AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He’d bet the two of them had more training than anyone in a fifty-mile radius.
From the tight look on Tai’s face, his partner obviously agreed. He waggled his phone. “I’ll call it in anyway. Can’t hurt.”
Bridger urged the Jeep on faster, not bothering with a reply. He should have insisted she let him and Tai guard her. Should have swept her truck for IEDs. Should have….
He shoved the unhelpful thoughts into the black box that held all the useless emotions he refused to dwell on. The only thing that mattered now was Jane.
By the time he took the exit on two wheels, he’d reviewed his field training. Stabilize the patient, then transport.
Stabilize. Transport.
If she was still alive….
Tai shot him a look. “We got this. She’s okay, and we got this. You hear?”
He nodded tightly. He couldn’t bear to consider the alternative.
The whitewashed exterior of the church loomed ahead. Smoke poured out of the windows of the one-story house on the east end. The front door yawed open, hanging from a single hinge. Flames filled the opening, roiling out along the upper jamb and licking the shingled roof.
Jane’s truck sat clear of the mess.
Please, Lord.
“I see her!” Tai yelled. “On the ground between the vehicles. Pastor dude, too.”
Body thrumming with adrenaline, he slammed on the brakes, skidding into the parking lot. Tai was out of the vehicle, gun in hand, before it stopped.
Bridger followed instantly. Heat blasted him. Broken glass littered the lot.
Jane lay face down, arms spread, feet closest to the house. He recognized the position. She’d been blown forward, away from the structure.
Tai raced to her side. “I got a pulse,” he shouted over the roar of the fire. “It’s strong.”
Bridger stopped, mid stride, and lifted a prayer of thanks, then he ran toward the pastor. The big man lay in the same position, only closer to the house.
When he reached him, the man groaned and tried to turn over. Bridger knelt next to the man and pressed a hand on his back. “Don’t move. We need to stabilize you first.”
The man made another groaning sound. “Where’s Jane? Is she okay?”
“Affirmative,” he said as he checked the man’s pulse. Fast and thready, but he’d do.
Glass shattered as the last chunk of a window hit the front steps. Radiant heat from the fire seared his skin.
He bent close to the preacher’s ear. “Is there anybody else inside?”
“Just us. Nobody else.” The big man’s voice was thin with terror.
Bridger patted him lightly on the back. He ached to see to Jane, but Tai was a premier medic, and he couldn’t risk the pastor trying to rise. The man could have a spinal injury or internal bleeding. Until the local ambulance showed up, neither of them were going anywhere.
He began feeling for broken bones, moving slowly and gently from the man’s feet on up. Tai was doing the same with Jane.
“She’s still unconscious,” he called over when he caught Bridger looking his way. “Pulse is strong, though.”
The sharp whine of a siren rose over the roar of combustion. A few seconds later, an ambulance appeared, disgorging a young guy in a blue uniform, crookedly buttoned.
“Fire trucks are a few minutes behind us,” the kid announced breathlessly. “So’s the sheriff.”
Bridger jogged over to meet him and grabbed a backboard out of the back of the ambulance. “Sounds good.”
