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He stared down at her for a moment, wanting to heal everycut on her soft skin. But he couldn__, not yet. He needed to get her,and her car, far from this place so neither he nor Kate would beimplicated in any way with the gruesome murder site.It also meant he would have to drive.In all his years, he had never driven an automobile. The closest hehad come was watching various assistants through the years as theychauffeured him. He wasn__ sure he could even remember how tostart the car, but right now he had no choice.Grudgingly, he got into the driver__ seat, and finding the leverunderneath, he pushed it back so he sat comfortably behind thewheel. After trying three different keys, he found one that slipped intothe ignition.From what he had seen over the past hundred years, driving wasnot a complex operation, and he was an immortal with reflexes farmore keen than a human man.How difficult could it be?He turned the key and nearly jerked the wheel off the steeringcolumn when the car surprised him by lurching forward. The car wentsilent. The engine wasn__ running. What was he doing wrong?He stared at the gearshift, wondering if he should move it. Hisfrustration reared up, but his agitation would not make the car driveitself. He had to keep a cool head.Not knowing what else to try, he pushed one of the pedals at hisfeet to the floor and turned the key again. This time the car didn__move, and it roared to life. Grasping the gearshift, he jammed it intothe first position and glanced over at Kate.Why couldn__ she have owned a car with an automatictransmission?Shaking his head, he put some pressure on the gas pedal andslowly released the clutch. Thankfully the car rolled a few feet, butwithout warning it jumped forward. He pressed the clutch back to thefloor before the engine lost power again.Calisto slammed his hand against the wheel, muttering under hisbreath in Spanish. At this rate it would take him all night to drive herhome.The faded yellow convertible pitched forward again, threateningto stall as he continued out of the parking lot, thankful it was late. Thestreets were fairly empty. At least he wouldn__ get into an accidentwith another car. Her car staggered ahead, lurching each time hetried to release the clutch, bouncing and jostling them both until Katefinally stirred and woke up.§__re we out of gas or something?__alisto watched her with a tight smile. __ot exactly.__ate winced in pain when she laughed. __ou can__ drive a stickshift,can you?___oes it show?_ Calisto pulled over, finally allowing the engine tostall.She nodded her head slowly to avoid more pain. __ust a little.What happened?___ou don__ remember?___ remember being mugged. And I remember seeing you, buteverything after that is blank._ She watched his eyes as Calistoreached over to brush her hair back from her face, and his touch sentshivers through her body. This wasn__ how she had hoped she wouldrun into him, but she learned a long time ago fate didn__ always workout the way you expected.