"Myles?" She reached up to put her hand over his. The reply came very slowly this time.
S-…-T-…-I-…-L-…-L H-…-E-…-R-…-E
"What? I put you to sleep with my life story?" He could hear the smile in her voice. "How long have I been talking, anyway?"
A pause as she assumed he was checking his watch. C-O-U…-P-L-E H-…-O-U-…-R-S. N-O-T A-S-…-L-…-E-E-…-P. J-U-…-S-T …L-I-…-T-T-…L-E L-I-…-G-H-T- H-…-E-A-…D-E-D.
"We got the bleeding stopped in your leg. What's wrong?" When he didn't answer right away, she freed her hand from his and reached over to touch his face. "Myles, you're burning up!"
He nodded against her hand, then reached for her other one. G-A-S-…-H I-N L-…-E-G P-R-O-…-B-A-B-…-L-Y I-N-F-…-E-C-…-T-E-D.
Sue thought for a minute. What can I do? We're stuck here...
Levi suddenly shifted his head in her lap, and she gasped. "Myles!"
W-H-A-...-T
"I am a complete idiot!"
There was a pause, and she could picture him raising an eyebrow at her and refraining from a sardonic quip. E-X-C-U-S-E M-E?
"Levi!" At the sound of her voice, the Golden Retriever lifted his head. "Go, buddy! Go get some help!" The big dog licked her face, barked once, and took off like a shot.
She felt Myles chuckle next to her. B-O-T-H I-D-I-O-T-S. D-I-D-N-T T-H-I-N-...-K T-H-A-T E-I-T-H-E-R.
"Now, Agent Leland, I believe you said 'fair trade.' I expect you to stay coherent enough to tell me a little about you. I'd never met a bona fide 'aristocrat,' before you."
Another brief laugh. N-O-T A-L-W-A-Y-S A-L-L C-R-A-C-K-E-D U-P T-O B-E. B-E-L-I-E-V-E M-E.
"Well, then, it seems only fair that you should enlighten me. You said 'fair trade.'"
D-I-D S-A-Y T-H-A-T, D-I-D-N-T I? A-L-L R-I-G-H-T...
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The longer they searched, the more Jack's nagging feeling was getting to all of them. It had been eleven hours; it was 2:30 in the morning, still pitch-black, but the rain was finally letting up.
Bobby rubbed his eyes. "Luce? Anything?" There was a long silence on the other end. "Lucy?"
When her voice finally came back on the radio, there was something different about it. "Guys? We may have something."
Two cars, thirty miles apart, immediately braked to the sides of their respective roads, and four voices were like surround-sound in her headset. "What?"
"I just got off the phone with Westlawn PD. They had a lady come in a few minutes ago, pretty shook up. She apparently was involved in a car accident yesterday afternoon."
Jack's voice was incredulous. "And she just now got around to reporting it? Why'd she leave the scene, anyway?"
"She panicked, Jack," Lucy replied. "Apparently, she hit a slick patch on the road, broadsided another car and sent it down over a hillside. She doesn't own a cell phone, and she's about 80. She went to find help, but in her panic she got turned around, and got herself lost. Another motorist finally found her, and brought her into Westlawn."
"Got a description on the car she hit?" D asked.
"A blue sedan was as much as she could remember. But she says there were two people in it, and she remembers the driver was a blonde woman."
Jack slapped his steering wheel. "That's got to be them! Luce, where was she when all this happened?"
Lucy's voice held the same excitement he was feeling. "About five miles west of the Route 50 exit to Westlawn is as near as Westlawn PD could extrapolate. She was heading toward Arlington, and the car went over the hillside on the opposite side of the road."
Dimitrius started the car up again. "We're only a couple of miles from there, Jack."
"Go! Don't wait for us."
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...S-P-E-N-T T-...-G-...-R-...-E-E Y-E-A-...-R- ... H-A-...-R-S-...F-...O-...-R-D O-...F-F-...-I-C-E, ...T-...-H-...E-N H-...-E-...R-...E
"Myles?" She didn't realize it, but her voice was as slurring. The lamp's batteries had given out, and her only link to anything was his hand in hers.
YES. He made the gesture very slowly.
"It's okay. They'll find us. Take a break."
I S-O-...-R-R-..Y
"For what?"
She felt him draw a breath. His hand straightened a little as he signed it: W-A-Y I T-R-E-A-T-E-D Y-O-U F-I-R-S-T.
"It's ok. I didn't exactly help by starting off getting you in trouble with Lucy."
W-A-S O-W-N F-A-U-L-T A-N-D T-O-O-K O-U-T O-N Y-O-U. There was a pause. C-A-N Y-O-U F-O-R-G-I-V-E M-E?
"I did a long time ago."
He nodded against her hair, and she felt him relax a little. T-H-N-A-K Y-U-O.
The spelling caught her attention, even as disoriented as she was. "Myles?" There was no response; she could still feel him breathing, but he was clearly out of it.
Hurry, Levi, she thought as she twined her fingers though her friend's. Please, just hurry.
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