"Reporting live, Sammi Glass, Channel 5, Eyewitness News."
"And we're out." Leon took the camera from his shoulder and gave her the 'okay' sign. "Good job, Sam."
"Thanks, Leon." She handed him the wireless pack and pulled the lavaliere loose. "Hey, and thanks for taking care of Mary. She told me that you've been coming by to see her."
"She's a sweet girl in a bad circumstance." Leon shoved the news van's side door open and began reloading the equipment. "I hate to think of her being alone and facing all this."
"You're very sweet, Leon."
He chuckled, smiling at her. "And what about you?"
"What about me?"
"Late night dinner last night … "
Sammi couldn't help but smile, her thoughts filled with Thorne. Her nipples hardened at the remembrance of their last kiss, her body shivering at the touch of his hands on her skin. Dinner was just a dream. She'd eaten teriyaki salmon while he dined on a very rare Delmonico steak but she didn't seem to remember how it tasted. All she could think about was him: the way he looked at her with his soft eyes, the way his mouth fitted perfectly to hers, the heat of his hands through the fabric of her dress.
"Well, a girl has to eat, doesn't she?"
"Mmm-hmm." Leon opened the door and let her slide in, then moved around the other side of the van, getting into the driver's side. "What's his name?"
"Thorne."
"Thorne? What is he, a soap opera actor?"
Sammi laughed. "Why would you say that?"
"Because that's a soap opera name if I ever heard one!" Leon started the van and navigated out of the parking lot, heading toward the freeway and back to the office. "But seriously, what do you think about Mary?"
"I think she's a nice girl with a long road ahead of her. She hasn't been clean that long so there's a chance that she could relapse. She hasn't finished her high school education so she's not as intelligent as she should be. And then, there's the question of the baby and its parentage."
"Yeah."
Sammi laid a gentle hand on her cameraman's shoulder. "There's nothing that she couldn't work through with your love and help, though. She'll need a strong shoulder when she deals with Chambliss and I think you could help her with that."
"Yeah."
"What does she think about you?"
The question had barely left Sammi's mouth when the van took a sickening lurch. The seatbelt bore most of the brunt of the sudden motion but that didn't make her feel better. Her mouth went dry when she saw the expression on Leon's face and the fact that he was stamping on the car's floorboard.
"Leon?"
He nodded wildly. No. "No brakes, Sammi!"
An involuntary scream left Sammi's throat as the van bumped over a curb, then wavered on three wheels, fighting to keep tread kissing pavement. Leon's arms bulged with the effort and his smooth cinnamon skin erupted with nervous sweat and his desperate eyes met hers. The other tire met tarmac and all squealed as the vehicle righted itself, dealing a glancing blow to an unsuspecting guardrail.
Sammi fought the urge to vomit as fear twisted her innards. The headlights played on the black road, picking up the rhythm of the center stripes, weaving between them like a drunken seamstress' needle in a hem. Leon grasped the steering wheel in a death grip, trying to wrestle the one ton van into submission, despite the speed. By the way the van rocked side to side, it was evident that he was losing the fight.
"Hang on, Sammi!" A wide swath of silver metal was approaching fast and Leon knew that he wouldn't be able to turn the van. The curve was too sharp and they were traveling too fast. "Hang on!"
There was a loud crash, the gut-wrenching sound of metal shredding and then silence as the mangled van became airborne, soaring over a glistening surf-washed cliff face, then descending downward in a graceful arc, headed for the murky embrace of the glassy sea.
