AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He’s certainly taken with you,” she said. “He doesn’t normally like strangers.”
My heart clenched for her, but I made sure to smile and nod. “He’s a good boy,” I said. “And he’s still got a great pair of ears on him. He knew the second I pulled into the drive. He’ll tell you if anything is amiss, but you know you can call us anytime.”
She smiled up at me, relief pooling in her eyes. “Thank you,” she said. “I know it’s late. Do you want some iced tea for the road?”
It was only nine thirty, and my night was just getting started. Not that Sweet Water had a ton of criminal activity, but there was enough work to go around and I’d picked up a couple night shifts this week since I wouldn’t be able to next week. I’d be heading up a refresher course for new recruits for the next six weeks and that meant a steadier schedule for a little while. I wasn’t mad about it because it would be a nice change from constantly switching shifts.
“No, thank you,” I said as I headed out her front door.
She lingered in her opened doorway as I turned around to say goodbye.
“Oh!” she said suddenly. “Jim, it’s just always a delight when you come over. Thank you for visiting me.”
“Pleasure is all mine, Barbara,” I said, nodding to her as I waved goodbye and headed to my cruiser. I sank behind the wheel, waiting to make sure she went back inside her house before I started it up.
“Officer Harlowe?” Dispatch rang over my radio. “We’ve had some calls about a drunk driver off the side of twenty-seven over there byLyla’s Place. Can you respond?”
“Officer Harlowe in route to twenty-seven,” I said into my radio down before hitting the road. Drunk drivers weren’t unheard of in Sweet Water, but they were definitely rare. “Has there been an accident?” I asked once on the road.
“No, sir,” dispatch said. “But one of the callers said the woman driving swerved off the road and then jumped out of the car and ran across the street.”
I furrowed my brow. “Copy that.”
It only took me five minutes to pull up on location, thanks to Sweet Water being so small. I easily spotted the vacant car on the side of the road, parked behind it, and hopped out.
A muffled groan sounded from my left, and I pulled out my torch, shining the light across the street at the sound.
“What in the hell?” I said as I hurried across the street, spotting a pair of long legs flailing back and forth on the ground. As I got closer, I realized the person was stuck under the porch, which looked like it just caved in.
“Ma’am?” I said as I skidded to a stop beside the woman. “I’m Officer Harlowe with the Sweet Water sheriff’s department. Are you injured?”
“I’m stuck!” The voice was somewhat familiar with an irritated southern drawl that had me arching an eyebrow.
“All right, I’m here to help you,” I said. “Do you have any weapons or sharp objects on you of any kind?”
“Not unless you count this blasted cat I’m holding!”
I bit back a laugh, shaking my head as I studied the array of wood tucked around her hips. Quickly and safely as possible, I shifted the fallen debris away until I could see her lower back. “I’m going to pull you out now,” I said. “Do I have permission to touch your body?”
“No, please find another way to get me out of here,” she snarked.
“Ma’am, I need your permission or I can’t help you.”
“For goodness’ sake of course you have my permission, just please get me out of here before I’m eaten alive by bugs!”
I reached down, gripping her hips and hauling her backward until her body came free of the hole beneath the porch. A wiggling black cat struggled in her arms, but the woman held tight to the thing as she clambered to her feet. She didn’t even bother looking at me, just examined the cat and then gently tugged at a jar that was apparently stuck over its head.
“There,” she said. “Are you happy now?”
The thing immediately stopped struggling once it was free of the jar, instead curling up in her arm like it was exhausted from the battle.
“Sure, you just rest while I deal with this mess,” she chided the cat.
A light breeze blew between us, and the strong scent of vodka hit my nose. “Ma’am, have you been drinking tonight?”
“No,” she said, finally turning to face me.
“I’m going to need you to be honest—” I froze, my mouth parted open, my next line of questioning dying on my tongue.
