He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not

heart.
    She replayed their conversation in her mind, or rather, what she’d said to him. He’d barely listened and had said even less. Maybe she should have been more understanding about the money. But she didn’t want his money. She wanted his love. How could he let her drive away? As a police officer he’d fought for countless strangers. Why couldn’t he fight for her?
    The sound of a siren had her glancing in her mirror again. A police car was coming up fast behind her, red and blue lights flashing. Her pulse sped up as hope wrapped its tentacles around her heart. Had Logan come for her after all?
    Closer, right behind her. Not Logan, a state trooper, motioning for her to pull over. Anguish washed through her, leaving her empty inside. She jerked the wheel, pulling to the shoulder of the two-lane highway. Summer heat blasted inside the car when she rolled down the window. Tears threatened, but she fought them back, determined not to cry any more for a man who didn’t want her.
    Five minutes later, she was back in control of her emotions, but the trooper still hadn’t approached her car. She looked back to see what was taking him so long. He was sitting behind the wheel with his head bent as if he were writing something.
    Maybe procedures had changed since the last time she’d gotten a ticket, which was a very long time ago, back in college. Or maybe he didn’t want to stand in the heat while he wrote the ticket. She couldn’t have been speeding. Was he going to give her a ticket for driving below the limit? It wasn’t like she’d passed any other cars out on this deserted rural highway. She wasn’t exactly a traffic hazard. She blew out a frustrated breath. Leaning against the headrest, she closed her eyes against the bright sun and waited, and waited.
    “Afternoon, ma’am.”
    She looked up to see the trooper standing next to her car with a pad of tickets and a pen. His hat was pulled down low over his face and his eyes were concealed behind a pair of dark sunglasses.
    “Officer,” she said. “I didn’t think I was speeding. Is there something else—”
    “License, insurance card, and registration, ma’am,” he drawled.
    Irritation simmered inside her. She handed the required documents out the window. “Officer,” she tried again. “Could you please hurry? I have to catch a—”
    “I’ll just be a minute, ma’am.” He tipped his hat and ambled back toward his car. Was he purposely walking slowly because she’d asked him to hurry up? Unbelievable. A quick glance at the dashboard clock confirmed her fears. She’d spent far too long meandering down the road waiting for Logan. If she didn’t get going in the next few minutes she would miss her flight.
    A shrill noise sounded in the distance. More sirens? She turned in her seat and saw the flashing lights of a police car coming up fast behind her. As it approached, she realized there was another one behind it. And another one behind that. There must be a terrible accident up ahead.
    Her eyes widened as she realized there were even more police cars than what she’d originally thought, a whole line of them in the traditional green and white colors of Shadow Falls. As they got closer she counted them—six, seven, eight—good Lord, what in the world was going on?
    The first car zoomed past, then another and another, but instead of continuing down the road, they slowed down and blocked off the highway about fifty yards in front of her, forming a semicircle across the road. They turned off their sirens but left their lights flashing.
    She glanced back at the trooper. He sat in his car with a big grin on his face. When he saw her looking at him, he tipped his hat and his grin widened. Amanda shook her head in confusion.
    The remaining police cars that hadn’t passed her had stopped on the road behind the trooper and formed another semicircle, sirens off, lights flashing. She was completely surrounded. Did they think she was a bank robber or something? Feeling increasingly uneasy, she wasn’t sure what to do. Should she get out of her car and put her hands in the air? What if they thought she was dangerous? Would they shoot her before she could surrender?
    The silence was broken by the sound of a powerful engine roaring in the distance. What now? Amanda’s eyes widened and her heart did a little flip when she saw a familiar black Mustang speeding toward the police cars.
    Logan’s black Mustang.
    He sped through an opening between two