Still, the traffic was just heavy enough that, for every minute he shaved off, he lost a couple more in lights and idiots. Never any way to deal with the bad drivers on the road and elsewhere, except to smile kindly and to keep going. What he wanted to do was take a battering ram and clear the freeway for his own use. It seemed like, anytime he tried to get anywhere, many more people were trying to get someplace too. And they were always in his face.
Still, by the time he drove down the designated street, looking for the hotel and the connected car park where Di was, he had made good time overall. He set up his phone again and called Ice. “I think I’m about thirty meters away.”
“We just got off the phone with her,” she said. “Second layer, spot D42.”
“Okay, I’m going in now.” He hung up, pulled into the car park, swung up to the second loop, and slowly drove ahead. When he found the spot, he stopped and frowned. He called Ice again on his phone. “Hey, what was that number again?”
“D42,” she said. “She’s got a dark green Honda SUV.”
“Well, a dark green Honda is here, but it’s empty,” he said. He turned off the engine and hopped out, his phone in his hand, as he walked over to the vehicle. “No sign of her,” he announced, followed by a moment of silence.
“I just got off the phone from her,” Ice said. “Not a minute ago.”
“And she sounded okay?” He looked around the area but saw no sign of anybody walking nearby. “The place is deserted.”
“Dammit,” she said.
Noah said, “Let me check inside the vehicle.” He opened up the driver’s side, surprised that it wasn’t locked. It was empty and so was the other side, and then he heard something in the back. He flipped the front seat forward, swore, and raced around to the back, where he popped the hatch.
“I found her,” he said, bending over the unconscious woman in the back. “She’s been stuffed in the back of her vehicle.”
“Goddammit,” Ice said. “Is she okay?”
“Well, I’m checking her out.” He laid down the phone, as he quickly checked her over. “It doesn’t look like anything major was broken, though she has some head trauma, and the cuts she mentioned. She’s moaning ever-so-slightly.”
“Let’s get her to the hospital.”
“Yeah, it’ll be easier if I take her.”
“No, not easier,” she said, “but faster and away from the bastard, who can’t be too far away from you.”
“You want to call ahead?” Noah asked, as he looked all around for anybody suspicious. “I’ve already got her in my arms. I’ll take her in the truck.”
“I don’t like this at all,” Ice snapped, and he heard her fretting on the other end of the phone.
“Well, we found her. She’s alive, and we’ll move on from here,” he said. “I’ve got her.” He struggled to open the truck door, but, when he finally did, he gently put her in the passenger seat and buckled her in tight, then shut the door, setting the car alarm. He raced back to the Honda, closed up the SUV, checked it, but he didn’t see anything useful other than her purse. She’d want that. “You might want to get her vehicle combed for evidence.”
“Yeah,” Ice said, “we’ll get it towed out of there.”
“Unless the cops want it for forensics.”
“I think we’ll handle this one internally,” Ice said.
“Well, send somebody for it then,” he said. “I’m getting out of here and heading to the hospital.” He raced back to his truck, turned on the engine, and quickly departed the car park. He checked on her several times, but there was no change; her pulse was slow and steady. As he flew toward the emergency entrance to the hospital, she opened her eyes, looked at him, and started shrieking.
He parked in the first available spot and said, “Calm down. Ice sent me.”
She looked at him and started to shake and quiver. “My God,” she whispered. “Are you Noah?”
“I’m Noah,” he said. “I came to get you but found you in the back of your vehicle.”
She stared at him, her eyes wide. “I just got out to stretch my legs,” she said. “I was so nervous and getting worried. I knew you were coming, but, at the same time, I felt trapped inside that vehicle. It just—” And her voice fell off. “It was stupid.”
“No, not necessarily,” he said. “It’s hard to realize that people out there are just waiting for you to make a vulnerable move like that.”
“It’s sick.”
He saw the tears in her eyes, but she was holding them back. “What I need to do,” he said, “is get you checked over. So, let’s get you inside.” She stared at him and blinked owlishly. He shut off the engine, then hopped down, went around to her side, and gently helped her down.
She looked up at the hospital. “Oh, I don’t need to go to a hospital,” she said, her voice getting stronger.
“You need those wounds cleaned and maybe stitched, but especially someone needs to see that head wound,” he said.
“No,” she said. “That’s not necessary. The expense and all.”
“Don’t you have traveling insurance?”
“Sure,” she said, “but it’s a pain in the ass.” She shook her head, wincing. “I feel fine, really.”
“That’s not the point,” he said firmly. “We need to make sure you’re okay.” She glared at him. He shrugged and said, “I’ll take you in there.”
“Against my will?” she challenged.
He raised both eyebrows. “If necessary, yes,” he said. “You don’t know what happened while you were out. You don’t know how bad that head wound of yours is, and those cuts are still bleeding and should be looked at.”
At his words, immediately her hands went up to her head. “Head wound?”
“Exactly,” he said. “You’re probably in shock and don’t even know you’re hurt.” She frowned at him, and he said, “If you can walk in a straight line, without any hesitation, to that front door, like you’ve got some oomph and some meaning behind it,” he said, “I might reconsider.”
She glared at him and muttered, “Who made you the boss?” Then she strode forward to the front door. But she made it about four steps and started to pitch forward.
He caught her as she went down and said, “Case closed.”
“Hate you,” she muttered.
“Love you,” he snickered. “Even though you’re not very nice.”
“I’m very nice,” she said.
“Normally I’m sure that’s true,” he said. “But, when you’re hurt and argumentative and cranky—which, I understand, is not quite your normal personality—I have to assume something’s going on.”
“Doesn’t matter,” she said, yawning. “I won’t stay.”
“You don’t have to stay. We just need their equipment and their expertise to inspect your wounds.”
“I’m sure Ice has the same equipment.”