The road stretched across open Oklahoma fields under a pale moon, the engine echoing through empty farmland while cold air pushed against his jacket.
Then he saw headlights flickering in the distance.
At first he thought someone had pulled off the road to fix a flat tire. But as he got closer, the shape of the situation became clear in the worst possible way.
A sedan had veered off the highway.
The vehicle had rolled down a small embankment and crashed nose-first into a drainage ditch. Steam curled from the twisted hood, drifting upward like ghostly smoke beneath the moonlight.
Marcus pulled his bike onto the shoulder and ran down the slope without hesitation.
The front windshield was shattered.
Inside the car sat a young woman slumped against the steering wheel.
Blood traced thin lines across her forehead, and her breathing came in shallow, desperate gasps that made his stomach tighten immediately.
But what he noticed next stopped him cold.
