Tremors

“Lisa, we’ve lost contact with Joe. Are you all right?”

“I can’t see him,” she murmured, her own voice stumbling. “I can’t—”

“Lisa, listen to me,” Shannon commanded. “Are you all right?”

She tried to calm down, forcing herself to look around the car and size up the situation. Okay. She was okay.

Just then a vicious creak split the air and the roof buckled in, pressing down on her.

Glass shattered.

“The roof is caving in,” Lisa cried. She edged closer to the rear hatch. The middle of the SUV was crushed so far down that the interior ceiling light was now flattened against the console.

She couldn’t move.

Couldn’t breathe.

She was going to die.

“Lisa, I heard glass shattering. Are you still with me?”

She nodded mutely, then struggled to respond audibly. “Yes.” She couldn’t move…could scarcely breathe.

Joe. God, where was Joe?

“Can you climb out? Maybe through one of the windows?”

Lisa started shaking her head before her friend completed the question. All the windows were shattered, flattened into triangular slits only a few inches high.

No way could she get out.

“I can’t…”

She tried to see behind her. Where was Joe?

“Joe!” she shouted. Please, please, don’t let him be dead. “Joe! Can you hear me?”

“Lisa, stay with me,” Shannon urged. “Is the window in the rear hatch still intact?”

Lisa turned her head as best she could. “Yes.”

“Can you maneuver around and kick it out?”

“I tried that already.” Her heart had leaped into her throat. “I couldn’t do it. I…I can’t turn around. I’m stuck.”

“Try, Lisa! You’ve got to try. You might be able to kick out the glass now with the added pressure.”

“Where’s Joe?” Lisa repeated, tears stinging her eyes. She tried to see but the car seemed buried in rubble. There was still some dim light coming through the hatch, which gave her hope, but what about Joe? She stretched, tried to move.

Turn around. She had to turn around. Something sharp jabbed her shoulder. She winced but kept working at freeing herself.

“Bull’s trying to get him now. Let’s concentrate on getting you out of that vehicle.”

Shannon said something to one of the others…

“No!” Lisa shouted. “Don’t you try to come in here, Shannon. It’s too late. Just…” There was no way anyone could get to her. Defeat twisted like barbwire in her stomach. She was certain of it now. Joe was likely dead and soon she would be, too.

She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to hold back the tears. Damn it. Who would take care of her animals? What about her family? They would be devastated.

And what about Joe?

The tears flowed now as she remembered the last time she’d seen him. He’d dropped by the clinic to break a date with her. She had to give him that. He had been man enough to let her down in person.

She had pretended indifference. As if it didn’t matter either way. But she’d known what had sent him running.

Where do you see our relationship going?

She’d asked the impossible of him.

Joe Ripani just wasn’t the marrying kind.

It certainly didn’t matter now.

Nothing mattered now…

“Lisa?”

Her breath caught.

“I’m here, babe.”

Joe.

The sound of his voice sent her heart into a frantic rhythm.

He was alive.

“Joe!” She bit down on her lower lip to stem the new rush of tears. “You scared the hell out of me, Ripani.”

“Scared myself,” he admitted with a chuckle. “Had to dig my way back to the surface.”

Fear stabbed deep into her chest. “Are you all right?” She could imagine broken bones and hemorrhaging. Men never liked to admit when they were injured. He probably needed medical attention. The dead last thing he should do was crawl deeper into this hellhole.

“’Course I’m all right. You think a little something like a few thousand pounds of concrete is going to stop me?”

This wasn’t the time for jokes. He could save that iceman persona for someone who didn’t know him better.

“Joe, I—”