---- Chapter 7 Isabella's POV Nevada. The Black Rock Desert. Almost half a year had passed since my "death." Ihad fallen in love with underground desert racing. It was as if only the roar of an engine and the sting of hot sand could wash away the blood and ice left in my bones. The death certificate was fake, of course. Ten million dollars. That's what it cost to buy off the soldier, the family doctor, and a hospital record so perfect it could fool anyone.
My parents were already rebuilding the family business in Sicily. Today was the last illegal race before "Burning Man." I was behind the wheel of a modified Ford Raptor, battling a beat-up old JEEP that looked like it was ---- about to fall apart. The guy driving the JEEP was a lunatic, drifting recklessly through the rocky terrain as if he hada death wish. Suddenly, a yellow wall rose on the horizon. Asandstorm. An unprecedented haboob was swallowing everything.
linstinctively slowed down, but the JEEP accelerated, a blatant challenge to the grim reaper. Just then, its engine let out a pathetic whine and died completely. The out-of-control JEEP tumbled through the zero- visibility storm and slammed into a jagged rock face. "Idiot." Icursed, but then, as if possessed, I spun the wheel and headed into the gale, toward where he'd vanished. I found the twisted pile of scrap metal in front of the wall of sand at the storm's center.
---- The driver was pinned in the warped frame of the car. He was covered in blood, his left leg twisted at a sickening angle. He was unconscious. His frame... he was almost my size. This was definitely not the body of a grown man. But he was stuck. It took all my strength to drag him from the driver's seat and haul him into my Raptor. The nearest town was fifty miles away. I floored it. At the dusty clinic in the border town, the doctor's face went pale when he saw the patient.
"Multiple internal bleeds, a compound fracture of the left femur. He needs surgery immediately! Or he'll lose the leg, maybe even his life!" The doctor spoke rapidly, shoving a consent form into my hands.