Sarah screamed. “Are you insane? That’s mycar,you moron!”
“Whoa, whoa,” Beck said, but she shoved her way right past him and up to me. Her face was red with panic and fury, and it looked like she had now completely lost it. That wasn’t great. I needed to deescalate this before it got even worse.
“Are you completely incompetent?” Sarah yelled, poking at my chest. I didn’t feel it, but I could tell there was a lot of anger behind it.
“I’m sorry,” I started, squaring my shoulders. “But we’re trying to save Harold, and we have to do everything we can.”
“Ma’am, we really need you to stay calm,” Beck insisted, putting his hand on her shoulder again. “We’re not trying to damage your car, but surely Harold is more important right now.”
“Seriously?” Sarah seemed immediately offended at that. “Are you accusing me of not caring about Harold? Huh? Who do you think you are?You’rethe idiot who can’t do your job right! I should —”
Before she could continue her rant, the sound of shattering glass reverberated across the parking lot. The whole world froze for a moment, and Sarah simply stopped in her tracks. The crowd was gaping in the direction of the back of the car, and I turned to see what had happened.
I watched Ash clambering through the broken back window and reaching through the back seats toward Harold. The dog didn’t try to fight as Ash dragged him out into the fresh air. Fairly quickly, Ash had cleared the window and the car, and was standing outside with Harold in his arms. A smug look was painted across his face, and the crowd had started to clap.
Sarah seemed to have forgotten about me entirely. She rushed past the people that stood between her and Ash.
“Harold, oh, Harold, my boy!” she shouted, grabbing the dog from Ash and squeezing him against her chest. “You’re alright, oh, I was so worried about you!”
“You should take him to the vet,” Ash pointed out. “He’s dehydrated and in shock. He’ll need medical attention.”
Sarah turned toward him, but it wasn’t gratitude that she had on her face. She was still clearly angry. “And how do you suggest I do that, huh? You destroyed my rear window!”
“You’re welcome,” Ash said in return, his voice tinged with sarcasm. “You know if I didn’t do that, it’s possible that Harold wouldn’t have made it, right?”
Sarah huffed, still holding Harold tightly against her chest. “Your chief will be hearing from me. Don’t think it’s over. You’re going to pay for all of the damage you caused as soon as I know Harold is okay.”
She pulled her phone from her pocket and dialled a number. For a moment, I wondered if she was going to call 911 to report us for the perceived slight.
“Jake? I need you to pick me and Harold up.” Hearing that gave me some relief, but I knew that there was trouble on the horizon. She seemed like the kind of person who was going to make good on her threats, and I was sure the chief wasn’t going to be happy with us. “Yeah, get a tow truck, too. They completely wrecked the car. No, it wasn’t me. I’ll tell you when you get here, just hurry!”
“We can get that tow for you,” Beck offered, still as friendly as always. “Really the least we can do.”
Sarah ended her call and turned to him. “No, thank you. You’ve done enough.”
“Well, you heard her,” Ash shrugged, walking past me and back toward the rig. “Doesn’t want the second responders.”
“I’ll have to talk to you about your actions,” I reminded him in a low voice, and he shrugged, almost entirely unbothered by that statement. “You acted without instruction.”
“At least she doesn’t care about the paint anymore,” he pointed out, barely even glancing back at me.
I was frustrated with this whole mess, and still reeling from the fact that Rhea’s presence had stolen my focus so easily. I wasn’t sure why, but there was justsomethingabout her that created a fire inside my soul. I was looking forward to finding out, but at the same time, I needed to keep my head in the game while I was on the job. Mistakes could cost lives in my line of work.
The crowd slowly began to disperse around us while Sarah set Harold down under a nearby tree and looked him over. I knew this one would have quite the report attached to it, and I’d have to make sure that I included every single detail. I wasn’t sure what I’d write about the moment that the Slim Jim slipped, but I couldn’t exactly state that I was distracted by a pretty girl. Not only would I never hear the end of it, it would definitely result in a write-up.
“Ma’am,” I said softly, approaching Sarah again, though I knew it likely wasn’t going to go well. “Are you sure you don’t want us to call a tow? At least let me offer Harold some water.”
“Just leave us alone!” Sarah snapped up at me, clutching Harold as if I was about to take him from her. “Jake will sort it out. You’ll just make a mess again.”
“Alright,” I sighed, and moved away. I made a mental note to make it clear in the report that she refused further assistance. I wasn’t entirely surprised at her lack of gratitude. It was something we got more often than most people realized. There was nothing else to do here. It was time to get back to the station before the next call inevitably had us riding out again.
I noticed Rhea still standing a few parking spaces away, and my heart lifted somewhat. I approached her with a sincere smile on my face.
“Not even a thank you,” she said, shaking her head as she looked over my shoulder to where Sarah was. “How rude.”
“Ah, it’s part of the job,” I answered. “Are you still up for tonight?”
Rhea turned red and looked away for a moment. “Yeah, if you are.”
