Page 13 of Hunting Justice

“Thanks. I’ll meet you outside.” I hope.

He heard her chuckle as she walked away.

“Okay, Jonah. You can do this.” Great. Now he was talking to himself. He took a deep breath and hauled himself from the booth.

With a quick wave at Ricky through the kitchen server window, Jonah pushed open the diner door and stepped into the warm Savannah air.

Dirty brown puffy tendrils snaked in the sky and lingered in the air—evidence of destruction from Ken’s house a couple blocks away.

Jonah stood at the curb and arched his back, stretching out the kinks.

A car horn blared, and an engine revved.

He flipped his attention to the noise. He squinted, processing what he saw.

His eyes widened, but his feet refused to move.

A black SUV headed straight for him.

* * *

“Jonah!” Noelle sprinted toward him. A black monster of an SUV jumped the curb and aimed itself at them. Her arm wrapped his waist, and her momentum sent them into the middle of the street. She pulled him to herself, twisted, and braced for the impact of the road.

She hit the pavement—hard—taking Jonah’s body weight. The impact knocked the wind from her.

Tires screeched. An engine revved. And a vehicle sped away.

Black dots danced behind her eyelids. “Jonah?” The lack of oxygen stole her ability to speak.

A car door slammed and shoes hit the blacktop. Noelle prayed no one hit them, because all she could focus on was getting air into her lungs.

Jonah rolled from her grip, easing the pressure. “Elle, are you okay?” His hand cupped her cheek.

She forced her eyes open.

“Cough.”

What in the world? How to breathe had escaped her, and he wanted her to cough?

“Do it.” His tone held a no-argument edge to it.

She coughed. Or at least tried.

“Again.”

This time when she coughed, her lungs filled with air. She took in a couple of shallow breaths, then a deeper one. Noelle remained on the ground, letting the precious oxygen work through her system. “Thanks.”

Jonah’s smile melted her heart. “You’re welcome.”

She’d never realized how handsome he was. His short-cut beard begged for her to touch it, and his chocolate-brown eyes did funny things to her insides. And why was she noticing this now? Okay, so maybe she’d thought about it before, but for the love of everything, they’d almost died. She pushed aside the inappropriate response.

“Hey! Are you two all right? That SUV came out of nowhere and veered onto the sidewalk. It aimed right at you.” One of the drivers had left his car and now stood beside her and Jonah.

Another driver hurried toward them. “I called 911.”

Noelle pushed to a seated position. “I think I better call Matt and Decia.” She pulled her phone from her pocket, praying the fall hadn’t damaged it.

“What do you say we get out of the middle of the street, huh?” Jonah crouched beside her.