Read Online Pool of Crimson by Suzanne M. Sabol - Free Book Online

rippled through the car like it was on a chain-pulled roller coaster. The force of the impact slammed me back in my seat and against the door. “Get over,” I screamed again over the pounding in my ears.
    Jade jerked the car into the next lane then fought to straighten it out and keep control. Just as we were almost out of reach and I could see another exit, the metallic sound of metal on metal ripped through the air as the Charger clipped the back end of Jade’s car. I was flung back against my seat from the pull of the spin and pinned to the passenger side door as the car spun out of control. The entire world went silent as the tires squealed.
    Tail lights. Trees. Head lights.
    Taillights, trees, headlights.
    Taillightstreesheadlights.
    Taillights ...
    I opened my eyes to flashing red and blue lights and the deafening sound of a siren filling my ears. My neck was stiff and my chest hurt like someone had hit me with a brick. The airbag pressed me back into my seat, pinning me against the seat and door. A paramedic stood on the other side of the passenger side door screaming something I couldn’t understand. I couldn’t focus on him. My vision was blurry and blood pounded in my head, which scared me more than the throbbing in my side. A soft groan to my left brought my attention back into the car. I turned my head slowly as my brain seemed to slosh around in my skull.
    “Uhhn.”
    “Jade? You all right?” I asked, my voice harsh and gravelly. It hurt to talk. It hurt to breathe. It hurt to move.
    “Uhhn,” she groaned again as her head rolled to her shoulder. Her bright green eyes fluttered open, then looked at me, unseeing and unfocused.
    “What happened?” she whispered in a hoarse voice that sounded like she’d been smoking for the past thirty years.
    “We got run off the damned road,” I bit out.
    “Why?” she asked in a pain-filled groan as she tried to push the airbag out of her way. A fireman was at my door with a crow bar. The scrunch of metal sent shivers up my spine as he pried the door open.
    “I think we’re getting close,” I said, just before the smoke from the wreck rushed into the car and I coughed as the smoky air filled my lungs. The fireman cut the airbag and my seatbelt before pushing both out of his way.
    “Can you move?” he yelled at me. The sound from the sirens combined with people yelling on the closed-off highway and the blare of distant horns honking rang in my ears.
    “Yeah,” I said defiantly. I moved to step out of the car but he stopped me with a firm hand on my shoulder. A Paramedic pushed his way through to my side and knelt down in front of me.
    “Ma’am, where does it hurt?” he asked quickly as he turned deep hazel eyes up to meet mine.
    “It might be faster to ask where doesn’t it hurt,” I said in a raspy reply. The paramedic froze where he knelt as he looked at me, his eyes wide as if I’d just sprouted a second head with fangs with fear behind his surprised expression. It made me nervous. “Hey, it was a joke,” I said putting my hand on his shoulder, using him as leverage to push myself out of the rumpled metal that had once been Jade’s beautiful car.
    “Uh, yeah,” he said in a breathy disoriented tone as he shook his head. He stood and moved a step closer behind me, flanking me.
    “I’m fine. Check on her please,” I said with a little authority to my tone. Hell, if I convinced them I was fine, maybe they’d leave me alone. I didn’t need the police discovering the knife in my boot. That was always hard to explain. Anyway, Jade looked worse off.
    “Yes, Ma’am,” he said in a bright cheery tone and hopped to it like a good little soldier. The paramedic walked around the hunk of now useless metal and met the fireman as he pried Jade’s door off. He met my eyes one last time over the roof of Jade’s crumpled car with a wistful smile before he knelt beside her.
    All right, that was weird.
    “Ms. ...?” I heard from over my left shoulder.