The bright band of headlights coming from beyond the curves in the road from the opposite direction had Jenna’s heart lodging in her throat. She slapped her hand on the hazard light button and hoped to hell the other driver saw her as a third deer trotted with unfounded casualness in front of the car, then a fourth, fifth and sixth. In a desperate bid to slow the oncoming driver down without further spooking the herd, Jenna flashed her headlights at the approaching car.
Almost too late, the driver slammed on its brakes. The advancing car kangaroo-hopped straight at them so Jenna gripped the steering wheel and braced herself. At the last moment, the car slewed into the middle of the road and jerked to a standstill. Orange hazard lights blazed within a split second of it coming to a halt, bright flashes illuminating the darkness.
Jenna released a slow breath as another three deer pranced across the road on spring-assisted legs. She clawed her short hair back from her face, gasped out a breath and sat in silence waiting for the next member of the herd to pop out of the trees while the pulse in the base of her neck stammered.
When nothing further emerged, Jenna depressed the clutch and shoved the car in first gear to let it crawl alongside the other vehicle which displayed the green ‘P’ sticker on its bonnet to indicate a newly qualified driver.
7
Sunday 19 April 0115 hours
Jenna stabbed the button to wind down her window. She pulled her warrant card from where it was attached to her waistband on a bungee cord. She’d given up wearing it on a lanyard around her neck ever since Fliss had almost been strangled by an attacker with the dog lead she’d had looped around her neck. It was a lesson she’d determined not to ignore.
She peered through the dark at the other driver, who’d wound down their window. ‘Hi. I’m DS Jenna Morgan and this is DC Mason Ellis. Everyone okay in there?’
Fear glazed the young driver’s eyes as they almost popped out of her head while her lips trembled into a vacant smile. ‘I wasn’t going too fast. I was only going fifty.’
Jenna inclined her head and, with one eye on the burning sky, lowered her voice to soothe rather than terrify. After all, she’d been going fifty too and with all the experience in the world and an advanced grade one driving certificate, she’d almost taken the damned deer out. If she hadn’t been distracted by the fire in the sky, it probably would have made no difference, wildlife was just that. Wild and unpredictable. At around forty-five kilograms and almost the height of the car, the first female had been no lightweight. Hitting an animal that size wouldn’t have resulted in a small dint in the car but a complete wreck.
With a reassurance she didn’t quite feel herself, she forced her lips to curve into a gentle smile. ‘Fifty is the speed limit along here, and you stopped in good time, but just be careful along this road. The deer frequently bolt across and if you hit one at fifty, at best you’ll kill a deer and write off your car, at worst you’ll kill a deer and yourself.’ She’d been so close herself, the shock of it still ran cold through her veins.
The wide eyes blinked, and the baby-faced girl jerked her head three times in acknowledgement, the smooth plumpness of her young cheeks wobbled while her mouth worked to say something, but no sound came from her lips.
Jenna glanced beyond the girl to the other two wide-eyed passengers and understood their inability to catch their breath. The tight band around her own chest still squeezed, but she had a job to do.
‘Where are you off to?’ The distinct scent of alcohol drifted from the over-warm interior of the other car and Jenna’s heart sank as she narrowed her eyes to take in the occupants again before she centred her attention on the driver.
The young woman’s eyes cleared in an instant and she sat bolt upright as awareness of the situation hit her. ‘We’re on our way home. I haven’t been drinking. My friends have. We went for a quick one down at the local. But I didn’t drink. I wouldn’t. My mum would kill me. I’ve only just passed my test. Mum doesn’t want us out late. She said she’d be awake until we got home. She’d kill me if she thought I was drink-driving.’ Words spilled over themselves as she tried to get them out in some semblance of an order and Jenna’s lips twitched with amusement.
‘Like, she bloody would kill ’er. ’Er mum’s like a dragon. Terrifies the frickin’ life ou’ of me. But Sophie hasn’t been drinking. We did, like, but she’s just passed her test and ’er mum would kill ’er. It’s the first time, like, we’ve come out since she passed last week.’ Jenna’s brain fogged as the passenger leaned over and almost blew her head off. Vodka, with fumes like that, it had to be vodka.
‘Have a good time, did we?’ Jenna barely acknowledged their quick giggles and nudges as they chorused their approval. Concerned, she glanced at the road ahead and behind her, the kick of urgency to clear the route uppermost in her mind. She needed to get the kids off the road, but knowing what she knew, there was no way she could let them go. She glanced up at the burnished sky. PC Walker was at the site. It would have to wait. The more pressing matter was right in front of her. Her number one priority was to get the girls to a place of safety. Protect. Always protect.
Aware of Mason in the passenger seat finishing up his call for assistance she ducked her head back inside the car and cruised a searching gaze over him. ‘You want to drive our car, or the one with the three potentially drunk women?’
He ducked his head, moving closer to Jenna so he could take a good long look in through the windows of the car at the three girls, their twittering voices raised in panicked whispers. The blink and slow pull of his breath told her everything she needed to know even before he spoke. ‘This one.’ He’d happily step into the path of a charging psychopath for her, but he’d rather not get involved with teenage girls.
‘Wise decision.’
Aware she needed to get a move on in case any other traffic pulled up, Jenna turned back to the driver. ‘Sophie, I can smell alcohol, so I’m obliged to get you breathalysed. I can’t do it myself, so we’ve sent for a uniformed officer to come out. They won’t be long, but we need to get off this road before any other vehicles come along. Hop out of the driver’s seat and I’ll drive your car just down to the pull-off where it’s safe.’
Sophie’s bottom lip quivered.
‘Do you understand?’ Jenna sent her a long, searching look as she checked her over for signs of inebriation. None that she could tell, but the moment she’d smelled the alcoholic fumes, she’d been under an obligation to call it in.
Sophie nodded.
With her hazards still flashing, Jenna left the engine running while she unclipped her seat belt and slipped out of the driver’s door just as Mason flopped himself from the passenger seat into the driver’s with long drawn-out grunts as he caught himself up on the central console.
‘Bugger. Ahhh, bugger.’
Jenna ducked her head into the car. ‘You should have walked around.’
He shot her a pained grin as he grabbed at his thigh and rubbed. ‘Too easy. I like the bruises. Shows I’ve been working.’
‘Shows you’re an idiot.’ She slammed the door and turned towards the other car as all three girls opened their doors. The tiny front-seat passenger tottered around the bonnet of the car, her own skewed logic dictating her direction, on heels high enough to scaffold The Wrekin. She weaved past Sophie, who strode in the opposite direction in sensible, flat shoes obviously specific for driving. Sophie leaped into the front passenger seat while the diminutive figure with an enormous bosom shimmied her way into the vacant back seat next to the shadowy image of the third passenger. All the time, their desperate dramatic twitter carried on the quiet night air.