a warrant out for his arrest or had a gun in the car. Something like that.”
“The odds of that just seem too high for it to be plausible.”
Victoria sighed. “Leading you to think this wasn’t a random accident.”
Nate finished her thought. “And if it wasn’t random, then that means the police have the wrong guy. And Smith is so adamant it’s Chrissy, he couldn’t even be bothered to take the fucking police report of the accident.”
She gave his hand a squeeze. “I’m sure he was just busy and will look into it as soon as he can.”
Nate gave her hand a squeeze back. “Yeah, but I don’t like the fact that by then it may be too late.”
After lunch, Nate disappeared back into his office to take a call. He was still acting distant but figured she’d give him his space. She could imagine the stress she’d be feeling if his life were in danger, and knew he was handling the events of the past few weeks as best he could.
She cleaned up their mess and was putting the last dish in the dishwasher when her phone rang. Wiping her hands dry, she picked up her phone and saw it was Byron. Of course.
“Hello,” she answered sounding slightly perturbed.
“How are you feeling?”
She rolled her eyes. “Are you asking because you want something, or do you really care?”
“That hurts. Of course, I care.”
She barely held in a snort. “I’m fine. Thanks for asking.”
She heard him tsk. “Sarcasm doesn’t suit you, my dear.”
“I’m as sincere as you are. Why are you really calling?”
“I’d really like to see you before you leave. It’s important, and I don’t want to discuss it over the phone.”
She couldn’t imagine anything he had to say was that important, but she knew from experience it was pointless arguing. “I’m free tomorrow morning, but you need to come here.” Nate would never let her leave the house by herself.
“I can be there at nine.”
Nate would be at his meeting, but she was sure that would be fine. “Sounds good. I’ll see you then.”
She hung up, throwing her phone back down on the counter. She sighed suddenly feeling tired. Byron was exhausting. Or maybe she just needed a nap.