Page 15 of Everybody Needs a Hero

Tess leaned in as they hustled for the vehicle. “Thank you so much for that,” she whispered. “I don’t know if I could have kept myself together much longer. Soothing that little girl has been tearing my heart out about Ashley.”

Holding the door for Tess to climb in, Drew nodded. “Then let’s go find her.”

Still a little inawe they were all okay, Ashley watched as Kim plopped down on the rooftop. In all the activity, blood had started to seep from the cut over her eye again. “I’m not moving another inch until someone officially comes to tell me it’s safe,” she said. “My head hurts, and I’m sick of being scared.”

Kneeling beside her, Ashley tried to think of something to motivate the woman to keep going. She wasn’t ready to stay in one place, at least not that close to the beach. As a group, they had watched from the rooftop as the wave washed back out the way it came. Things Ashley didn’t want to recognize were in the water. Bryce’s truck was gone entirely. Even with the wave receding, low-lying areas looked flooded. Still, for the most part, the street was clear enough to at least walk. “Kim,” she said. “Everything has been scary for me too. But I need to find my mom. I don’t want to leave you behind.”

“She’s fine to stay with us,” Pete said from where he stood at the roof’s edge, studying the street. “We’re safe up here. No wave bigger than that one is coming.”

Although Ashley didn’t understand how the man knew, Lou was clearly happy to hear that news and settled down beside Kim. “In that case, I’m staying too,” he said. “But if you want to go find your mom, I get it. If my mom weren’t living in Las Vegas, I’d be worried too.”

Ashley looked at Bryce beside her. “What do you think?” she asked. “Is it safe to go back down to the street?” With her brow furrowed, Bryce walked to stand beside Pete, and Ashely watched as she surveyed the street.

Finally, she nodded. “I think we can make a run for it,” she said. “But if we are going, I want to do it now. Let’s not tempt fate.”

Taking Kim’s hand, Ashley looked hard into the woman’s face. “You’re sure you don’t want to come with us?” she asked, and Kim nodded.

“Yes,” she said before wrapping her arms around Ashley, nearly knocking her off balance. “I owe you my life, Ashley. When I think about what would have happened to me if I didn’t listen…” The image of the wave slamming into the boardwalk rose in Ashley’s mind. Her heart hurt to think of those people who didn’t listen. She would never forgive herself for not trying harder to convince them.But I had no idea what it would be like, she thought.I couldn’t quite believe it either.

Ashely hugged Kim. “We are the lucky ones,” she said, her voice wavering a moment with emotion. “And remember to stay thankful for what we have.”

She felt Lou’s big hand squeeze her shoulder. “Kim’s right,” he said. “You and Bryce are heroes. Thank you.”

Tears threatened, so Ashley broke away and stood. “We will send help when we find someone.”

Bryce had come to wait beside her. “Are you ready?” she asked, and Ashley nodded.

“Yes,” she said. “Let’s go.” As the two of them started to walk toward the stairs, Ashley caught sight of Bev and Floyd falling in behind them. “Oh.” She wasn’t sure what to say. Having Bev and her dog stay with them hadn’t crossed her mind.

Bev put her hands on her hips. “You don’t think I’m going to let you out of my sight?” she said. “We’re only alive because we stuck with you.” She waved a hand at Bryce. “I’ll follow this badass chick anywhere.” For a second, Ashley wondered how long Bev intended to hang out with them. Seeing her hesitation, Bev laughed. “Don’t worry. I’m not trying to move in on your girl. Just trying to stay alive.”

Looking to Bryce for assistance, she found no help when the woman shrugged. “We can make it work,” she said. “Once we get past the flood damage, maybe we can get a ride to Beverly Hills from someone.” She moved to rub Floyd behind his ear, making the dog grin with pleasure. “Besides, I kind of like having this guy with us. He’s got a sixth sense.” At that, Ashley had to agree. She hoped there wouldn’t be any more reasons for them to need it.

Movingwith the stop-and-go traffic again, Tess went back to dialing and texting her daughter’s number. Repeatedly, the recording was the same frustrating voice or the same undelivered text message. With no means of communicating with her, all she could do was hope Ashley was waiting for her at the house in Beverly Hills when they arrived. Resting the phone in her lap for a break, she watched Drew drive. Back to hands at ten and two, the nurse looked comfortable and confident.How did I ever get so lucky to have her in my life?Tess wondered. “You’re amazing, you know that?” she said. “I’ve never met anyone like you.”

With raised eyebrows, Drew glanced at her. “Where did that come from?” she asked, and Tess shook her head.

“I watched you deliver a baby in the backseat of a car stuck in traffic,” she said. “Like it was something you did all the time.” She tilted her head. “Did you help with the delivery of a lot of babies in the emergency room?”

Drew shrugged. “Some,” she said. “Bringing babies into the world was one of the high points of the job. All things considered, we were very lucky with that one.”

“Lucky?” Tess asked, not sure having a baby in the backseat of a car was lucky. “How so?”

“No serious complications. The baby boy appeared healthy and strong. Which is truly a good thing,” Drew answered. “With this traffic, there would be no way to get paramedics on the scene. Even if there was a pathway through all the mess, I imagine most emergency personnel have responded to the disaster along the coastline…” Her voice trailed off and she glanced over, looking apologetic. Tess guessed she realized what she was implying. There were likely a lot of injuries or worse from the earthquake and the tsunami. Injuries similar to the ones her daughter could have sustained. Drew frowned. “Sorry I said that.”

Without responding for fear of acknowledging what Drew said might make it come true, Tess started on her phone again. Expecting the recorded voice as she held it to her ear, when the phone rang normally, she almost didn’t know how to react.Pick up, Ashley,she begged as it rang and rang.Come on, honey. Answer the phone.

Just about when Tess was sure it was going to roll to voicemail, she heard the word her heart craved. “Mom?” came the sound of her daughter’s voice. “Can you hear me?”

Her hand shaking, Tess couldn’t hold back the tears. “Yes,” she sobbed. “I’m here. Are you okay?”

“We’re okay, Mom. Don’t cry,” Ashley said, although she sounded close to tears herself. “But it was scary. We are in Venice Beach on a rooftop.”

A rooftop,Tess thought, hating to imagine what the circumstances were that put her daughter there. “Are you trapped?”

There was the muffled sound of Ashley talking to someone else for a moment. Then she was back. “No,” she said. “We aren’t trapped. Bryce says it’s okay to go down and start walking.”

A sense of relief washed over Tess. Bryce the U.S. Marine was with her daughter. Still, she didn’t like the idea of Ashley on foot. “Walking?” Tess asked, knowing they were miles from her house. Ashley seemed to hesitate. Tess didn’t like it. “What?”

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