Until Mary Beth happened. If he couldn’t get her out of his mind, he had to stay out of her life. He wouldn’t remain in Iminga a minute longer than it would take to complete the renovations for his mother’s house. That was how it had to be. And it wouldn’t be wise to explain too much to Mary Beth.

But Lord, how he ached to have her near him again, secure in his arms. To kiss her angel face once more, for the last time. The words he could never say to her echoed in his thoughts. I love you, Mary Beth.

The faint thin shriek of a siren reached him. He could just see the flashing top lights of an ambulance making its way through invisible cars on the distant highway. Then there was another. And another. The three emergency vehicles stopped in the same spot. Their rotating lights were bright red against the dark sky. The sirens cut off.

The accident had to have been a bad one—he’d volunteered as a first responder himself in college—but he had no way to tell precisely how bad from where he was. He hoped there were survivors. Parr turned and walked back to his car.

Bobby Joe slumped over the steering wheel, not knowing that Alma was beside him, limp as a rag doll and covered in blood. They didn’t see the people who were brave enough to run to the wreck, or the flares that were quickly set around it. They were injured, deafened, in shock and in pain. Mother and son floated in and out of consciousness, struggling to breathe.

“Ma’am? Ma’am?” A smoke-streaked face peered into the shattered window. Alma groaned faintly. “She’s alive.”

Urgent voices faded in and out. “For now.”

“What about him?”

“Steering wheel’s got him trapped.”

“He can’t feel it. Looks like he’s out cold.”

“Help on the way?”

“Called, yeah.”

“Here they come.”

“Jesus. Can they get through?”

“Hope so. That guy may not make it.”

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

Parr bulldozed through the swinging doors marked NO ENTRY as soon as he figured out that Mary Beth was on the other side of them. He spotted her in an empty evaluation room, just sitting there, her head against the wall and her eyes closed.

The sheets on the bed had been dragged from the corners of the mattress and left bunched in the middle for removal. There were splotches of blood in the folds.

“Jesus. Where are they? I got here as soon as I could.”

Tears coursed down her cheeks in a slow trickle. She seemed not to have heard him. He put his hands on her shoulders, rousing her. “Mary Beth.”

“Huh?”

“Are they in surgery?”