Mia scoffed. “Uh-huh. Right. Like I’m really going to call some stranger back without any more info than that?”
Her finger hovered over the delete icon, but something kept her from tapping it. What if this wasn’t some kind of hoax? Or what if it related to the money the foundation owed her? She pressed the dial button.
“The number you are trying to call has not set up voicemail. Goodbye.”
“Huh.” She ended the call and pulled out of the parking lot.
What had she accomplished today? She still had no money to sign up for her classes. Her counseling degree was still out of reach. And her palms were still sweaty after seeing Jackson Stewart from a distance. She’d managed to teach his brother for a whole two years without a single glimpse of him.
Looked like her luck was changing. And not for the better.
Mia had one more stop to make, and then she could return home. She dialed her cousin Anne Marie’s phone. It went to voicemail.
She frowned, uneasy. “Anne Marie, it’s me, Mia. I’m going to get Gus’s medication now, then I’ll be home. How has she been today? Call me if I need to pick up something else before I head home.”
Call me so I know you’re actually taking care of her.
The temptation to steer toward Gus’s house was strong. But Gus needed her heart medication refilled, and the pharmacy closed at six. She wouldn’t have a chance to come back into town.
Her cousin was a grown woman. She was popular, beautiful, and educated.
And Mia didn’t trust her one bit.
Two
The station alarm tripped, followed by multiple radios squawking. Chairs scraped against the linoleum floor. The paramedics inside Renegade Ambulance Station One stood silently, waiting for the dispatcher. A half beat later, the radios came alive. Static burst from multiple locations in the rooms.
“RAS 1, priority call. Two-vehicle collision, Salvage Road, just west of Southwold. Multiple injuries, confirmed entrapment.”
“Doc! We’re up!” Swanny called out. The team had called Jackson Doc ever since they’d learned he’d been a combat medic in the military. That seemed like a lifetime ago.
Swanny tugged a Renegade Ambulance Services cap over his flaxen curls, casting a shadow on his blue eyes, and snagged the trauma bag, his normal saucy grin missing. He was tall and lanky and still had a touch of a South Carolina accent in his voice. Some people thought he was a bit too casual, but there wasn’t anyone Jackson trusted more to have his back.
The dispatcher continued. “One vehicle overturned, at least two victims. Fire and law enforcement en route.”
“Good. That means the firefighters will have the Jaws of Life with them.” They’d need them if the collision had made it so the car doors were jammed.
Jackson swallowed the rest of his Mountain Dew and dropped the empty can into the blue recycling container on his way out of the room. The two men grabbed their gear and rushed outside into the thick August air. The suffocating heat enveloped them.
The bay where the ambulance was normally parked had an electrical issue, so the vehicle remained parked on the side of the building while the electricians worked. Swanny ran around to the driver’s side and slid behind the wheel. Jackson swung up beside him and slammed the passenger door.
The moment Swanny started the engine, Jackson reached up and flipped the switches to engage the sirens and the flashing white and red lights.
He pushed the button on his radio. “RAS 1, Ambulance 15 en route.”
A short burst of static came through the speakers, followed by the dispatcher’s voice. “Roger. RAS 1 responded and en route. RAS 2, stand by.”
Ahead, the cars were moving to the side to allow the ambulance passage. Swanny blared the horn twice, warning oncoming traffic at the red light that he was going through. He slowed, making sure all the traffic had come to a standstill before moving through the intersection.
Jackson drummed his fingers on his thigh. He had no patience for small talk. Adrenaline stormed his system. His entire body hummed with the need to move. When his jaw began aching, he realized he had it clenched. Opening his mouth wide, he stretched his jaw.
“Relax, Doc. We’ll be there in two minutes.”
Swanny, he knew, understood Jackson’s need for action.
Just as his colleague promised, two minutes later, they were on scene. The local fire department had already arrived and set up flares and traffic control. He shook his head the moment he saw the two vehicles involved in the collision. One had struck the other with enough force that the second car had spun full circle and blocked the opposite lane. Its entire front end looked like an elephant had wandered up and sat on it. The firemen would need to use their Jaws of Life to get the person out of that car. There was no way Jackson would be able to extract the victim without assistance. The car that had caused the accident made him swallow a familiar tightness in his chest. He’d known too many people who’d been killed in traffic accidents, including his stepfather, to misunderstand what he saw at a glance. The man’s head rested on the doorframe, eyes open and staring, the window glass shattered, his neck at an odd angle. Jackson was no coroner, but as a medic and a paramedic, he’d seen broken-neck victims before.
Quietly, to himself, he murmured a prayer for the families of both victims and for the survival of the second one. Then he got to work.
