“I should help,” Santiago argues.
Levi points a punitive finger toward Santiago. “Stay put.”
Blake and Santiago sulk as Levi and I get to work. Tessa and Ridge pull up just as we’re about to start. I fill them in, then it’s all hands on deck, aside from Blake and Santiago. I give Levi my spare radio and make sure we’re all tuned in to the same channel before we spread out.
Ridge starts out on the main trail. Tessa circles the wreckage of the barn, weaving in and out of the firefighters as they clean up their equipment. Levi takes the shed and secondary trail. That leaves me with the main house.
It’s not long before we find something.
Tessa’s voice crackles through the speaker of my radio. “I have an 11-24.”
Abandoned vehicle
“It looks to be a Chevy C/K 1500,” Tessa adds.
“Give me the license plate,” Jolene responds like she’s been waiting by her radio this whole time, which she probably has. There’s a reason she’s had this job for so long.
Tessa reads off the seven-digit license plate, and within seconds, Jolene has a result. “The truck is registered to Manuel López.”
“Thanks, Jo,” I chime in. “Ridge, join Tessa and you two search the area for any sign of him.”
“On it,” Ridge confirms.
I’m just finishing with the side of the house when Levi radios in. “10-54. Send Hudson to the shed.”
Person down.
“10-4,” I reply and take off in a jog back to the ambulance.
“I have a pulse, but there’s a lot of blood,” Levi remarks.
I rip open the ambulance door. “You’re needed in the shed. Bring your kit,” I order Hudson, and he jumps into motion immediately.
Jogging ahead of him, I glance over my shoulder and find that Blake and Santiago have joined us.
And they say I’m stubborn…
The door to the shed hangs open, and when I’m over the threshold, I’m struck by the scene. Levi kneels beside an unconscious Javier, who is lying in a small pool of what appears to be his own blood.
Hudsons pushes past me, but I hold Blake and Santiago back. Santiago has been close with Javier his whole life. He’s more of an uncle to Santiago than anything else.
Blake gasps, covering her mouth, and Santiago tries to move around me.
“No.” Santigo takes a sharp inhale as his face drains of color.
Hudson leans over Javier, assessing him, as Levi states, “His pulse is about sixty BPM and dropping, and he’s breathing on his own.”
“Head injury. Possible blunt force trauma,” Hudson observes. “The bleeding has slowed, which is a good sign, but I need to get him to the hospital in Jackson for an MRI.”
“Whatever he needs,” Santiago demands.
Hudson is efficient as he orders us around to help. Somewhere in the ruckus, Hudson radios dispatch to request a volunteer EMT. The volunteer arrives just in time to hop in the back of the ambulance as Hudson takes off.
“That explains why Javier didn’t come running when I yelled for him,” Blake mutters.
Santiago stands in the wake of the ambulance, biting the side of his lower lip as his brows pull together.
“He’ll be okay,” Blake comforts as she wraps an arm around him.
