Page 36 of Ultimate Freedom

Pounding the wheel to release some of his rage, he didn’t see the dark shadow peering inside. Once he understood the man wanted to talk, he rolled down his window slightly. “What’s up?”

He saw the badge held close and then looked at the man. “My wife needs to get to the hospital. She’s having a baby. Your car is still functional, man. I need you to drive us.”

“Hey, there’s a huge roadblock ahead or haven’t you noticed. I’d be glad to help you out but not sure what can I do.”

“Look, I’m a cop. Name’s Lloyd, officer Lloyd Roman. I’ve radioed the ambulance to meet us up ahead. But it’s too treacherous to carry her that far. We’ll need you to drive us there. I’ve checked and the shoulder here is clear most of the way. If we have to, we can push the few vehicles out of the way to make room. Please, man. It’s her first baby and we’ve waited so long for her to get pregnant.”

Already undoing his safety belt, Whit reached for his heavy jacket. “I’ll help you bring her here. It’s pretty hazardous out there. Two of us will be better. Where’s your car?”

“Christ. Thank you, man. Thank you. We’re just a couple vehicles over this way. Got hit from behind by some speeding asshole who shouldn’t be on the road.”

Whit forced open his car door against the raging winds and followed the dark character in front of him. A few feet away, they came upon a truck with a woman slumped in the front seat. When the fellow opened her door, Whit heard the scream of pain she couldn’t stop. “Honey, this guy says we can move over to his car, and he’ll get us past this mess to where the ambulance is waiting.”

The woman looked toward Whit for as long as it took for her drenched eyes to thank him before her husband undid her seatbelt and scooped her into his arms, blankets and all.

Just as he turned to head back in the direction of Whit’s car, in his haste, his foot slipped. Without Whit grabbing his shoulder and holding him upright until he gained his footing, he’d have gone down with his precious cargo.

Christ, that was close.

Walking beside them, his hands taking some of the weight, Whit guided them back to where his car waited with the heater still keeping the inside warm. He yanked at the back handle, having to eventually take off his glove and use his extra strength to force it open. Within minutes, he helped the younger man ease inside with his wife and closed them into the warmth. Then he got behind the wheel.

“If you can get around the car in front, the rest of the way isn’t too bad. It’s gonna be tricky though as you can’t go too far over, or we’ll lose the gravel.”

“Okay, don’t worry. I’ve lived in Alaska all my life. Man, I’ve driven in these kinds of conditions and worse. It’s the other crazies on the road one has to worry about.” While he talked, he put the SUV in low and began to steer in the direction he needed to go.

As his passenger had warned him, the car in front proved to be a problem. Trying to go around would be as tricky as hell. He stopped. “Wait here. I have an idea.” Whit again left the vehicle and tracked through the snow to gauge how much room they actually had. In seconds, he was back. “Hey officer, come with me. We have to push this guy out of the way before I can get around him. There’s room.”

In the next few minutes, having the driver help by steering, Whit and Lloyd were able to maneuver the car a few feet over, giving them the space they needed.

Returning to their own vehicle to see the woman again writhing in pain, Whit settled in. Playing the wheel like a maestro, they were soon past the worst part. Now, just to keepthe car from sliding over. His hands were slick as he clutched the steering wheel, his muscles tense from controlling one-point-eight tons of determination that wanted to go in its own direction. Working the brake and gear shift, he managed to move forward a few feet at a time until he saw the clearing ahead.

Unaware that he’d held his breath most of the way nor had he heard the beseeching screams, moans, and loving praise from behind, he’d had one thought only. Focused within an inch of his life, he’d kept them from sliding too far or tumbling over into the ditch and had saved the day.

Finally, they saw strobe lights shining in front and the ambulance waiting. Once they pulled alongside, and while the attendants were strapping his wife to a stretcher, Lloyd gave Whit his card. “I’ll never forget you. Please. Contact me.”

“You bet. I need to find out if it’s a boy or a girl.”

“We already know. It’s a boy. And I’ll tell him this story about a storm and stranger from Alaska. Thank you.”

They hugged… a shared moment neither would ever forget.

Feeling much better than he had earlier, Whit continued to drive the ten minutes into Atlanta and headed for the first hotel he found. He desperately needed a good night’s sleep.

Once he approached the reservation desk to sign in, he heard the best news he could hope for. The storm was now headed to the coast, and they expected the airports to be open within a few hours for most flights west.

Chapter Twenty

Orville Blanshard strongly doubted he’d be hearing any good news from Human Services. Though he’d known Beth in the days before Charlie came along, and they had spent good times together, she’d also worked the streets back then. A lot of men had known that girl.

The one thing he remembered about the bitch, she’d been emphatic about using condoms, carried them around herself. In those days, he’d listen to his ladies, follow their rules. Not like today. Now he was the rule maker and to hell with anyone else’s wishes.

Of course, everyone knew that rubbers weren’t a hundred percent safe so it could be that Charlie was his blood relative. Actually, he didn’t really give a rat’s ass. What he wanted was a model, and that youngster had it. After he’d looked over the images he’d taken last time they’d been together, he’d seen something special. Charlie was photogenic as all hell.

Of course, the bitch had bolted with the kid, and it took him forever to find her. Not that she’d been happy to see him; in fact, she’d been furious. If he hadn’t given her his last bag of cocaine, he doubted she’d have even spoken to him. And he’d held on to that stash for himself, had paid top dollar for the prime shit. Go figure, she’d saved his life in the end… by losing hers. Silly bitch deserved it for making him track her for so long.

Antsy and fed up with Terrace, sick of acting the role of being an upstanding citizen, he couldn’t decide if he’d continue playing the legal game or just go ahead and take what he wanted.

Waiting had never been easy for him. His disposition swung from bad to worse, depending on the circumstances and right now, boredom drove his choices.

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