I’m on the side of the door that is closed, providing me with a bit of cover from whoever is inside.As Althof continues to yell instructions to the suspects inside, I start approaching the back of the vehicle, hoping that since I can’t see anyone, they can’t see me at this angle either.
Once I reach the rear, I press my back against the door and inch my way to the open side, keeping an eye on Rick, who stands up and trains his weapon inside the vehicle.I crouch low, giving myself an angle whoever is inside may not expect.Then, with a sharp nod to warn Althof, I turn and move into the opening.
The guy whose legs were visible from the outside has his upper body wedged under one of those big metal tool boxes.No part of him is moving.
It takes me a second to locate guy number two.He must’ve been tossed into the cab and appears to have impaled himself on a metal or steel pole.This one is awake—wide awake—his eyes like dark saucers in a stark white face as he looks back at me.
“Do we have medical coming?”I yell over my shoulder.
“On the way,” Rick responds from right behind me.
Then he pokes his head over my shoulder.
“They look a mess.”
Twenty minutes later,the guy with the pole is in an ambulance, on its way to meet up with a Life Flight Network helicopter to take him to the level one trauma center in Seattle.
Mancuso came back just as the ambulance got here, half dragging the handcuffed driver, who only had minor injuries compared to his buddies.He went in the back of Lloyd’s cruiser to get checked out at the hospital in town on his way to the station lock up.
The third guy didn’t make it, his neck broken in the rollover.The coroner is on his way to pick up the body.
“You’re staying?”I ask Althof.
He nods.“I’m waiting for the coroner.Once he’s done, I want to poke around the van a little.See what I can collect.Feel free to get a head start on interviewing the driver.I’ll be in as soon as I can.”
Mancuso and I hop into his SUV and start making our way back to the station.
I already spoke with Savvy earlier, who assured me Bess was okay, and they were at the hospital with her brother, who’d been shot in the leg.I was glad to hear she was all right, but I’d feel a fuck of a lot better seeing it for myself.
“Actually, would you mind dropping me off at the hospital instead?”
Mancuso glances over.
“I just wanna check on things there.”
“Isn’t Sheriff Colter already at the hospital with Choi?”he asks, a hint of amusement in his tone.
“She is,” I confirm.
“And so is his sister,” he adds.
“Yes.”
“I’m guessing it’s her you want to check on,” he concludes, proving himself to be perceptive.
I guess it’s a good quality for an FBI agent to have.
“You would be correct.”
Ten minutes later, he pulls up in front of Silence Memorial Hospital to let me off.When I walk into the lobby, I spot Savvy right away.She sees me too.She’s standing by the front desk, on her phone, and points me in the direction of the waiting space on the other end.
It’s been less than an hour since I last saw her bolt out of Savvy’s cruiser, but that hour felt like an eternity.Long strides carry me across the lobby.
She notices me and is already getting to her feet when I reach her.She’s in my arms a second later, her head tucked under my chin, and her hands sliding under my jacket and around my waist.
We stand like that for a few moments, my heart quietly settling as I breathe in her scent.Then I lift my head and look down at her, noticing a cut and some bruising on the side of her forehead, just inside the hairline.I lightly touch the area with the tip of my finger.
“What happened?”
