Blackmailed by the Billionaire Brewer by Rachel Lyndhurst Read Free Book Online Page B

the
     old Dodge Intrepid smell like a junkyard, an unpleasant combination of hot electrics,
     burning dust, and ancient air conditioning gas. “Just another couple of miles, sweetheart.”
    Perhaps the sound of the radio would calm both their nerves. Some local radio was
     bland enough: easy listening, local news stories, nothing too abrasive.
    …polar vortex forecasted to cause extreme weather conditions in Passion Creek over
     the next two days. Residents are advised not to venture out unless absolutely necessary.
     Shortages of batteries, milk, and bread in stores have already been reported. Stay
     indoors and please do not call on the emergency services unless the situation is critical.
    Piper turned the radio sharply off. “Great.” The cardboard box of pregnant cat rocked
     in the car seat like something possessed. “We’re three quarters of the way there,
     might as well keep going now. Maybe they’ll have a nice big dog basket I can crash
     in overnight, huh?”
    She smiled to herself, hoping that the physical process of making those facial muscles
     work would kick off a feel-good hormone or something, and then her heart skipped a
     beat. A warning light on the dashboard was blinking on and off, silent but as effective
     as a red-hot needle near her eyeball. The symbol looked like a chunky toy submarine
     and had the word check underneath. “Check what?” Her hands suddenly felt clammy on the steering wheel and
     she wasn’t all that cold anymore. She swallowed and stared hard at the road ahead
     that was quickly disappearing under the snow.
    “Just a silly light, cat, nothing that can’t wait until we can get to Mike the Mechanic
     in a couple of days. Absolutely nothing to worry about.”
    She turned off the heater to be on the safe side and gritted her teeth hard. There
     was a vibration, probably just the road surface, which reminded her that she hadn’t
     looked at the tread on her tires lately. She eased off the gas although her instinct
     was to put her foot down and get to the vet clinic as quickly as possible, but she
     couldn’t risk skidding in this kind of weather. Maybe she had a slow puncture… God,
     she hated having to drive anywhere in this heap of scrap metal.
    The vehicle was losing speed as the road sloped uphill, but putting her foot down
     didn’t make much difference, and the vibrating became intermittent lurching that had
     her developing a panic attack. She couldn’t stop; she had to keep going.
    “Shit.” The fear in her voice was audible and that made her even more frightened.
     Her knuckles tightened around the steering wheel and adrenaline prickled her forehead.
     “This is all your fault, Sophie, just wait till I get a hold of you.” And then one
     last grinding lurch and the engine spluttered and stalled.
    Piper tried the ignition, but after a few whiny attempts it became clear it wasn’t
     going to play. So it wasn’t a flat tire. It was a dying, possibly now dead car. Perfect.
     Her chest felt like someone was clenching a fist inside of it. “Deep breaths, Piper,
     this is going to turn out okay.” She unclipped her seat belt and strained to reach
     her purse on the backseat to get her cell phone. The cat started to growl in a deep,
     threatening way, and she wondered if anyone had ever been savaged to death and then
     eaten by a pregnant domesticated cat.
    To her relief, the cell phone showed a healthy signal so she could call Melanie and
     ask her to come and rescue her. Her buddy Kira was probably closer, but she didn’t
     want to bother her. She’d had such a hard time since her aunt and guardian had died
     and, right now, she had her hands full with her old boyfriend, Max. Kira texted earlier
     that Max had refused to leave town like he was supposed to, and Piper hadn’t gotten
     the feeling that was a bad thing. The last thing she wanted to do was interrupt a
     hot reunion between the two.
    Her dad was out of the question, too. His car was more of a