Too close.
Clunk-clunk-clunk.
Startled by the sound, she gripped the wheel even more tightly. The car shimmied, then jolted as the rear left side dropped. She glanced back, seeing a tire roll across the roadway.
A grating sound. Metal dragging against pavement. Her heart raced. The car veered left, crossed the center line and crashed into the ditch that edged the roadway.
Rain pelted the windshield. She struggled to free herself and clawed at the door, unable to push it open.
“Help!” she cried, knowing no one would hear her.
“Carrie!”
She turned, seeing Tyler.
He grabbed the door handle and ripped it open. Reaching around her, he unbuckled her seat belt. “Are you all right?”
She nodded. He pulled her free.
Rain pummeled her face as she looked into eyes filled with concern.
“Where are you hurt?” He touched her arms, the back of her neck and head as if searching for an injury. “Talk to me.”
She swallowed down the fear and nodded. “I...I’m okay. How—”
“I was driving home and saw your car enter the turn. A semi passed. Then I saw you in the ditch. Did you get sideswiped?”
She shook her head. “The tire came off.”
“What?”
He turned to study her car, then glanced back to where the wheel lay on the edge of the roadway. Retrieving the tire, he pried off the hubcap. “Three of your lug nuts are missing. Have you gone to a mechanic recently?”
“I had my oil changed before I made the trip to Georgia.”
“This just happened. Since you last drove the car.”
“I...I don’t understand.”
“In town. While you were talking to Gates. Someone removed three of your lug nuts.”
Her ears roared, and she shivered in the chilly rain.
“Someone tampered with your wheel, Carrie,” he repeated, his voice deathly calm. “They wanted the tire to fall off.”
“But why?”
“Two reasons come to mind. Either to scare you—”
Her heart quickened.
“Or to do you harm.”
The police sedan’s flashing lights drove home the seriousness of what had happened. Tyler glanced at his own car where Carrie sat, protected from the stiff breeze that had picked up once the rain eased.
“You must be working the twenty-four-hour shift,” Ty said when Officer Steve Inman climbed from his patrol car.
Ignoring the dampness, the officer smiled. “You and Ms. York are keeping me busy.”
Much to Tyler’s frustration, Carrie left the warmth of his car and hurried to join them at the side of the road.
“Ma’am.” Officer Inman nodded a greeting. “You mind telling me what happened?”
She quickly filled him in on losing control of the car and the missing lug nuts.
“Any chance your folks can dust the hubcap for prints?” Tyler asked. “You’ll find mine, for sure, and the last mechanic who checked the tire.”
“That won’t be a problem.” Inman pulled a notebook from his pocket. “So you think the lug nuts were purposely removed.”
Tyler nodded. “I’m guessing when Ms. York was in town.”
“I made two stops,” she added. “The Gates Law Firm and the supermarket on Harvest Road.”
Inman made note of the information. “I’ll see if we have video cameras in either area that might have picked up activity.”
“You’ll let me know what you uncover,” Carrie insisted.
“Yes, ma’am.” He turned to Tyler. “You were following Ms. York home?”
“I had talked briefly with George Gates and ended up not too far behind her car, which was fortunate.”
“Ma’am, did you see anyone behind you when you drove to town this morning?” the cop asked.
Carrie shook her head. “No one.”
Inman turned to Tyler. “What about you, sir?”
“Negative. But I left my house early and went to post first so I could brief Chief Wilson, the head of the CID, on Corporal Fellows’s murder. General Cameron has been informed, as well.”
“He’s the post commanding general?”
“That’s right. As you can imagine, the general’s upset about the corporal’s death and has given us free rein to support you in any way we can.”
“I’ll pass that on. The chief of police is out of town, so Phillips is in charge. Last I heard, he contacted the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to rush the forensics on the case. Freemont is indebted to the military. We’ll do everything we can to bring Corporal Fellows’s killer to justice.”
All of them turned at the sound of an approaching vehicle. Earl’s Tow Service was painted on the side of the tow truck that pulled to a stop. A man hopped to the pavement.
“Craig Owens.” The driver provided his name as he approached the threesome. “Special Agent Zimmerman?”
Tyler nodded. “That’s right. I talked to Earl.”
He pointed to Carrie’s car, wedged in the ditch. “The vehicle needs to be towed. Earl said he’d order a new rear tire. Tell him to check the underbelly and ensure that nothing else is wrong.”
“Will do.” The driver held up a clipboard. “You mind signing the request for service?”
Tyler passed the clipboard to Carrie. “The car belongs to Ms. York.”
“Do you need payment now?” she asked.
“No, ma’am, just your signature.”
After she’d signed the form, the driver tossed the clipboard into his cab and climbed behind the wheel. He backed to the edge of the ditch and used a winch to hoist the vehicle onto the flatbed.
Once the car was safely locked down, he handed Carrie a business card. “Earl will call you with an estimate if your car needs repair work. As soon as the new tire comes in, he’ll notify you. Appreciate your business.”
Tyler stopped Owens before he climbed into his truck. “Any idea how long a wheel would stay attached with only two lug nuts?”
The tow man scratched his head. “Not long. The tire would start to shimmy and work the remaining lug nuts off in a short time.”
Which was exactly what Tyler thought. “Thanks for getting here so quickly.”
“We aim to please.”
Inman slipped the notebook into his shirt pocket as the tow truck headed back to town. “I’ll let you folks know if we find any prints.” He rolled the tire to his sedan and placed it in the trunk.
Then turning to Carrie, he added, “I might be jumping to the wrong conclusion, ma’am, but it looks like someone’s