Chapter 461

With a final shudder, the car came to a halt, and the world fell into suffocating silence. It was so still, it felt like time itself had stopped. For a second, I didn’t even realize I was still alive. When I tried to move, nothing happened. My body just refused.

I tried harder and heard a faint groan. “Don’t… move…”

Everything was still dark. Not because it was night, but because my eyes were covered—blood? Dirt? I had no idea.

“Jace,” I called.

“I’m… here,” Jace’s voice came from right in front of me, but it was weak and fading.

“Get off me, I can’t breathe,” I muttered, trying to wriggle out, not even registering how hurt he might be.

Jace shifted, just enough for me to pull my face away from his chest. That’s when I saw the mess—the car was wrecked, crushed beyond recognition. The driver wasn’t moving, blood everywhere.

Panic flooded my chest. “Jace! Jace!” I shouted, my heart racing as I looked at him. His face was smeared with blood.

This was bad. Jace was hurt, the driver too, and I still couldn’t move—Jace’s weight kept me pinned. He was trapped, wedged in by the twisted metal around us. But I couldn’t just sit here. Staying like this would get all of us killed.

“Jace, breathe in, okay? Slow and steady. I need you to help me get out,” I instructed him, forcing calm into my voice.

He did what I asked, but every breath he took looked like it was tearing him apart. Each time I wriggled free a little more, his face went even paler. I knew getting me out was costing him. Big time.

Frantic, I glanced around, searching for something to wipe the blood from his face. But before I could do anything, he grabbed my hand. “Call for help first.”

Then, after a beat, “No, call Hayden.”

I got it. He wasn’t just worried about us—he was scared the cops might be in on this. There was no way it was a coincidence we got hit right after leaving the station.

But where the hell was my phone? It had to have been thrown during the crash. With the car so trashed, even if it was still inside, I had no chance of finding it easily.

“Do you have your phone?” I asked Jace.

He didn’t know. He couldn’t even move, so I had to dig through his pockets. Jacket? Empty. That left his pants, and with how he was trapped, I had to stretch awkwardly, reaching down.

Lucky break—I found it without any awkward touching, yanked it out and immediately dialed Hayden.

But just as the call started to connect, I froze. A helicopter hovered right outside the wreck. Whoever wanted us dead must have sent it, probably to make sure we hadn’t survived.

Thankfully, the car’s protective film was still holding, so they couldn’t see us. But I didn’t dare move. Didn’t even breathe too loud, afraid they’d spot something and come for us.

I couldn’t even answer Hayden when he picked up, his voice spilling through the speaker.

“Mr. Johnston, why aren’t you speaking? Did something happen? Is Kiki okay? Or… is there news about Steve?” His voice was tense, clearly frustrated by the silence.

But I couldn’t risk it. The helicopter kept circling, like it was checking every inch of the wreck. I sat there, frozen, Hayden’s voice still coming through the speaker, but I couldn’t say a word. My heart pounded so loud, I swore it might give us away.

Finally, after what felt like forever, the helicopter flew off. Only then did I whisper, “Hayden, it’s me.”

The lump in my throat nearly choked me. My voice cracked. “We crashed!”

“Are you hurt?” Hayden’s first concern, of course, was me. Always me.

“I… I don’t know,” I stammered, glancing at the driver, blood still pooling around him. “The driver and Jace are trapped. They’re both bleeding bad.”

Chapter 462