Clicking on the penlight, I flashed it in each of Mr. Handcuff’s eyes. His pupils were responsive, dilating and contracting as they should, but his sclera was badly bloodshot.
“Sir, can you tell me your name?”
“Matty.”
“Matty here is a frequent flyer,” Johns said, his teeth clenched, confirming my earlier assumption.
“Okay, great, Matty. How many fingers am I holding up?” I gave him a peace sign.
He squinted one eye closed, his left eye, then winced but said, “Two.”
“Good.” I glanced up at Johns, who eyed us warily, as though afraid Matty would lunge for me.
Little did he know I could handle myself.
“Am I going to jail?” Matty slurred.
“Yes, you stupid fuck.”
I cut Johns with a look that said,Knock it off.
“He doesn’t seem to have a concussion,” I said as I rifled through my medical kit, coming out with some gauze, a wrap, and tape. “I assume you ran a field sobriety test?”
Johns snorted. “Didn’t really need to.”
Fair enough. “Are you accompanying him to Memorial?”
“Nah, I’ll pass it off on one of the other guys.”
Right then, the other two ambulances I’d called for pulled up to the scene, taking over at the other vehicle. Thomas walked over as Johns turned an assessing gaze on me and asked, “You doing okay?”
“Why wouldn’t she be?” Thomas asked when he reached my side.
I sighed deeply. I hadn’t wanted anyone to know about my ordeal, least of all my partner. He was a great guy, and I knew he meant well, but he also had a habit of…parenting me. He’d been at this job a long time, had come to Dusk Valley with his wife to settle down after twenty years working in Idaho Falls. I’d appreciated his guidance, though I technically outranked him, but Ihatedwhen he got involved in my personal life.
I had a father of my own, thank you very much.
Not thatheworried too much about me, but whatever. Not the point.
“She had a break-in the other night,” Johns said, entirely ignorant of the tension that had taken up residence in my shoulders.
Thomas gasped. “Why didn’t you come to me immediately? You know I live right around the corner!”
Logically, sure, that would’ve made more sense than my hike through the woods in the dead of night, but I hadn’t been thinkinglogicallyat the time.
“It all happened so fast,” I said, as though that explained everything. “I went right to the sheriff.”
Incorrectly interpreting my meaning, Thomas clapped Johns on the shoulder. “Thanks for taking care of her.”
“Yeah, just doing my job,” Johns said, not bothering to correct Thomas before pacing away, checking on the status of the other two victims.
Thomas and I got Matty on his feet and shuffled slowly to our rig, where we loaded him in. A deputy climbed into the back with him and Thomas, who for once, was letting me drive.
I knew it was only because he was too overprotective to leave me in the back with a drunken wildcard like Matty, police presence or not, and that was fine. I’d been starting to get a contact buzz from proximity.
Wakingup the afternoon following a shift was always disorienting. After being awake for twenty-four hours with glorified naps between calls, it took a bit to regulate myself.
But I never liked to sleep too late, otherwise I’d entirely mess up my sleep schedule for the next night. I’d set an alarm for noon—a measly four hours after I got home, but better than nothing.
