Hanover House: Kickoff to the Evelyn Talbot Chronicles

Chapter 14

He'd chosen the perfect time. It was late enough that the roads were deserted. But he may have hit her too hard.

Jasper waited to see if Evelyn would get out of her BMW and come to collect his insurance information and driver's license number. What he'd done couldn't be classified as a major crash, but he'd jolted her pretty good and rumpled both fenders. She should get out to at least view the damage—and when she did, he'd have her. It was too dark for her to see into his car, too dark for her to be able to ascertain that he was wearing a mask. He'd just keep his head down until she got close, as if he was hurt, and then he'd grab her. Even if she screamed, it should be okay because it would take only a couple of seconds to drag her into the car. They'd be gone before anyone could react.

But she didn't get out of the car. She remained inside even after the light turned green, as if she was shocked and uncertain—or maybe hurt...

"Come on, damn it," he muttered, but he realized in that moment that he'd underestimated her, after all. She was too smart to allow herself to be so easily fooled, too smart to make herself vulnerable despite normal protocol. She certainly wasn't going to risk getting hurt over a little car damage. Maybe she'd even heard of this type of trick. Since she worked in the criminal justice world, she'd probably heard everything.

Anyway, she didn't get out; she punched the gas pedal and tore around the corner.

Jasper had only a split second to decide what to do. Did he let her go again? Or did he chase her down?

Afraid he may never have another chance, he stomped on the gas pedal and flew around the corner, too. She wasn't going to get away from him this time, he decided. He'd smash her whole damn car, kill her that way, if he had to. How dare her think that she could stand up to him? That she could get away no matter what she did?

He thought he would wind up killing her when he raced up to the side and swerved into her. He didn't have time to mess around. He had to bring this little car chase to an end right away.

He could see the terror in her eyes, could see her mouth open in a scream—right before he forced her car into the curb. It probably would only have stopped her, if she hadn't been going so fast. Instead, it turned her car over.

Was she dead? Maybe. But he wasn't about to leave her there, wasn't about to risk that she might still be alive.

Slamming on his brakes, he skidded to a stop, shoved the transmission into park and rushed over before the noise he'd caused could drag the people in this quiet neighborhood from the depths of sleep. She was dangling upside down, but she wasn't dead. She wasn't even unconscious. She was moaning and grabbing her seat belt as if she wanted to get it off.

"Don't worry, I've got you," he said and cut the strap before pulling her out through the broken window.

"My phone," she mumbled. "The police."

The glass had cut her in several places. He could see blood rolling down her arms. But she seemed too disoriented to fully comprehend what was going on, which was fortunate. She only knew she was afraid.

"I'll call them for you," he said and dragged her over to his car, at which point he threw her in the trunk and took off.

***

As soon as he got a few blocks from where he'd left Evelyn's car, Jasper slowed down and removed his mask. His desire to get away from the crash site as soon as possible had to be tempered by the threat of drawing attention for driving like a bat out of hell. It was important to act as if he was just an every day guy, someone with nothing to hide. He'd found if could sell that well, most people would believe whatever story he told or whatever image he portrayed, and acting bold and confident contributed to his success.