A sharp knife seemed to stab Kayla as she tried to regain her bearings. Something wet was running down her face, and she reached up and wiped the side of her head. Her hand came away smeared with blood.
"Kay . . . are you okay?" Kim's voice came from her left side. That was the first noise Kayla recognized after the loud crunching sounds the car made as it flipped off the side of the road. Everything seemed a bit foggy, and she blinked a few times to clear her head.
Kayla tried to choke out an answer. "Yeah." She doubted Kim would believe that.
There was some dim light coming from a still-working headlight and from something on the road. Kayla realized for the first time that she was looking at the road from under the hood of the car to see it. We're upside down. Kayla was still strapped in her seat by the seat belt, her head just a few inches off the ground. The car had rolled a long way off the road - so far that she could not see the source of the light from the road.
From the back seat, she heard two sounds - Andrew crying and someone moving. To Kayla's right, Kim had managed to unbuckle her seat belt and was now trying to reach between the seats to help Andrew.
What happened? Kayla wondered. Why did that car-
An icy wave coursed through her body as she realized something. The light on the road must be coming from the car that hit us. Whoever tried to kill us is still out there.
Ignoring the stabbing pain, Kayla looked out again through the small gap between the ground and the hood. A lone figure had now come into view and was standing along the edge of the road. He began walking toward the wreckage.
"It's okay, Andrew," Kim whispered, trying to calm the boy.
"No, it's not," Kayla gasped, her words nearly cutting off because of the pain. "He's coming."
She heard a low voice from the back seat. Mike's voice. "Get Andrew free," he ordered. "I'll take care of this."
Kayla looked back to see Mike turning onto his back so his legs faced the door. He had already lowered himself from his seat. He began kicking at the door to force it open.
"Andrew. . . ." Kim said softly. "Mommy's here. Everything's going to be okay. I'm just going to release you from the seat." Kayla heard the click as Andrew was freed.
Kayla looked again out the front and saw that the dark figure was just crossing the ditch. She looked back at Mike, who was still forcing the door open. He had pulled his gun from his shoulder holster.
What am I doing? Kayla asked herself, realizing that she was still upside down and buckled into her seat. Wincing with every movement, she put her forearm on the roof of the car to brace herself, unlatched the seat belt, and tumbled shoulder-first onto the ground. She cried out in pain as she hit the roof.
"You're hurt." Kim's attention turned away from Andrew toward Kayla.
Kayla grimaced. "My ribs," was all she could say. Even though she was still a little fuzzy from hitting her head, she could still tell what a broken rib felt like.
"Kay, you're bleeding." Kim pulled her coat, which had been nestled between the front seats, and used the sleeve to wipe Kayla's forehead.
She heard a load crunch as the back door gave way. "There," Mike said. He began to slide out of the wreckage, his gun in hand.
Kayla pushed aside Kim's coat and pressed low to the roof so she could see through the gap between the hood and the ground. The dark figure had crossed about half the distance from the road to the wreckage. It did not seem to be moving with any hurry. Then it raised its arm and Kayla saw a flash followed by a loud crack, and the sound of something landing roughly off to her right.
Kayla followed the noise from the last sound.
NO!
In the dim light, Kayla saw Mike lying on the ground. He had landed facing the car and his open eyes stared lifelessly at the wreckage. She did not have to see the pool of blood forming under his head to know he was dead.
"No, no, oh, god, no," Kim breathed, her words coming so close together that Kayla almost could not make them out.
Kayla tried to see where Mike's gun was, but there was no way to reach it. Not before the shooter reached the car. She looked back through the gap at the figure, who, for the first time, stepped into the range of the headlights.
Oh my god!
Unable to stop herself, Kayla gasped, whimpering at the pain the jarred through her. She looked at Kim, who had also turned and was now looking, white-faced, at their attacker.
"It . . . It can't be," Kim whispered.
She was right. He's supposed to be in jail. He's not supposed to be here. But for whatever reason, he was here. He was here and he was coming to kill them.
Cal Winters was coming to kill them.