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“Oh, that’s Lerner Carmichael, their agent, and Clancy Morris, their bus driver.”

I nodded. “Okay, uh, I’m sorry to tell you that Mr. Boyer was killed in the crash. He and Mr. Horn are at the other end of this twisted mess. Mr. Horn was being treated by one of our paramedics.”

Two paramedics from another house rushed over to help the others into the waiting wagon to assess their injuries, and my guys were working tirelessly to keep that tanker from exploding. I walked back to Cap’s vehicle and found him speaking with a couple of California Highway Patrol officers. There was a guy in the back of one of CHP’s SUVs, and I wondered if he was the truck driver.

Captain Blake turned to motion me over. “This is Lieutenant Emberly, my third in command. Ember, I saw trucks from 9 and 3 arrive. Can you meet Battalion Chief White at 3’s pumper and bring him over to meet with these officers? Let him know this is a Level III situation.”

I nodded and hurried away, winding up at the ambulance where I’d started. The body that had been in the grass was gone, and the young man who was being cared for by AB was now sitting inside the bus with his hand being wrapped.

Battalion Chief Curtis White stopped next to me. “Ember, where’s your captain?”

White was a gruff man in his mid-sixties. He rarely came out to a scene, but since this one involved a band that might have some fame, he likely wanted to show his face when the cameras arrived.

“He’s talking to CHP officers by his SUV. Follow the lights, sir.” White walked in that direction without another word, though most of us were used to his abrupt appearances and even more abrupt dismissals.

“Excuse me. Do you know where everyone is?”

I glanced in the direction of the voice and found JD Horn staring at me. I removed my helmet and climbed into the wagon, taking a seat across from him. “You okay?”

“I gotta go to the hospital to get my hand x-rayed. She thinks it’s broken.”

AB gave him a soft smile. “I know it’s broken. I just don’t know how badly, so I want to immobilize it since you said you’re not leaving until you find out about your friends.”

The guy staring at me was quite handsome. He had beautiful big brown eyes and dark-brown hair that reached the waistband of his jeans. He had no facial hair and his body appeared to be quite muscular. He wasn’t wearing shoes, and his shirt was ripped, but the ashes had been wiped from his face, likely by AB as she assessed his injuries. He was the best-looking guy I’d seen in a long time, and it was totally inappropriate for me to notice at the scene of such a horrifying accident.

“Uh, are you talking about Robert Wilder, River Ashe, Goldie Someone, Lerner Carmichael, Arlo Timmons, and the bus driver, uh, Clancy Morris?”

AB finished wrapping his hand and taped the end of the gauze before she hopped out and walked away.

“Yeah. That’s my band and our security guy, bus driver, and agent. Are they okay?” JD asked, seeming barely able to hold his shit together.

“Looks like they’re banged up a bit, but they’re all going to be okay, as best I could tell. I’m not a medic, so I can’t say for sure, but they were all talking and breathing on their own.”

JD nodded. “It was crazy. We’d just turned onto this road when a tractor-trailer barreled around the curve. I guess the guy lost control and plowed into the middle of the bus.”

His description was chilling. “The police will probably want to speak with you at some point. Why were you in the back of the bus?”

JD’s cheeks turned a little pink, which was cute. “I had to pee. We’d just finished a show at The Greek, and we’d had a few beers with the other bands before we got on the bus. There were these three guys following us around, so Rowdy—Wilder—hung around with us and sent the rest of the team home. God, someone needs to call them. Where’d Kit go?”

I glanced around, trying to figure out who he was referencing. “I’m sorry I don’t—”

“Hey, JD. Are you okay?” someone yelled from a few feet away.

I turned to see the blond man from earlier with one of the band members, River Ashe, who had been sitting with the security guy on the grass at the other end of the wreck. JD stepped out of the wagon and walked over to River, both of them grasping each other and sobbing.

“Where’s Hardy?” the guy with River asked JD.

JD broke down even more. It was obvious JD couldn’t get the words out, so I stepped closer. “I’m sorry, but I believe Hardy was killed in the crash.”

I usually didn’t have to be the bearer of bad news, but these young guys with so much life ahead of them deserved the truth. I’d lost friends over my years on the job, and the news was never easy to hear.

Our lost loved ones made their marks on our psyches, and those marks would always be there. Finding out at the scene of the accident didn’t hurt any more or less than finding out later. Maybe it was just me, but I wanted the bad news immediately so I could start processing it.

“God, that’s terrible. JD, what happened to your hand?” the blond guy asked.

JD shrugged, obviously not concerned about the possible damage he’d received to his hand. I was aware of the problems that could arise with such an injury, so I opened my big mouth. “Our medic said it’s broken, but she doesn’t know how badly. He needs to go to the hospital to have it checked.”

Blondie spoke up. “I’ll take JD to the hospital because River needs to get checked out too. I’m Kit Hansen, River’s partner, and I transport the equipment for the band. Thanks to all the first responders for working so hard to save these guys’ lives. Those of us who love them greatly appreciate it.” Kit gave me a nod before he led River and JD away.