Raine shrugged as she pressed her palm to the cut on her forehead. “I learned a long time ago to let the higher-ups fight it out. I stay out of everything. We were in an accident. Someone sabotaged the truck. I did exactly what I was told and reported it, and I’m waiting for instructions. When they come, we’ll follow those instructions.”
“You make it sound so simple.”
“It is that simple.”
The passenger door was flung open and Harlow’s frightened face appeared. “Oh my God, is everyone all right? That was so terrifying. Raine. Let me look at you.” Harlow looked in the back at Shabina and then at Vienna. “Any broken bones? Concussions? Vienna? Injuries?”
“Shabina hasn’t said much.” Vienna was worried about her friend.
“I’m really okay. Shaken up. Scared. Someone really wanted Rainier and Zale dead. If they were driving full speed instead of slowly like you were, Vienna, they might not have made it.” She sounded as if she was crying.
“I’m getting a reply now. They’re on the way. We’re to walk away. They’re coming with a tow truck and will bring the truck back to their garage. We need to leave now. Don’t worry about our fingerprints. Just go.”
“Wouldn’t this be considered leaving the scene of an accident?” Vienna asked as she unsnapped her seatbelt. She felt unsteady, her insides jarred and still settling into place. She looked over at Raine.
Harlow was wiping the cut with antibiotic wipes to examine how deep it was.
“We have to go now,” Raine reiterated. “I don’t know how fast they’ll get here, or if someone will come along and see us. Harlow, you can do this in the 4Runner.” There was a note of anxiety in her usually calm voice.
“Someone will have to help me out,” Shabina said. “I’m a little shaken up. Not hurt, but just unsteady.”
Zahra and Stella both helped unclip Shabina’s seatbelt and once she was out of the truck, wrapped their arms around her and escorted her to the 4Runner. Harlow helped Raine from the passenger side.
“Don’t move, Vienna. I’ll be right back to help you. I mean it. You’re probably in shock. I don’t want you falling down and hitting your head on top of everything else.” Harlow sounded very authoritative, just as she did at work at the hospital. In her studio or the gallery, she was professional but very soft-spoken and tended to stay in the background.
Vienna didn’t want to move anyway. The thought of standing up made her feel sick. If Zale had been driving, he would have been going much faster—probably. Unless he had noticed that first little flicker of the headlights. Would he have? He was wounded. Both men were. She sent up a silent plea to the universe that they were safe.
She put her head down on the steering wheel. This would be her life for the next year or longer if she truly committed to Zale. She would be waiting alone for him, worried sick that he wasn’t somewhere wounded, bleeding to death, hunted by men who wanted him dead. It took a strong person to live that kind of life, knowing their partner was in danger but having no idea where they were or when or if they would return.
“Let’s go, Vienna.”
Harlow’s voice startled her. She’d been that deep in thought. She leaned on her friend, assessing the damage to her body as they crossed the uneven ground to the 4Runner. She might have a few bruises later on, but she had no real injuries.
Stella immediately drove away from the wrecked Ford Ranger. Vienna felt very guilty. She’d been told never to do such a thing, and it felt wrong. She glanced at Raine. Harlow was using little butterfly stitches to close the small cut on her forehead.
“Are you okay, Raine?”
“Yes. Whoever is after Zale and Rainier mean business. I hope now they’ll realize their cover is blown and get out of Vegas. Someone else can take over for them.”
Vienna knew Wilder was still undercover in the casino. Was he now completely alone? Had she gotten that name wrong? She hadn’t had a chance to ask Zale if Wilder was a part of his team or if it was a coincidence that his name was the same as one Zale had mentioned to her.
“I don’t like to think of any of them taking risks,” Shabina said. “Why do they do it?”
“There’s something in these men that drives them,” Raine said. “Just the way we almost need to climb or hike, they need to take on these risks.”
Raine sounded a little shaky, but her eyes were clear when she looked at Vienna. A tow truck and two vehicles that looked official passed the 4Runner, heading toward the wreck. That made Vienna feel a little better. At least Raine’s people were going to get the evidence out of the way before the police came. She closed her eyes and rested until Stella got them to the Airbnb.