AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yes. Two passengers, and I don’t know the status of them. Definitely send the ambulance.”
“Copy.”
I turn to find Summer staring at me, her jaw dropped and eyes wide.
“You stay here, understand me?” I reach into the back and pull my weapon from its holster. “You wait here, and if I signal, you call 9-1-1.”
“Jesus, Chase.”
“Do you understand me?” I ask again, needing to be sure that she hears me.
“Of course. Should you wait here with me until help arrives?”
“I need to see if they’re dead or how badly they’re hurt.” I reach over to cup her cheek, thinking back to last winter and the accident that took Jake’s parents’ lives. “I mean it, Summer. Stay here. If it’s bad, I don’t want you to see it.”
“I’ll stay,” she assures me. “But please, be careful. It’s dark out here.”
“I’m going to keep the headlights trained on the vehicle,” I reply and reach back for the yellow vest I keep in the truck for emergencies like this. “And I’ll wear this so I’m visible. I’m also going to set out flares.”
“Okay.” She licks her lips. “I feel like I should do something.”
“You’re doing it. Stay put.”
And with that, I get out of the truck and, shrugging into the vest, hurry over to the SUV. There’s steam coming from the crumpled front end, and when I shine my flashlight into the cab, I see that both passengers are unconscious. One of them must have passed out after turning on the hazard lights.
Opening the driver’s side door, I reach in and check for a pulse on the driver, relieved when there is one. He also reeks of beer.
“Fucker,” I mutter and rush around to the other side of the SUV, open the door, and check the woman for a pulse.
It’s thready, but it’s there.
“Were you both drinking?” I wonder out loud as I hear the sound of sirens coming this way. Hurrying over to the road, I pick up a flare and wave it back and forth so they know where to go.
“Chase!” Jerry Coltrain, a fellow officer, hurries out of his vehicle toward me. “What’s going on?”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
SUMMER
Just when I thought that Chase couldn’t get any sexier, this happens. Watching him go from my laid-back, sweet man to the hard, alert, assertive cop was maybe the hottest thing I’ve ever witnessed.
I’m so turned on right now, I’m throbbing between my legs. But I’m also a little scared and worried about whoever is in that SUV.
Chase sets out the flares, and with the headlights from his truck pointed at the vehicle, I can see him walk around the SUV to check on those inside. His face is hard and grim as he steps away from the passenger side, and then I see flashing lights and hear sirens. Chase rushes to the side of the highway, where he waves a flare in the air to flag the responders down.
From the darkness of the truck, I watch as Chase talks with an officer, gesturing to the SUV, and then back to me. I can’t tell what he’s saying, but every line in his impressive body is on full alert. It reminds me that when he’s with me, Chase is pretty calm and patient, but at the core of it all, he’s a cop. He’s in control, and he’s protective.
And it just makes me want to jump him.
After about fifteen more minutes of waiting as Chase speaks with the officers and other first responders, he returns to the truck and climbs in.
“What’s happening?” I ask immediately as he fastens his seat belt and starts the engine.
“Well, it’s their scene now, so we can go.” He puts the truck in gear, checks his mirrors, and gives a two-fingered wave at the first officer as he pulls out and drives around them. “Both passengers are unconscious and smell like a brewery.”
“Oh, shit.”
“Yeah. They were still alive when the EMTs took over. I don’t know what sent them into that tree, since there’s no weather to speak of. Could have been an animal.”
