Dean looked at him in his quiet, measured way. “If I need to, I’ll pull you away from the accident site and sit your ass in the truck.”
“You won’t have to.” He had no doubt that Dean would follow through with his words.
“Right. Let’s roll,” Chris said.
Together they hurried out to the rig, Dean behind the wheel, Chris in the passenger seat and Brodie sat in the back. It wasweird that the rest of the team wasn’t with them, but they were still searching on foot. Brodie wanted to tell Gene that it wasn’t necessary, that Cerise had been found, but he knew he couldn’t do that. It wasn’t his place.
The drive seemed to take forever and the sun sunk lower in the west, spreading rays of orange and pink across the darkening sky. It was beautiful to look at, belying the dark cloud surrounding him.
“How much farther do we have to go?” he asked Dean.
“In about half a mile we’ll be at the scene.”
“Thanks.” He would use that time to attempt to drain all his emotions. He needed to go back to the paramedic he was before he quit. Get to the place in his mind where he was able to not feel anything when dealing with victims.
They rounded the corner and Dean slowed the rig. Brodie moved to the right to see out the front windshield. There were three police cars, but he couldn’t see the vehicle that had been involved in an accident. As they got closer his gaze narrowed in on the little boy wrapped in a blanket.
“Shit, that’s Finn.” His stomach dropped to his feet.
“Get ahold of yourself, Dice,” Dean cautioned.
“I’m good, Dean. I’m good.”
The second the rig stopped, he had the door open and he rushed over to where Finn stood, with a police officer close by. The boy must have heard the pounding of footsteps because he looked up quickly. When he saw it was Brodie, the relief on Finn’s face was palpable. The boy dropped the blanket and closed the short distance between them.
Brodie squatted down and hauled him close. “Are you okay? Do you hurt anywhere? Where’s Cerise?” Looking over at the accident scene, there was no sign of Cerise.
“I’m okay. My chest hurts from the seatbelt, and I hit my leg on the door, but Cerise promised she’d keep me safe and she did.”
Brodie was glad that he was okay, but where the hell was Cerise?
“Dice, get your ass over here,” Chris called out, urgency lacing his tone.
Brodie took a few seconds to hug Finn again. “You stay with the officer. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Help Cerise, Brodie. Please?” The boy’s face crumpled and tears ran down his cheeks. Brodie’s stomach dropped but he would push it all aside because Cerise needed him. And he would do everything in his power to save her.
Every bonein Cerise’s body ached. Even her eyelids hurt. She tried to shift to get into a more comfortable position but that only caused the pain to intensify to the point of being unbearable. She moaned, and hell, even that hurt.
A warm hand landed on her arm. “Hey, it’s Nadia. You’re okay, Cerise. A little banged up but you’re going to be fine.”
Hearing her friend’s voice, everything that happened floated into her mind. Being kidnapped.
Accident.
Finn.
“Finn, is he okay?” Again she moved, the need to get out of bed huge, but her body rebelled and screamed at her to keep still.
“Finn’s fine. He’s with Mitch’s parents. Brodie made sure he was looked after before he came back to be here with you. In fact, he only left moments ago to call and check to see how he’s doing.”
There was so much she wanted to ask Nadia, but the edges of her consciousness were becoming foggy, and she guessed that Nadia had given her a dose of pain relief.
“Love him,” she whispered.
“I know, and he loves you too.” They were the last words she heard before the fog engulfed her and dragged her down.
The next time she woke, she tentatively moved her legs, and the pain was a little more bearable. Her mouth was dryer than the Texas panhandle in the middle of August. She didn’t think she’d made a sound but, the next second, an ice chip was being run over her lips. Opening her eyes she connected with Brodie’s gorgeous blue eyes.
