He unclipped his seat belt to head up to the house and collect her, but she slipped outside just as he disengaged the vehicle locks. She closed the door behind her and jogged down the driveway with far too much energy for this early in the morning.
As she climbed into the vehicle, she looked at him with wide-eyed concern. “What is it? Is there something on my face? I know, same clothes as yesterday, but my aunt is tiny and doesn’t have anything that fits me.”
He pulled his gaze from her with a light shake of the head, consciously aware of how his heart had begun to beat a little faster in her presence, and how the suddenly pervasive scent of cinnamon and honey on yesterday’s outfit made him want to lean in a little closer.
They were childhood friends reunited by circumstance. That was all. That was all it could ever be, especially with him straight out of Quantico and about to embark on a brand-new career that could take him who knew where.
“Thanks for playing early morning chauffeur,” she murmured.
“You’re welcome,” he said. He yawned, unable to stifle it any longer. “You’ll have to direct me to the bakery.”
“Back to the main drag and head south.”
They drove in silence for a few minutes as Noel racked his brain for the right thing to say. He didn’t want to push for details about Daniel’s death and risk her closing herself off to him, but on the other hand, he couldn’t help unless he had all the information.
“Mina—”
“Take a left here,” she said, pointing at the intersection lights ahead of them. Noel nodded and took advantage of the green light to move into the intersection, waiting for a chance to turn. “I did some thinking last night, Noel. I’m worried that—”
He shifted his gaze ever so slightly toward her, ready to listen, when his eyes alighted on something outside the passenger side window.
“No!” He shouted and reached for her as a massive black shape barreled toward them. With a deafening crash, the side of the car crumpled inward, the window shattering as Noel’s world descended into darkness.
Noel blinked, trying to fight back the black spots that swam in his vision. Why did everything hurt? And why couldn’t he move his arm? He blinked again, the dashboard of the vehicle coming into focus. What was he doing inside a vehicle?
The sound of sirens brought everything rushing back. Adrenaline flooded his system, waking him up and sending a rush of strength into limbs filled with shooting pains.
Yasmine. She’d been in the car with him.
“Yasmine? Mina?” He took one look at her and fear gripped his heart. Her head lolled sideways and blood slid down the side of her face. “No, no, no.” Emotion suppressed all reason and he unbuckled himself, shoving away the deflating airbag to reach across the center console and press his fingers to her throat.
The pulse of her vein against his fingers brought a wave of relief tinged with worry. She’d needed to tell him something. She’d been worried and about to confide in him. He clenched his jaw in anger and frustration, wanting to beat his fists on the steering wheel but knowing that giving in to those emotions wouldn’t help either of them right now. They needed an ambulance and fast. Just because Yasmine’s pulse remained steady didn’t mean she wasn’t badly injured otherwise.
The sirens grew closer. What was he supposed to do now? Get out of the vehicle? Stay in here until the ambulance arrived? Although the Academy had trained him, finding himself in a life-and-death situation in the real world was new. He hadn’t expected to be thrown into a mess like this so quickly, and certainly not on his own before even reaching his first assignment.
Did three attempts on Yasmine’s life bring the situation under federal jurisdiction? Probably not. The local PD might want to bring in detectives from the city, keep it in-house and not have to bother with the hassle of turning the whole thing into a federal investigation. Not that Noel could even make that call in the first place. He needed to speak to his FBI mentor at the Buffalo field office. All graduates of the Academy were assigned mentors for their first two years on the job, senior officials whom the new agents could call on for help and advice as needed. Recruits often didn’t even get to meet their mentors until their first day on the job, and Noel’s case was no exception. Here he was, not even at the office for day one yet, and he already needed his mentor’s help.
The paramedics loaded her onto a gurney and strapped her in. He wanted to climb inside the ambulance and go with her, but leaving the scene of the crash wasn’t an option, especially not with his credentials and knowledge of crime scene protocol.
“Sir?” One of the paramedics waved at him. “Sir? We need to take her, but I think she’s asking for you.”
Noel reached her side in seconds. Yasmine’s eyelids fluttered, and her mouth moved, forming words he couldn’t hear. He bent low, and the curve of her lips sent him tumbling back into a memory he had no place holding in his mind at a time like this. He took her hand, rubbing his thumb across her smooth, golden skin.
“I’m right here, Mina.”
She coughed as she tried to speak, sending the paramedics into a frenzy.
“We’ve got to get her to the hospital,” one of them said. “She may be seriously injured.”
“Noel?” Yasmine coughed again, and they began to wheel her away. “Noel?”
He grabbed the side of the gurney and stumbled along next to her. “I’m here. I’m listening.”
“Need to tell you,” she said, whispering so softly that he almost didn’t catch what she said.
“Tell me what?” He gripped her hand tighter, struck with a strange fear of what she might say, though he couldn’t explain exactly why. “Yasmine, they’re taking you to the hospital to get checked over. I’ll join you as soon as I can. I’ll call your aunt and tell her what happened. Don’t worry. It can wait.”
“No!” She pulled her hand from his and pressed her fingers against his chest as he leaned over the gurney. “Daniel. We need to talk... Daniel. The person...who killed him. What if...they think...”
A paramedic came around to where Noel stood and pushed in front of him, a scowl on his face. “I’m sorry, sir, but we need to get her out of here.”
Noel wanted to jump into the ambulance, to ask her what she meant, to make sure she’d be all right—three attempts on her life in less than twelve hours, how was that even possible?—but the second the paramedics pulled her gurney from his grasp, Officer Wayne appeared and drew him aside.
“You need to have officers follow the ambulance,” Noel said to Wayne. “This is the third time someone has tried to kill that woman in twenty-four hours.”
Officer Wayne shook his head, and Noel felt an inkling of the frustration with him that Yasmine had shown. “I’m sorry, but I don’t have the manpower. Captain’s orders. We’re short on on-duty officers at this time of the morning.”
“What about the guys who came to spell me outside her aunt’s place?”
“Already off duty. Look, she’ll be fine in the ambulance.”
“You don’t