It pulled even with her. She was aware of it from the corner of her eye. She didn’t realize that the driver had a more nefarious purpose than vehicular horseplay in mind until he stayed even with her, a hazard at the speed they were driving.
“You fool!” She whipped her head around to glance out the window. The pickup accelerated suddenly and deliberately swerved, catching her front left bumper with his right rear one. She lost control of the car.
She clutched the steering wheel and stamped on the brakes, but to no avail. Her car skidded off the loose shoulder and plowed into the deep, dry ditch. Alex was held in by her seat belt, but flung forward hard enough to bang her head on the steering wheel. The windshield shattered upon impact, showering the back of her head and hands with glass. It seemed to rain down forever.
She didn’t think she had lost consciousness, but the next thing she knew, there were voices speaking to her. They were soft and melodious, but she couldn’t understand what they were saying.
Groggily, she raised her head. The motion gave her a searing headache. She fought down rising nausea and struggled to focus her eyes.
The men surrounding the car and looking at her with concern were speaking Spanish. One opened her door and said something that was gently inquiring.
“Yes, I’m all right,” she answered automatically. She couldn’t imagine why they were looking at her so strangely until she felt the wet trickle against her cheek. She raised her hand and investigated. Her trembling fingers came away red.
“I’d rather you spent the night here at the hospital. I can arrange for a room,” the doctor said.
“No, I’ll be fine in the motel. After a couple of these, I should sleep till morning.” She shook the brown plastic bottle of pills.
“You don’t have a concussion, but take it easy for a couple of days. No sports, or anything like that.”
She winced at the very mention of physical exertion. “I promise.”
“In a week, we’ll take out the stitches. Good thing that gash was on the top of your head and not on your face.”
“Yes,” Alex replied uncertainly. He’d had to shave a small patch of her scalp, but with artful combing, her hair would cover it.
“Are you up to having a visitor? There’s somebody waiting to see you. Since this is a weeknight, things are kind of slow, so use the room for as long as you like.”
“Thank you, Doctor.”
He left the treatment room. Alex tried to sit up, but discovered that she was still too dizzy. The sight of Pat Chastain walking through the door didn’t help her equi
librium. “Well, Mr. Chastain, long time, no see,” she said with sarcasm.
He moved toward the examination table and sheepishly asked, “How are you?”
“I’ve been better, but I’ll be fine.”
“Is there anything I can do?”
“No. There was no need for you to come here. How’d you know about it, anyway?”
He pulled forward the only chair in the room and sat down. “Those Mexicans flagged down a passing car. The driver went to the nearest phone and called for an ambulance. The deputy who went out to investigate the accident speaks Spanish, so he heard from them what happened.”
“They saw the truck force me off the road?”
“Yeah. Could you identify it?”
“It was white.” She met the D.A.’s eyes. “And it had the Minton Enterprises logo stenciled on the side.”
He looked troubled and nervous. “That’s what the Mexicans said, too. The deputy couldn’t locate Reede, so he called me.” He nodded toward the bandage on her head. “Is that gonna be okay?”
“In two or three days. I can take the bandage off tomorrow. It required several stitches. And I’ve got these as reminders.” She held up her hands, which were covered with tiny scratches where glass fragments had been tweezed out.
“Alex, did you recognize the driver?”
“No.” The district attorney gave her a hard look, testing her truthfulness. “No,” she repeated. “Believe me, if I had, I’d be after him myself. I didn’t even catch a glimpse. All I could make out was a silhouette against the sun. I think he was wearing some kind of hat.”
“Do you think it was a random incident?”