Silent Witness by Diane Burke Page B

Still nothing. Not even the slightest budge. He pulled again and again.
    Adam saw Sal slide down the ridge a foot or two, fall on his butt, and then regain his footing and continue his slide until he reached them. “Here’s another crowbar. Maybe two of them will give us the leverage we need.”
    “Three are better than two.” Tom Miller joined the two men.
    Adam, Tom and Sal inserted the crowbars into the opening, used the force of their bodies as leverage and pushed down with all their might. On the second try they were able to pry the door open just wide enough that Sal could reach inside and cut Liz free of her seat belt. No longer bound, she was able to dislodge the computer console that had broken off and pinned her beneath the dashboard.
    Once free, she slipped to the floor, which was actually the ceiling of her patrol car, and pulled her feet under her. Her face grimaced in pain and she tentatively ran a hand over her thigh. Her pant leg was torn and her hand came away wet.
    The sight of red on her palm sprung Adam into action.
    They needed to get Liz out of the car.
    Now.
    Before anyone else noticed the steady stream of gasoline slowly pooling around their feet.
    “Can you climb out on your own?” Adam yelled.
    “I don’t think so. My leg doesn’t seem to want to hold my weight.”
    “The door’s not open enough to get you out,” Sal yelled. “If we break the window, maybe we can hoist you through.”
    “Gas.” Tom kept his voice low so only the other two men could hear. “We’re standing in gasoline.”
    Adam locked eyes with the man. He kept his voice low and stern. “Then we better get your sheriff out of this car before it becomes her coffin. Right?”
    The man squirmed beneath Adam’s intense stare and then nodded.
    Sal, with his slim, tall build, elbowed his way past Adam, flopped on the ground and shoved his arms inside the opening.
    “Grab my hands, boss. We don’t have any time to lose.”
    “Everybody hightail it to the road. Now!” Deputy Miller swung his hat back and forth as he ushered gathering onlookers up the embankment. As the smell of gasoline grew stronger, none of them needed a second invitation.
    “That goes for you, too, Doc,” Tom ordered.
    “I’m not leaving Lizzie.”
    Tom grabbed Adam’s arm and stepped between Adam and the car. “Sal’s got it under control. Right now that boy up yonder needs you—and I’ll be guessing the sheriff might need a little informal counseling, too, when all of this is over. Get going, Doc.”
    Adam fought the urge to push the older man out of his way. His adrenaline was pumping. He felt like a bull ready to charge anything and anyone in his path that tried to keep him from Liz. Until he saw her hands clasped tightly to Sal’s wrists and knew the detective was going to get her out.
    He locked eyes with Tom. The older man nodded and released his hold on Adam’s arm. Reluctantly, Adam turned and climbed up the embankment.
    From the top of the rise, Adam turned and watched Sal pull Liz into his arms. He could barely stand the feeling of failure that washed over him. It wasn’t his hands that had pulled her from the wreckage. It wasn’t his arms wrapped around her. He’d let her down—again. She’d been better off without him years ago and nothing had changed. She didn’t need him now, either.
    “Put me down.” Liz wriggled and pushed against Sal’s chest. “I can walk.”
    “We’re almost at the top.”
    “Sal, I’m not kidding. Put me down. How do you think it looks to all those people that the sheriff can’t climb up this embankment under her own steam?”
    Sal hesitated then let her slide to her feet, but he kept a steadying hand on her arm.
    When they reached the crest of the hill, Liz nodded at Sal, mouthed the word thanks and then limped hurriedly straight toward the ambulance in search of Jeremy and Adam.
    “Ma’am, better let me take a look at that leg. It might need stitches.” A paramedic intercepted her