Page 97 of The Quiet Witness

The warmth of the Volvo’s seat wrapped around her, easing the last of the muscle tension as well as the ache in her ribs. If she had been honest with herself, she wouldn’t have been able to go outside anyway. But today… she finally could.

Nightmares had been plaguing her nearly every night since the attack, even though weeks had passed. And most of the physical damage had been undone. Mentally, there was a lot of healing waiting to happen. But something she couldn’t quite shake was the night where she’d fallen asleep against Lucien. Her sleep had been. Undisturbed. Nothing but inky darkness behind her eyelids.

She wasn’t sure how it made her feel.

As always, Lucien sat behind the wheel, shoulders relaxed as he tapped along to the beat.

She did her utmost best to keep her voice trapped in her throat. Foot tapping to the rubber mat along the rhythm. Her whole youth had been one of music, whether she’d been doing housework, gawking at aurora videos on YouTube, or laid in bed as day crossed over into night. Music had been her guide throughout childhood.

Given that New Radicals popped up on the radio with one of her favorite songs, her voice escaped, muttering along to the lyrics. Letting this jewel of a song pass her by without joining in would be a damn shame.

She raised her voice, heartbeat rising in tune with the song. Chest heavy with the stress of the past weeks. She kept her gaze glued to the outside world. Foot thumping harder and harder as she watched the pine trees fly past the window. Doing her best to forget there was a person currently sitting next to her.

Getting into the flow of the song, her voice rose higher and higher until she sang the tunes with confidence, banishing all her frustrations and fears to the back of her mind.

Lucien joined in with a sudden high raised pitch. Kate’s head whipped to him with eyes flaring wide. But he merely offered her a shrug before pressing down on the gas, the outside fields passed by faster and faster.

A laugh slithered out of her body. The speed, the music, Lucien’s ridiculously high pitch. It all made her giddy with lightness.

As the song’s final echoes filtered out through the car, she slumped in her seat with a contented sigh. Turning the knob down to a less ear-splitting volume.

“This must have been one of the best songs ever.” She sighed.

Lucien glanced at her, scraping his throat once before murmuring. “You weren’t so bad yourself.” A blush tinged her cheeks. Then he just had to go and ruin the effect.

“I’m happy we’ve finally gotten down to the part where you serenade me.”

The pinkish glow faded quickly. Kate glared at him, grasping for words. Eventually, she settled on. “Whatever makes you happy… Lucy.”

“Ohhh, ouchhh.” He sent her a wicked grin.

She kicked off her shoes, resting her socked feet on the dashboard.

“Tsk tsk, I’d get those feet off the dashboard, sweetheart.”

“Why’s that?”

“I don’t drive a Volvo for no reason. Now. Get. Them. Off.”

Kate shrugged, making no move to swing her legs back.

Not two seconds later, fingers poked into her left side. She squirmed away from his touch, plastering herself to the door while she slapped his hand away. “Keep your freaking hands on the wheel!”

He did nothing of the sort. Instead, he evaded her smacking and went right to tickling above her knee. She let out a giggle, shifting in her seat. “Just. Stop. Already.” She managed to utter, grasping for a solid breath.

But he kept going, until she finally let her feet fall from the dashboard.

Lucien drew his hand back, letting out a grunt of satisfaction. “I hope you’ll remember never to use that nickname again, either.”

Sure, she would.

Kate crossed her arms tightly against her body. Protecting them from another tickling attack. She could dislocate an elbow while being punched. But tickling? If anyone ever wanted to torture her for information, this was the way that would have her singing like a bird.

Lucien stretched out, rolling his neck over his shoulders. He’d been driving for hours already.

“Want to take over the wheel for a bit? Music hits even better when you can rev up the engine as well.”

Kate bit into her lip. How was she going to break the news to him? Oh yeah, about that. I don’t know how to drive.