“Which hospital?” Charley asked, barely above a whisper.
“The medical ICU at Memorial Hospital in the Springs,” Derek replied as his cell phone rang. “It’s Owen.” Derek answered his phone and listened intently. “Owen, I’ll go to the place where the wreck happened right now. You know it’s not my first crash site and probably won’t be my last.” He listened again and then said, “I’ll call you back and let you know if we find anything or not. Either way, you’ll hear from me.” He hung up and scooted sideways.
“What did Owen say?” Chloe asked, letting him slide out of the bench seat.
“Owen says Sully is still unconscious, maybe due to a concussion. He sustained a laceration across his side and lost a lot of blood. But the seat belt saved him. Trish was not wearing hers and was nearly decapitated.”
“Dear Lord,” Charley whispered. “This is all my fault. I should not have left the party without Sully last night.”
Chloe instantly said, “No. This is not your fault. You had your reasons for leaving the way you did.” She gave Derek a look that said she’d explain later. “Trish was driving the car, not you, Charley.”
“Owen said that Sully’s Ruger Redhawk was snapped into the holster on his belt when he reached the ER. Owen has the gun. But he asked me to go to the crash site to look for Sully’s wallet and cell phone.” Derek stood and said, “He says both are missing from Sully’s belongings in the hospital.”
“May I go with you, Derek?” Charley asked. “It’s the very least I can do to help.”
“Sure,” Derek said as Chloe nodded. “Too bad we don’t have something of Sully’s for Spike to sniff. He’s good at ferreting out things that go missing.”
“I have a sweatshirt of Sully’s at my cabin that we can take to the crash site,” Charley offered and stood up.
“Let’s get it on the way.” Derek gave Chloe a hug and kiss.
“Charley, the kids and I can keep the puppy until you and Derek get back.”
“Chloe, thank you so much,” Charley said and hugged her. Chloe’s hug was warm and reassuring. Knowing Chloe would understand she was referring to the information about Trish’s horrendous tricks on men, she added, “For everything.”
Derek led the way to his truck and let Spike into the back seat as Charley slid into the passenger’s seat. Derek started the engine, Charley buckled up, and they were off. They stopped at Triple C Ranch-South, and Chloe raced into her cabin. Sheretrieved Sully’s sweatshirt and hurried back out to Derek’s truck.
“Owen says a tow truck is coming to clear the crash site and wanted me to get there before the truck,” Derek explained as he headed them toward the scene of the crash.
“Of course,” Charley said. “Is Owen with Sully in the hospital?”
“Yes.”
“Except for their cousins, Roy and Randy, they only have each other.”
“Right. My understanding from working with Owen is that they lost Sully’s mom a while ago. But father and son have stayed close,” Derek said. “I can identify with that because my mom and I lost my dad years ago. She and I have stayed close too.”
“I met your mom at the Halloween party. She’s lovely. Does she live in the Springs?”
“Yes, in her townhouse in a complex known as Shadow of Kissing Camels.”
“I know where that gated community is. It’s beautiful.”
They rode in silence then, and Sully’s warning replayed in her head.If it rains, snows, or is icy, these country roads can get treacherous. So be safe and don’t speed.
Derek knew his way around the countryside and drove straight to the crash site. Charley’s heart clenched at seeing tire tracks going over the muddy edge of an embankment. They exited the truck where broken tree branches and flattened shrubs descended the hillside. Standing at the edge of the sloping incline, they saw the car which had rolled and flipped, finally stopping far below, upside down against a pine tree. Charley wanted to scream from the stress and tension. Instead, she silently followed Derek and Spike into the ravine.
There, Charley stood amid the totaled car, broken glass, a fender here and a bumper over there. And blood. A lot of blood.Looking at the passenger’s door, Derek said it appeared to have been opened with the jaws of life, which Charley knew was a hydraulic rescue tool.
“Here, Spike,” Derek said and held Sully’s sweatshirt for him to smell.
Spike took off across the rubble, and they followed. The German shepherd searched, sniffed, and pawed the ground. He jumped forward, barked, and dug. Derek and Charley hurried to his side. Derek lifted a fallen tree limb near the passenger’s door, and they both saw the wallet that Spike had found. Charley knew Sully carried his wallet in his back pocket. It must have slipped out during his rescue. As Derek held the tree limb up, Charley grabbed the wallet. She took a quick look as Derek dropped the limb back on the ground.
“I think the wallet is intact,” Charley said. “His driver’s license is here, along with bank cards and cash.”
“Good job, Spike,” Derek praised the dog. Then he gave Spike another whiff of Sully’s sweatshirt. “Can you find his phone?”
Spike was off on a second mission. Derek and Charley searched the area as the German shepherd sniffed the ground. Charley remembered Sully’s window being down when he passed her ranch. She told Derek, and he said if Sully was holding his phone, it may have gone flying. They spread out wider from the car. Along with Spike, they hunted for the cell phone. When Spike barked, Charley and Derek hurried to him. His nose was in the dying yellow flowers of rabbitbrush, and his front paws were digging. Charley and Derek began rifling through the branches, and Charley’s hand hit something hard. She wrapped her fingers around a black case.
