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He fished the phone from his pocket and frowned. “I’m sorry, but I need to take this. I’ll make it quick.”
“No problem,” I said, feeling slightly worried by the look on his face. Was it official police business? He was supposed to be off duty, but that probably didn’t really apply in a small town like Bliss. If something bad happened, there was just one sheriff.
I tried to listen in on the conversation, but it was quick, and Prescott’s clipped answers weren’t giving me much to go on.
He hung up the phone after a few seconds with a heavy sigh, then gave me an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, beautiful, but we have to go.”
“Is everything okay? I understand if we need to go back—if you need to drop me back off at the ranch, I mean.”
He stood up and threw down more than enough money to cover our bill and a generous tip for the waitress, then shook his head again. “I wish I was asking this under completely different circumstances, but I need you to stay with me for a while. There’s an emergency at Derek Winslow’s ranch, and there just isn’t time to make the drive back out to Triple J right now.”
He was already ushering me out the door and helping me up into his big SUV before his words truly sunk in. “Oh, wait, what?” I looked at him wide-eyed as he sat behind the steering wheel and fastened his seatbelt. “You want me to come with you? On… police business?”
“Yes, unfortunately.” He frowned, glancing over at me as we sped away from the diner with lights flashing and sirens blaring. “I’m sorry about this. It’s not quite what I had in mind when I said I’d treat you to a nice, relaxing date.”
“It’s okay.” I tried to keep my voice from trembling. I wasn’t sure why I was so nervous—aside from the fact that I’d never been to a crime scene with a police officer before. Still, it wasn’t like I’d have to do anything but sit in the SUV and be scared, right? God, I didn’t even want to think about it. “I just hope everyone is okay,” I said, pushing those other thoughts aside and trying desperately to calm my nerves.
He didn’t answer, but I wasn’t sure if that meant things reallyweren’tokay or if he was just focused on getting us there in one piece as we flew down the bumpy, winding roads.
I didn’t have to wonder too long. With a turn that would have made most racecar drivers jealous, we zipped into a driveway that I hadn’t even noticed from the road and pulled up to a stop in front of a plain but well-kept brick house.
“Stay here,” he growled, all business as he opened his door and stepped out into the night air.
“Sheriff, over here!” A woman was shouting and waving frantically. “It’s Derek! He needs help and the paramedics aren’t here yet.”
Prescott took off running in that direction without even closing the door behind him. I craned my neck and could see a man lying on the ground. I couldn’t tell what had happened or how bad it was, but he clearly needed help.
As a nursing student, I was a trained first responder. I knew that these initial minutes could mean the difference between life and death for the man on the ground. Without thinking, I got out of the SUV and ran over to join Prescott.
Once I got closer, I could see it was a head wound. I stopped, a moment of panic overtaking me, but then my training kicked in and I knelt next to Prescott. “I’m a nursing student. I can help. Do you have a first aid kit?”
His brow furrowed and I could tell he was conflicted about the thought of me getting involved. “Back of my vehicle,” he said. “We just need to try and stop the bleeding. Cole and the paramedics should be here any minute.”
I took off for the first aid kit without another word. I was still nervous, but all the training I’d had over the past couple of years was thankfully overriding my initial surge of fear.
The ambulance and Cole’s police car were both pulling up as I made it back from Prescott’s SUV with the first aid kit, and I gladly handed it over to more experienced hands. I took a step back, doing my best to stay out of the way while staying as close to Prescott as possible.
Cole walked up and gave me a curious look but didn’t say anything. Instead, both men turned their attention to the woman who had been tending to the injured man. They took her aside while the paramedics stepped in and started loading the man onto a stretcher.
“What happened to Derek?” Prescott asked the woman. “Did you see anything?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t see. I was inside when I heard him cry out. He was stumbling up from the barn when I found him. He’d just gone out to check on the horses for the evening and—” She drew a ragged breath and let out a little sob before getting herself back together. “He was bleeding. There was blood everywhere. I tried to get him inside, but he passed out right there. That’s when I called the ambulance.”
Prescott looked over at Cole and nodded. “Stables.”
“On it,” Cole said, taking the flashlight from his belt and switching it on.
The two men took off toward the stables while the woman and I fell in line behind them. Prescott looked back over his shoulder and stopped. “Katie, Daisy Lynn—you two should stay by the house. We don’t know what we’re going to find.”
“I’m coming,” the woman—Katie—answered, her voice stronger than it had been just moments ago. “If whoever did that to my brother is still down there, well… God help them.”
Cole and Prescott both raised their eyebrows but didn’t argue. And I sure as hell wasn’t going to go back up to the house by myself.
I started having second thoughts as soon as they opened the stable doors and peered into the darkness.Oh, my God. If someone jumps out, they won’t even have to come after me. I’ll seriously just die.
Thankfully, the place looked a lot less menacing once the overhead lights flickered on. “There.” Prescott pointed to a bottle and a syringe lying on the dirt floor. “What is that?”
Cole produced a small plastic bag from his pocket and carefully picked it up with his shirttails before turning it to read the label. “Monensin. Some kind of… medicine?”
