Page 76 of See You Again
It all came to a head when Cami was a junior in high school. Her father arrived to pick her up to go on a vacation with his new family in a brand-new Porsche. Irene typically waited inside, but the shiny new sports car must have been her breaking point, because she had streaked out of the house screeching at Cami’s father. Edgar had snapped back, and Cami had been left holding her sobbing mother all night. She didn’t hear from her father for another six months, and after that, the time periods stretched longer until there was practically no contact at all.
Sometimes Cami toyed with the idea of contacting one of her half-brothers on social media, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to open up that can of worms. Her mother would be devastated and see it as disloyalty. In her mother’s mind, they were a team, Cami and her mother on one side and the enemy, Edgar, on the other.
“James isn’t like that, Mama. He’s never made me feel less than.” A sharp pain stabbed at her. It wasn’t a complete lie, though. Other than that one time, James had always treated her extremely well. Cami frowned. Not for the first time since James had come back into her life, something did not sit well about how they left things twelve years before.
“They pretend.” Her mother nodded knowingly. “Best to protect your heart.”
Cami stared at her for a minute, suddenly exhausted. There was no point in arguing with her. “I will. I need to get going. I have a lot of work to catch up on.”
Her mother pouted. “Already?”
Cami grabbed the coat she’d draped over the back of a chair in an effort to put it in the one clean spot she could see. “It’s dark out, Mama. I’ve been here for two hours. I’ll be back next weekend.” She bent to press a kiss to her mother’s cheek. “If you’re getting sick, be sure you rest and get lots of fluids. Let me know if you need anything.”
The irony that doling out advice should be the mother’s job wasn’t lost on her. Cami sighed heavily as she strapped into her car, pulling the phone out of her pocket. There were several texts from Justin. A screenshot of the picture James had put up, followed by a string of question marks, and then more texts saying things in different variations of “Let’s get breakfast” and “Call me.”
A spurt of anger surged through her. She knew Justin was unhappy about her new relationship with James. But it was none of his business.
As Cami backed out of the dark driveway, her phone pinged again, and she glanced down annoyed before a burble of laughter escaped her lips. An animated image of Tigger bouncing on his tail and wearing boxing gloves filled her screen.
James: Got that security footage from Brady. Thought it was a cute picture of you. ;)
The smile on her face lingered as she made her way through the winding, hilly roads back to her house. It was a moonless night, and the roads were inky dark, but she’d learned to drive here and could find her way home blindfolded. A set of high beams flashed in her rearview mirror, blinding her temporarily, as a vehicle raced up behind her.
“Idiot,” she muttered.
The lights flashed in her mirror again. Tension settled in her shoulders, and she gripped the steering wheel tighter. There were too many dark curves for the car behind her to pass. Cami pressed on the accelerator, hoping to create a little distance between her and the other vehicle, but instead the lights stayed framed in her mirror.
The first prickles of alarm tingled along her nerve endings. This was beyond tailgating; this felt aggressive. Her heart pounding, Cami picked up speed. Less than a mile away, there was a well-lit gas station. She’d pull in there and let the other driver go around.
Her focus was on the road, well aware of how the shoulder sloped off sharply down into pine trees. Sweat pooled at the base of her spine. The twisty roads she’d driven a thousand times seemed to work against her, feeling sharper and coming more quickly in the dark.
“It’s just a jackass. It doesn’t…” The first tap to her bumper shot her car forward, and Cami shrieked as her body jerked. Stomping on the accelerator, Cami watched as the headlights fell away for a second. Over her radio, she could hear the roar of an engine as what she could now see was a large pickup truck gained on her.
Panicked with a white knuckled grip, Cami knew there was nothing she could do to avoid the impact. The truck swerved around her as if to pass, clipping the corner of her bumper as they entered a curve. Her car shot off the road heading straight for a stand of trees.
Cami screamed as she stood on her brakes, her car fishtailing on the packed clay and pine straw. She steered into the spin, and squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for shattering glass and pain. Her car came to a shuddering stop, and when she peeled her eyes open, all she could see was a cloud of dirt illuminated by her headlights.
Shaking, Cami saw that she had come to a stop just short of the trees. Adrenaline raced through her, making her ears buzz, but what truly terrified her was the thought that the truck might return. Trembling, Cami pulled her phone from her purse, and it wasn’t until she started to dial that she realized she was calling James.
She deleted the number with unsteady fingers and forced herself to take a few deep breaths, keeping her eyes on the road for any sign of returning headlights. Thankfully, it didn’t take the police long to arrive.
A few hours later when she was in bed, still shivering after a hot bath and huddled under her blankets, she replayed the evening.
“Thankfully, you don’t have too much damage. Are you sure you don’t want me to get the EMTs to check you out?” the patrol officer asked.
Cami shook her head. She just wanted to go home.
“I’ll write up the report for your insurance company, but without a license plate number there isn’t much we can do. People who are unfamiliar with these roads drive too fast, especially in the dark. Everyone is in a hurry these days. You should be fine to drive home.”
She was grateful when her car easily pulled back onto the road, and again when the officer agreed to follow her home. He might believe it was just a reckless driver, but Cami had a feeling there was more to it than that.
They hadn’t hit her trying to pass. They had driven her off the road deliberately.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“James?”
His eyes snapped to Luke and then his gaze slid around the conference room taking in the expectant faces.