Free Undaunted by Kate Douglas Page B

her once future now ex-future mother-in-law hadn’t been bad, either.
    “One of your better exits, Rose.”
    She waited for the fully expected sense of guilt to swamp her, the feeling that, once again, she’d done something terribly wrong, but the only feeling Rose felt was right. Wrong would have been staying with James, going through with a loveless marriage. No, she thought, her decision to return that ugly ring and leave had been a long time coming.
    Grabbing a clean tissue, she wiped the condensation from the windshield and grinned. Too bad Aunt Rosa had to miss it. She loved dramatic exits. Then she glanced down at her left hand, barely visible in the pale glow from the dash lights. It looked much better without the heavy diamond. She’d hated that ring from the moment James put it on her hand, hated the sense of ownership James assumed once they’d become engaged.
    To think she’d almost convinced herself she loved him. A sudden wave of loneliness swept over her and a hollow pain filled the pit of her stomach, reminding Rose why she’d agreed to marry a man she didn’t love. Life was pretty empty for a thirty-year-old woman who lived alone and worked a sixty-hour week.
    She didn’t even own a damned cat.
    The tears Rose had been fighting all afternoon suddenly broke free. She fumbled in her handbag for another tissue, wiped her streaming eyes with one hand and guided the car through the growing storm with the other.
    She didn’t even like cats, for crying out loud!
    “God, if you’re there, can you tell me what to do?” she pleaded. “Please, give me a sign!”
    An ominous roll of thunder eclipsed the sputtering, coughing engine. Lightning flashed. A tree exploded, ahead and to the right. Cascading flames burst through the air as the huge pine toppled onto the road.
    Screaming, Rose hit the brakes. The little Volvo careened sideways on wet pavement, spinning, slipping out of control, sliding and skidding through water and fiery embers until it stopped, trapped solidly among the flaming branches.
    Rose screamed again and again until the rich scent of honeysuckle clouded her mind and a cloak of black velvet covered her eyes.
     
    * * *
     
    Mike Ramsey pulled the diesel truck with its heavily loaded trailer out of the yard at Hannibal Trucking and headed west. He checked his map and immediately took an exit onto a slower, alternate route. No point in making it too tough for the hijackers.
    The headlights reflected off big, fat raindrops and an occasional flash of lightning arced between the clouds. Puddles filled low spots along the two-lane road, deep enough to catch the tires of the heavily laden truck. The rig bucked and swerved through one particularly large pothole. Ramsey shut the radio off to concentrate on his driving.
    He hadn’t hauled a load in years, not since he’d worked summers for his stepdad, but the knowledge he’d gained under Handy’s patient tutelage had paid off more than once. Ramsey thought of the journey ahead and silently thanked the old man. This time the lessons could mean the difference between life and death.
    Hijacking expensive loads off the nation’s highways was big business, modern-day piracy as bloodthirsty and brutal as any violent crime. How ironic, Ramsey mused, that after years of undercover work handling investigations for the Department of Transportation, he would find himself back in one of his stepdad’s familiar rigs, hauling a load from Pennsylvania to California. Just the way it had been almost fifteen years ago, back when he was a struggling college student.
    Except the purpose this time was twofold.
    Deliver the load, intact and on time.
    And catch the hijackers before they put Handy Hannibal and a lot of other independent truckers out of business for good.
    Hannibal Trucking had been hit twice in less than two weeks. Another theft could put the business under, especially if that damned insurance company put up a stink. Ramsey almost wished they would,