Preface
Watch Out!” Darcey screamed.
The limo had just entered the middle of an intersection when Darcey caught sight of a huge, black SUV bearing down on them. She only had time to turn and look out of the window behind Armando before the SUV had broadsided them. It hit the limo in front of the back door panel on the passenger side. The impact threw Armando into Darcey, propelling her over and crushing her against the back door on the driver’s side. She could feel the armrest cutting into her side. A white-hot pain shot through her shoulder as her head slammed into the window.
The limo spun madly—tires screeched, metal crunched, glass shattered—and then it was flying through the air. The vehicle rolled over repeatedly in slow motion, while Darcey and Armando tumbled over each other inside like laundry in a dryer. The limo finally came to rest on its side shuddering, and then silence, except for the rotation whir from one of the limo’s wheels as it slowly wound down to a standstill.
Bright bursts of light flashed behind Darcey’s eyes. She heard Armando utter several loud expletives in Spanish, and then something heavy hit her leg. She could feel a warm sticky substance sliding down her forehead.
Something hard poked Darcey in the back and it hurt like hell. A white-hot pain hit her as she tried to shift her position to call for Armando. She scrunched her eyes in pain as tears ran down her cheeks, then she screamed.
Catching her breath as the pain subsided, she tried again to reach out to Armando. “Armando! Armando!” she called as loud as she could, but she was sure it wasn’t much above a whisper. “Are you okay?” She bit her lip as she tried to move to get a better look at Armando. The pain was excruciating.
She heard nothing but a small moan. At least he’s alive she thought, relieved.
She didn’t think she had any broken bones, but she hurt everywhere. The inside of her head was pounding, her shoulder felt as if it were on fire, and her legs were pinned in a painful position by something heavy. Darcey attempted to move to see what was holding her legs immobile, but an explosion of pain shot through her body—darkness.
