Page 10 of Burning Truth

Severn watched as Addie rallied, lifting her head and calming her expression. Jake knew they were the news now, and it needed to be covered. He pointed the camera toward Addie and gave her the go sign.

“This is Addie Kingston. Just moments ago, I experienced a near-miss secondary accident at this location. It’s a stark reminder of the importance of staying vigilant on the road. We’llcontinue with our report, but please remember to drive safely out there and watch for emergency personnel.”

Severn watched her pull herself together and get the details out. Her eyes flicked to him at one point, and she frowned, then pulled herself together again.

As soon as Jake stopped filming, she crossed to him. “Are you okay?” Reaching out, she tugged at the shoulder of his overshirt. It had ripped several inches down his back.

Shivers ran down his body at her touch, and it took him by surprise. It had been a long time since anyone had touched him.

Severn looked at the wound, at what he could see. It was burning like hell, but he didn’t think it was bad. “It’s just a scrape.”

That was an area that was free of burns, so he hadn’t really noticed that he’d had an injury. If it had been on one of his oversensitive scars, he would have been reaching for a pain pill. Not really. He hadn’t taken them for a long time. But it would have hurt like the blazes.

He appreciated that she seemed to be concerned about him. It had been a long time since anyone had even asked if he was okay.

Addie seemed to take him at his word, and they gathered up their stuff and headed back to the van. She was still barefoot, tiptoeing over the gravel and detritus on the roadway. If she wasn’t careful, she was going to slice her foot open.

“Addie,” he said. When she turned to him, he reached down and swung her up into his arms.

Addie gasped and clamped her arms around his neck, laughing lightly. “I didn’t expect you to do that,” she said breathlessly, her eyes on his face.

Severn had miscalculated. He should have swung her in the opposite direction, because now she was looking directly at his scars. It was mostly dark, but there was a lot of illuminationfrom the emergency services’ floodlights, and he knew she was getting an eye full.

As soon as he could, he set her down at the side of the van. Addie smiled up at him as if they actually were in a relationship, her hands lingering on his chest.

“Addie? Are you okay?”

Severn had been aware of the short, muscular man approaching from the left, but he didn’t want to put Addie down until they were at the van.

She looked at the man and smiled. “Hey, Nelson. No, I’m fine. Just lost one of my shoes at the scene.”

Nelson stopped beside them and eyed her up and down. “Looks like you got a little close to the action,” he said, dark brows lowering over pale gray eyes.

“No,” she corrected. “The action got close to us. We were off the side when the secondary accident happened.”

“Hm,” Nelson said, looking out over the remnants of the scene, then back to her. Severn didn’t like the guy, and he wasn’t sure Addie did either.

He turned to Severn and held out a hand. “Nelson Flynn. I’m an investigator for the Ohio Department of Emergency Medical Services. I do field evaluations of EMTs and Paramedics.”

“Severn Moran,” he said, taking the man’s hand. He didn’t show any reaction when Flynn tried to break his knuckles with his grip. It wasn’t going to happen, and he wanted to grin at the little man’s efforts, but forced his face to remain calm.

Was this some kind of show for Addie?

Nelson let go of his hand and parked his hands on his hips. “So, Addie, you look good,” he said, looking her up and down. “On TV, I mean, maybe not right now,” he stuttered, color creeping into his cheeks.

Addie laughed and turned to climb into the van. “Yeah, I know. Later, Nelson.”

“Later, Addie.”

Severn followed her inside and took particular joy in slamming the sliding door in Nelson’s face. As soon as they were parked in their seats, Jake pulled out into traffic.

“He seems to be a peach,” Severn muttered.

Addie snorted, shaking her head. “He’s not, believe me. He just wants to be my fre-yend...” She said friend in a laughing, creepy voice, and Severn smirked.

He hadn’t planned on liking Addie Kingston, but he kind of did.

4

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