curt nod. “Just do it. And quickly. I smell gas.”
He didn’t have to tell her twice. On her stomach, she moved across the butter-soft leather upholstery. When she got to the man’s body, she did her best to focus on the task at hand and not the fact that when she placed a hand on his thigh, it was rock hard. The man was all muscle and—and she had work to do. At last, she was wedged between him and the dashboard with barely any room for her to move her arms.
“Can you move the seat back?”
His body shifted. “It’s not working. The electrical system must have shorted out.”
“Okay. I’ve got this.”
She had to get this man free of the car and then find out what had happened to Gizmo. Her poor sweet furbaby could be hurt or worse—
Stop. Deal with one problem at a time.
Hands first, she repositioned herself. She flashed the light around. The side of the car had been smashed inward. His ankle was pinned between the car door and the brake pedal. It looked bad—real bad.
Serena drew in an unsteady breath, willing herself to remain calm when all she wanted to do was run away and find someone else to help this man. But there wasn’t time for that. She could do this. She could. Serena placed her hand gently on his leg and paused. When he didn’t cry out in pain, she proceeded to examine the situation. She ran her hand down his leg, checking for any major injuries. She didn’t feel any. There was no wiggle room on either side. The brake pedal was digging into his flesh.
Knowing that she was going to need two hands, she held up the phone to him. “Can you hold this for me?”
He took the phone. The light was angled too high.
“Tilt it a little lower. I’m going to try to move the brake pedal. Are you ready?”
“Yes. Just do what you need to do.”
Serena pressed on the brake. The pedal became stuck on his black leather dress shoe. She tried moving his foot, but it wouldn’t budge.
She felt his body stiffen. Serena released his foot. He was really pinned in there. And it frightened her to know that she might not be able to free him before the car went up in flames.
She swallowed hard. “I’m going to take off your shoe and see if that will help.”
“Do what you need to do. You don’t have to keep updating me.”
Just then she inhaled the scent of smoke. Her pulse quickened. They were almost out of time. And this wasn’t the way she planned to leave this world.
Her fingers moved quickly. The shoe tie pulled loose.
He cursed under his breath.
She stopped moving. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. Keep going.”
“But I’m hurting you.”
“It’s going to hurt a lot more when that fire reaches us.”
“Okay. Okay. I’ve got it. I’ll try to do this as quickly as possible.”
“Do it!”
The melting snow on the top of her head dripped onto her nose. With her arm, she brushed it off. All her focus needed to be on freeing this man, and in essence herself, from this smashed-up, gasoline-leaking, smoldering car.
Serena once again worked to free his shoe from his foot. It didn’t move easily and she suspected he had a lot of swelling going on. She reminded herself to focus on one problem at a time. However, at this moment the problems were mounting faster than she could deal with them.
The smoke caused her to let out a string of coughs.
“Are you okay?” Not even waiting for her answer, he said, “You should get out of here.”
“Not without you.”
When she moved his foot again, she heard the distinct hiss of his breath. He didn’t say anything and so she continued moving his foot. At last, his foot slipped past the brake pedal.
She pulled back. “You’re free.”
There was perspiration beading on the man’s forehead. It definitely wasn’t hot in the car. It was more like freezing. Her maneuvering his foot must have hurt him more than he’d let on. She felt really bad adding to his discomfort, but she had no other way to free him.
“Now,” she said, “let’s get you out of here.”
She eased out of the car and attempted to help him, but he brushed her off. The smoke was getting heavier.
“I’ve got it,” he said. “Just move away from the car.”
“Not without you.” She stood just outside the car.
“Quit saying that. Take care of yourself.”
She wasn’t backing away. If he needed her, she would be there. The popping and fizzing sounds continued. Her gaze darted to the hood where the smoke was the heaviest. Her attention returned to the man.
Hurry. Please hurry.
She wondered how bad the damage was to his left leg. It suddenly dawned on her that he most likely wouldn’t be able to walk on it. But what choice did they have as they were stuck in the middle of nowhere. It was becoming increasingly obvious that no one used this road—at least not in the middle of a snowstorm. And who could blame them, she thought, glancing around at the snow-covered roadway.
Right now, she just wanted to find Gizmo and head back to the cabin. Gizmo. Where was he? Her heart clenched with fear. Please let him be safe.
It took her assistance to get the man to his feet. Or in his case, his one good foot. He’d finally had to relent and lean on her shoulder. Between hopping and a bit of hobbling, she got him to the other side of the road, a safe distance from the car.
“Thank you,” he said. “I don’t know what I’d have done if you hadn’t come along.”
“You’re welcome.”
“My name’s Jackson. What’s yours?”
In the daylight, she recognized him. The breath hitched in her throat. He was trouble. Make that trouble with a capital T and an exclamation point. He was Jackson Bennett—the god of morning news. She turned away.
He was on the airwaves for three hours each morning in American homes from coast to coast. People quoted him. And quite often his name trended after a particularly stunning interview.
The producers of his show had been in contact with her agent a few times to set up an on-air interview, but each time the logistics hadn’t worked for one of them. She couldn’t be more grateful about that now. Still, she couldn’t breathe. There was a definite possibility that he’d recognize her.
This was not good. Not good at all.
In
