See Chapter 1 for disclaimer
A/N: Thank you to all who have taken the time to review. I wasn't able to post yesterday real life intruded.
Chapter 3
It took Larry thirty minutes just to get out of LA. The traffic had been slow going because of an accident. Charlie's laptop beeped as they were leaving the city.
"Oh! I can't send this to the FBI," said Charlie. Taking out his cell, Charlie called Don but it went straight to voicemail. "Don, the leak is a computer tech named Roger Ward. I wait and send you the results until you have him in custody. Call me back."
Charlie was shifting around restlessly in his seat some 10 minutes later when Don still hadn't called him back.
Amita leaned forward, "Listen Charlie you need to calm down. I'm sure there's a good reason Don hasn't called you back yet." Looking ahead she said, "Larry, pull the car over into that lookout area please. Charlie, why don't you and I take a walk along the trail over there? When you're calmer, we'll carry on."
"Okay, but I'll send the results to my dad and have him call Don. I think Don's still mad and not taking my calls." Charlie took out his phone and called his dad, and at the same time emailed the results of his data search. "Listen dad, the leak at the FBI is a computer tech named Roger Ward. I need you to call Don and let him know. I have emailed you the results so you can forward them on when Don says it is safe."
"Why didn't you call Don with this Charlie? You're not still mad at him are you?"
"No dad, I tried to call him but it went straight to voicemail. That was ten minutes ago and he still hasn't called me back. You try calling him. Maybe he'll talk to you. Bye dad." With that Charlie got out of the car and walked away. Amita looked at Larry, then got out and followed Charlie.
They were gone for over half and hour, but when they finally came back Charlie was calmer and smiling at Amita. "Sorry Larry. I'm okay now. Let's continue our journey shall we?"
Larry was glad to see them, he'd been wondering if they'd gotten lost. Starting the car he headed back out onto the highway. Ten minutes later a blue SUV pulled up along side them.
Larry frowned as he looked over at the SUV. "What's up with these guys? They should've passed me by now. They seem to be keeping pace with us."
Suddenly, the big vehicle swerved toward them and Larry had to fight the wheel to keep them on the road. Charlie flipped open his cell to call Don but got his voice mail again. He decided he'd better leave Don as detailed a message as possible. Somehow he didn't think he would get another chance.
By now, the SUV had pulled slightly ahead of them.
Talking as fast as he could, Charlie was partway through his message when he felt something slam into his left shoulder and he dropped the phone. Then he heard a second gunshot and the car swerved off the road and down an embankment toward a stand of trees.
Charlie realised that he'd been shot and probably Larry as well. That would explain why they were rushing towards the trees at high speed. He saw the windshield break and branches enter the car then everything went black.
Larry had tried to control the car as it left the road. The bullet left a furrow along the right side of his head. He was losing consciousness fast, but had time to see the trees they were heading for. The airbag deployed as they hit, but the car swerved to the side and he hit his head on the side window. His last thought was that apparently his rental did not have side impact airbags.
Amita saw first Charlie and then Larry get shot. As they swerved down the embankment she could only watch as the trees approached. She tried to brace herself as they impacted with first a small, then a much larger tree. As the car swerved to the side, her head hit the window and blackness descended.
It was deathly quiet when Amita woke. She was still sitting in the back seat and it appeared that her seatbelt had held. Putting her hand up to her head, she felt a large bump and a sticky substance. Amita released her seatbelt and tried to move forward so that she could see Charlie and Larry. Pain shot through her chest and across her right shoulder. The seatbelt had held as it was supposed too, but the resulting bruises and possible fractures were not good.
Looking at her watch, she realised it was over 30 minutes since the accident. There was no sign of emergency vehicles. It was possible that as they were down an embankment no one, other that the men in the SUV had seen them leave the road. That meant no help was coming. I have to call for help she thought. Luckily her cell phone was still in her pocket. Taking it out and turning it on, Amita decided to call Don, not 911. She wasn't sure if the SUV that had run them off the road would come back and she knew that Don would make sure help got there fast.
Amita looked to the front of the car. All she could see was parts of a tree that had come through the windshield. "Charlie? Larry? Talk to me. Are you okay?" There was no answer.
When the call connected, Amita spoke even before Don finished saying hello. "Don. We were run off the road by a blue SUV. We are down an embankment and I don't think we are visible from the road. You have to send help fast."
"Amita sweetie, slow down. We are already on our way to you." Don spoke calmly so that Amita would stay calm. "How far towards Bakersfield are you?"
"Not that far. We stopped for a while. I just woke up. I can't see Charlie or Larry. The front of the car is filled with tree branches and leaves."
"Okay, we'll have the techs trace your location. I'm going to pass you over to Colby." Don would rather have stayed talking to Amita, but knew that he needed to keep his attention on the road.
Colby took the phone from Don. "Amita, are you hurt? Can you get out of the car?"
"I'm okay, I think. I hit my head and my chest and shoulder hurt from the seatbelt. I'm not sure about getting out of the car Colby, just a minute while I try." Amita put the cell phone down and tried to open the door to get out. The door refused to move, even when Amita turned and lying across the back seat kicked it as hard as she could. Tears of frustration were running down her cheek and she slid across the seat to try the other rear door. This door refused to open also, but on kicking it the door finally gave and flew open.
Picking up the phone she got out, now on Larry's side of the car. She could see him leaning against the driver's door not moving. There was blood on his head and she could see where the bullet had hit. His chest was rising and falling so Amita knew that he was breathing. "Larry is leaning against the driver's door. He has a head injury from a bullet graze but I can see him breathing."
"Okay. What about Charlie? Go around and check on him." Colby had put Don's cell on speaker so they could all hear what Amita was saying.
Going around the car to the passenger side Amita looked for Charlie but could only see parts of the tree. I have to do something she thought. The door had cracked open during the accident so Amita was able to pull it open the rest of the way. By pulling out the loose branches and moving the others aside, Amita finally saw Charlie.
"Colby! Oh-my-god, there's a branch across Charlie's chest pinning him to the seat. I can see a bullet wound in his left shoulder and blood everywhere. What do I do?" Amita was now close to panicking. Charlie looked badly hurt and she had no idea how to help him.
"Stay calm Amita. The techs have your location pinpointed and we will be there in five minutes. Is Charlie breathing okay, and can you slow down the bleeding?" Colby knew they had to keep Amita calm.
"He's breathing. I can see his chest rising and falling but very shallow breaths. I think I can press my sweater to the wound to slow it down."
"Good idea Amita. But try not to move Charlie too much." Colby covered the phone and said to Don, "She using her head now. I think she'll stay calm until we get there."
Don had been listening to Colby talk to Amita and was worried about Charlie's condition. "David, how far out are the emergency vehicles? We need them there as fast as possible."
David had been talking on his cell phone to the local authorities organising a rescue effort. "They'll be a good 15 minutes behind us Don. There's no way they can get there any faster."
Just then a frantic Amita could be heard over the cell phone. "Colby! Colby! How far away are you? The blue SUV just pulled up and the two men are getting out. Please hurry."
A/N: I hope you liked this chapter. It looks like it'll be Saturday before I can post Chapter 4.