Christmas Vendetta by Valerie Hansen

Author:Valerie Hansen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-09-13T14:50:26+00:00

* * *

Helpless to overcome gravity, Clay did the only thing he could—he put his bike into a controlled skid and laid it down in the roadway, letting go of the throttle at the last possible second to keep the weight of the rear section from crushing his leg.

He’d felt his passenger fall away. The following fractions of seconds passed in a blur. Careening along after the bike, he sought traction with his heels and elbows. Thankfully, Sandy Lynn wasn’t screaming into the radio so he could hear the engine die. The motorcycle stopped moving when it half buried itself in a snowbank.

A hand lightly touched his arm, his shoulder. “Are you all right?” The words faintly echoed inside his helmet. The instinct was to answer with a nod. Common sense overrode it. Clay lay very still until he could make an internal assessment of his physical condition. As long as his neck and the rest of his spine were intact he’d be okay.

Sandy Lynn’s voice rose. “Talk to me. Are you hurt?”

“I don’t think so.” He pushed up on his elbows, then tried to stand. The world was spinning on a wobbly axis.

Right there when he needed her, Sandy Lynn steadied him. “Easy. You took quite a jolt.”

“Apparently.” With a hand resting on her shoulder, Clay looked behind them. Their tracks weren’t immediately visible because the fall had partially obliterated them. Although it was unlikely that the riders who had been following would fail to notice the part of his motorcycle still visible in the fluffy snow, he nevertheless hoped they would be going fast enough when they passed the corner that they’d miss seeing it.

“Hide,” Clay ordered, reaching an arm in front of her and pushing her backward. “Over there.”

Relief flooded him when she not only followed directions instead of arguing, she helped him wade through the snow and duck out of sight. By this time, Clay was so cold he couldn’t stop shivering.

Crouching next to him and fisting a handful of his jacket sleeve, Sandy Lynn whispered into the microphone in her helmet. “I thought that was an old wives’ tale.”

“What was?” Clay managed as he did his best to quell his tremors.

“Chattering teeth. Yours really are.”

“Anything to further the cause of scientific study,” Clay quipped wryly. “Believe me, I’d stop if I could.”

“I know. I’m sorry I teased you. It’s the fault of my skewed sense of humor. When I get nervous, I make jokes.”

“No problem,” he said. “Just keep your head down and pray they bypass us.”

“Pray? I have been. It doesn’t seem to be helping.”

“Tell me that a year from now when you have a long-term perspective,” he said.

He heard her exhale noisily right, and she said, “Now that I can pray for.”

Confused, Clay asked, “What?”

“Being alive in a year to be able to look back.”

“Amen,” Clay said softly. “Here they come.”

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