Page 18 of Stilettos & Whiskey
Was Evans having a mental breakdown? It sure sounded like it.
Captain Smith and Sergeant Bergman appeared at the top of the gully and grimly surveyed the crash site.
Yikes, Captain Smith’s uniform looked as bad as mine and he had a big bandage across his nose.
“Bring her up; the ambulance is here,” Captain Smith instructed.
“Really, I don’t need to go to the hospital,” I interjected.
Frank whispered, “Take a good look at the sarge’s face. Go to the hospital and get checked out.”
I glanced up. Shit! I had never seen Sergeant Bergman that angry before. “Okay, but I’m keeping my gun belt.”
“Evans isn’t in any position to hurt you again,” the Hispanic medic said.
I snorted. “Hospitals are dangerous places.”
“It’s okay.” Frank patted my shoulder. “You can keep your gun.”
The medics put me in a wire rescue basket and carried me up the incline. I felt like such a fraud. I could have walked. I had been hurt worse. Okay, I was still a little dizzy.
“Your family will meet you at the hospital.” Sergeant Bergman held out his hand. “I need your body camera.”
I disconnected it and gave it to him. “I bet Mom wasn’t happy. This is the second time in three weeks.”
A faint smile touched Sergeant Bergman’s mouth. “I assumed with Gemma gone, I would have some peace and quiet.”
Evans screamed, “You are all dead men. Do you hear me? Dead!”
“I don’t think any of us saw this coming, sir.” The paramedics moved me onto a gurney. “I’m pretty sure those remains belong to that woman who went missing a year ago. I think her name was Sarah West.”
“We’ll see.”
The medics wheeled me past Frank’s patrol car. “Let me out! I’ve done nothing wrong. My father is going to make you wish you had never been born.”
I shivered. He was truly mad.
“How did he ever pass his psych evaluations?” The blond medic muttered as he climbed into the ambulance with me.
“That is the million-dollar question.”
The medic’s mouth curved in an appealing smile. “Do you like Mexican food?”
“I do.”
“Once you’re released from the hospital, I’d like to take you to dinner.”
I stared at him in surprise. I was a bloody mess, and he wanted to date me? Why the hell not? Lucas had made his feelings quite clear. “I would like that, but I don’t even know your name.”
“Samuel Bradford, paramedic extraordinaire.”
“Julie Garza, slightly battered sheriff’s deputy.”
Frank rolled his eyes. “Keep it PG, kids.” He shut the door, and the ambulance drove off with lights flashing and siren wailing.
“Are the sirens necessary? We’re out in the boonies and I’m not dying,”
“It’s the rules,” Samuel replied.
