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"Are you okay?"

"I guess," she murmured, not quite meeting his eyes.

"She'll be fine," her friend chimed in. "You didn't need to scare him, though."

Maybe, Tanner thought, maybe not. He'd learned that bruising an ego was often better than the alternative. But it was done now. "Have a good night, then." He nodded. "Drive safe."

He headed for the far end of the lot and found his car. Once behind the wheel, he maneuvered down an aisle of the lot to get to the exit. When he passed the spot where he'd encountered the three teens, the girls were gone.

Realizing he needed his phone for directions, he stopped the car and leaned sideways to fish it out of his back pocket. Just then, the large black SUV on the passenger side of his car suddenly reversed into the aisle at full speed. Before Tanner could react, he felt the rear of his car lurch sideways, his head whipped, and he registered the sound of crunching metal. And then all at once, it was over.

Reverting to training, he automatically surveyed himself for injury; his arms and legs were fine, he wasn't bleeding, and though his neck and back might be sore in the morning, he hadn't been seriously hurt.

He drew a deep breath as he opened his door, hoping it hadn't been as bad as it felt or sounded, but already suspecting the worst. He went first around the front, then to the back, and saw that the rear quarter panel of the Shelby had been mangled to the point that it pressed into the tire. The taillight had been shattered and the impact had also popped open the trunk. When he tried to close it, the latch wouldn't catch.

My car, he lamented. My new car...

Caught up in a surge of rising anger, Tanner needed a moment to realize that the other driver had yet to emerge from the SUV. It was one of the bigger ones—a Suburban—and he steadied himself by drawing a few long breaths. When he was finally confident that he could deal with the guy without losing his temper, he started toward the driver's side, which seemed unharmed. As he reached it, the door swung open and a pair of thin, shaky legs emerged. Tanner came up short, realizing he was face-to-face with the brunette again. She was pale, her eyes wide, and she made a choking sound before bringing her hands to her face and beginning to cry.

Christ, Tanner muttered under his breath. That's what I get for trying to be a nice guy.

He gave her a minute, then another. Her age, coupled with the reaction, made him suspect it was her first accident, always a traumatic experience. Finally, when the waterworks began to subside, she swiped at her nose with her sleeve. Tanner pressed his lips together. He suspected that raising his voice might trigger another burst of tears, which was the last thing he wanted. "Hey, listen to me," he said, using the same no-nonsense tone he'd used earlier with Baseball Cap. "Before anything else, can you tell me your name?"

It seemed to take a moment for his words to register. She looked up, as though trying to focus. "My mom's going to kill me," she offered.

God help me, Tanner thought. While she hadn't answered his question, he took her statement as a sign she was thinking straight. "I need to make sure you're not physically hurt. Can you turn your head from side to side, like this? And then, see if you can nod, okay?"

Tanner demonstrated, and after a brief delay, the girl slowly mimicked him.

"Does your head or neck hurt?" Tanner asked. "Even a little?" 

"No," she said with a sniffle.

"How about your arms and legs, or your back? Do you feel any tingling or stinging or pain or numbness of any kind? Can you twist?"

She frowned briefly before rolling her shoulders and twisting at the waist. "It feels okay."

"I've had some experience with first aid, but I'm not a physician. While you seem uninjured to me, you might want to get checked out just to be safe."

"My mom's a doctor," she said, sounding distracted.

Noticing that her hands were still trembling, he continued to keep his voice reasonable. "The parking lot is private property so I doubt we need to call the police, but can you get your license, registration, and insurance card?"

"The police?" she asked, her voice rising in panic. 

"I just said we won't have to call them—"

"She's never going to get me my own car now," she interrupted.