Page 51 of Hot to Trot

Something close to jealousy ripped through Adam. Barry was a stand-up guy — tough, fair, and brimming with integrity. Yet Adam still curled his hand into a fist. He made himself relax. He had no right to be offended by the man's offhand remarks. Scarletwasa babe - a fact no man from age five to ninety-five could deny. "But you are."

Barry grinned. "Ellen will thank you for reminding me."

Adam managed a smile. He'd been to Barry and Ellen's a few times for barbecues. Ellen was short, feisty, and liable to brainher husband for ogling another woman. "I'll collect the ten spot she owes me the next time I see her. She told me money was to be made for keeping you in line."

Barry snorted. "She would."

They stood a moment, watching an orderly roll the other girl who had been extracted from the twisted Toyota through the automatic doors of the E.R. The girl still had tears coursing down her cheeks. A young nurse walked beside her, patting her arm and murmuring comforting words.

"That was a bad one," Adam said, shaking his head. He'd seen fatalities, and though no one had died as a result of this wreck, he thought it a miracle they'd been able to pull the women and girls from the wreckage. Gasoline had poured from the logging truck's fuel tank and the smaller SUV had burst into flames seconds after the unconscious driver was cleared from the vehicle.

"I heard a few moments ago the truck driver woke up." Barry dropped his voice. "He told another trooper he hadn't slept in over thirty hours and had fallen asleep."

"Let's hope both women pull through or he'll be facing negligent homicide." A charge like that would all but end the guy's career.

"Thanks for your help on this one. I couldn't get units dispatched from the sheriff fast enough. Glad you were close, or things could have been much different."

"No problem. I'm here anytime you need me."

"The next time we need to get someone out of a burning vehicle, you'll be at the top of our list." Barry stuck out his hand and gave Adam's a brief hard shake. "Later, Hinton."

Adam watched his friend walk out the automatic doors into the Texas twilight and wondered if he should have become a trooper. Troopers didn't build the relationships Adam had built with the citizens of Oak Stand, but they didn't have to listento looney tunes like Harvey Primm. State troopers dealt with danger and adrenaline. Not parking tickets, property disputes, and dog poop.

"Chief Hinton?"

"Yeah?" Adam turned to face the desk nurse, Lori.

"We got word from Shreveport that Destiny's mother pulled through surgery. She's still critical, but alive. Do you mind delivering the news? I've got to take a bedpan to someone in the waiting room. Stomach virus."

Adam made a mental note to wash his hands. Thoroughly. "Sure."

As he approached the bay where Destiny lay, he heard the murmur of voices and paused to listen.

"And then that cute cop?" one girl said, probably the one who had just arrived from radiology.

"Chief Hinton?" Scarlet asked.

“Yeah, the guy that looks like that quarterback? The one for the Bengals? But older, of course, well, he set me on the grass and ran back. The door was stuck and he kept pulling at it, using his foot against the side of the car and everything. I could tell things were bad, you know? 'Cause he kept looking at the ground-"

"I had blood all over my face, but I saw what he was looking at." He thought that was Destiny's voice. "I could smell it, too. It was gasoline. I was so freaked because my mom was still in there."

"Yeah, he'd already got my mom out from the other window," the other girl said.

"So then he kicked the glass out, reached in, and rescued my mom. It was crazy, because a few minutes later, our car caught on fire." Destiny’s voice wavered with emotion.

He heard Scarlet's intake of breath. ''Are you serious?"

"He, like, totally saved my mom's life," Destiny said. “Well, I hope he did."

Nothing was said for a moment, so he pulled back the curtain.

"Hey," Destiny said, turning toward him, "we were just talking about you."

Scarlet glanced at him. He wondered if he detected a newfound respect in her eyes. "The girls told me about your heroics. You saved her mom.”

"Maybe." Destiny's quietly spoken word deflated the mood.

Adam stepped inside, careful to leave the curtain slightly open. There was no family member with the girls and he didn't want to make either of them feel uncomfortable. "The desk nurse got word from Shreveport. Your mother is out of surgery and is stable."

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