Page 10 of Last Chance Christmas
He waited a beat, aware he was repeating himself and wondering if she was in shock, then said, “What happened to you guys?”
She blew out a long breath. “When we realized it was a prison van, we called for backup. But we couldn’t let them out of our sight or allow them to hurt anyone else. So we began a foot pursuit. At least one got away in a pickup truck with the other prison guard. We arrested one, Damien Wallace. Another shot Junior. Anthony let one go.”
He could tell she was rattled, buzzing on the adrenaline still coursing through her system. She would crash hard when it dissipated, but the police department wasn’t a one-woman show. There were other cops who would tag in when she tagged out to get some rest.
“Even if the hunt for these convicts takes days, you’ll have a chance to get some rest. You need to take it.” He counted the beats of her pulse.
“I know how to do my job, Izan.” She stopped short. “Are you checking my pulse?”
“I was an EMT for years before I became a firefighter. And I’m not telling you how to do your job, I’m telling you to be careful. Do it smart.”
“Oh, so you think I’m a dumb blonde. Is that it?”
Here we go. No matter how they met or what the circumstances were, it always ended like this. He tried to help her. She got defensive about it, like she was determined not to need help, and around and around they went.
“We don’t need to talk about this.” She tugged her wrist from his hand and stomped out some of the jitters in her legs. Or cold from the rain that had increased to a drizzle now. Dampening everything. She had a fitted long-sleeve shirt that looked like a base layer under her uniform shirt, but she could probably use a coat. “I have to get to the station so I can find out what the plan is next.”
“Collins!”
He heard that yell in his dreams. Or was it his nightmares? He glanced over at Amelia, who had her hands on her hips. “Yes, Lieutenant?”
He might’ve heard Olivia chuckle under her breath but wasn’t sure.
Amelia said, “Let’s clean up this scene and get the road open! If you’re done with your chitchat.”
That time Olivia did laugh.
Izan groaned.
“I’m going to look at the van before you guys have my evidence towed away.” Olivia wandered off.
It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her to be careful. Or ask her if she had a coat. Instead, he went to the fire truck and got a heavy broom so he could sweep glass off the road. A tow truck with flashing yellow lights made its way up the highway, headed for the scene. Everyone else backed up by the crash had been directed to turn around over the center island and head back to the previous cross street.
When he turned back with the broom, Olivia was pulling on a heavy coat from the trunk of her car and tugging a beanie over her blonde hair.
Izan let out a long and drawn-out sigh. The deep sigh of unrequited, incredibly frustrated love.
Della nudged his shoulder. “Amelia is watching.”
Izan started sweeping.
“One day you’ll figure it out.”
“In the meantime, I have a job to do. Is that it?”
Della shrugged, pushing a brush of her own beside him. “You tell me.”
Rain got in the back of his collar, below the edge of his helmet. Cold, wet drips that chilled his skin. Kind of like the cold shoulder Olivia was giving him.
Okay, fine. He was being overly dramatic about it.
The ambulance, now with three patients inside, pulled away, lights and sirens going. More cop cars showed up. One had the emblem for the police chief on the side, and a dark-haired, suited man climbed out. A woman got out of the passenger side, her dark hair pulled back into a ponytail. She wore a coat, open because she was considerably pregnant. Chief Barnes’s wife had been an ATF agent and currently worked as a liaison between city hall and the police department, often coordinating between federal law enforcement and state police as well.
Izan had heard they were having another baby, due early next year. They went to the same church he did, as well as a lot of the other first responders in town, and Grandma Collins worked in the nursery. She’d told him that another of the officers, Lieutenant Basuto, had children who were menaces, though she always said it with a smile on her face.
He knew more about them than he did about Olivia Tazwell. The woman was a mystery. He’d never seen her outside of work. She didn’t go to the same church. Grandma Collins didn’t even know who she was, but after he’d mentioned her a while back, she always asked how Olivia was doing. Every Sunday. Like she was waiting for the week when everything changed—when he brought her to family dinner.
Izan was pretty sure it was never going to happen.
