“You folks need to move back,” Jake said. If the couple was under the rubble, the pieces of the house had to be removed carefully. “Let’s move the big pieces and work our way in.”
“You heard the man,” Rey said, moving to grab one end of a two-by-four stud.
Jake positioned three people who’d been helping and gave them instructions on what to move and when. He grabbed a section of roof. He squatted and then lifted, standing the shattered lumber on its end and tossing it to the side. The house looked like it had imploded, and moving the parts and pieces required slow, careful movements.
Rey hoisted up one end of a ceiling beam. Jake grabbed the other end, and together they heaved it to the side. The group tossed the rubble, piece by piece, out of the way.
“Look.” Rey pointed at the edge of a mattress.
“I’ll bet they’re right here.” Jake tossed several small pieces of lumber onto the growing stack of debris.
The mattress moved.
Jesus, his heart shot to the back of his throat. Someone was alive under there. He grabbed the corner and threw it aside.
Wedged in a bathtub, a silver-haired couple clung to each other. The man was ghostly gray, and the woman was small and frail, but she managed to offer a wisp of a smile.
“Anybody have water?” Jake didn’t know who handed him the bottle, but he ripped off the bottom of his shirt, wet the rag, and fell down on his knees. He gently patted the couple’s faces while Rey checked for injuries. His nod gave Jake the go-ahead to get them out of the tub.
“Ma’am, I’m going to slide my arms under you.”
She shook her head, refusing to release her grip on her husband. “Take him. Please.”
“We wouldn’t dream of separating you two,” Jake said. “You’re both going to be fine.”
“He has a bad heart.” Her gaze searched his face.
“Trust me?”
She nodded and released her husband.
“The chief will bring him.” Jake lifted her into his arms. She couldn’t have weighed more than ninety pounds. He stood his ground, allowing her to keep an eye on her husband as Rey picked him up.
Neighbors had two makeshift stretchers waiting at the back of a pickup. Rey placed the man on one, then Jake laid the tiny woman next to her husband.
She was right to be worried. The elderly man hadn’t spoken a single word. Jake jumped on the bed of the truck.
“Hand him up first.” He smiled at her. “Then his wife. I’m riding back here with them.”
Rey closed the tailgate and turned to the pickup owner. “Stay behind me.”
Jake took a seat next to the couple’s heads. He placed two fingers on the man’s neck and found a faint and erratic pulse. “Let’s go.” He smacked the back glass with his palm, then looked back at the ghostly grey pallor of the man’s skin.
“Thank you,” the man barely mouthed. The gratitude on his face etched a place in Jake’s memory.
“My pleasure.” A calmness settled in Jake’s heart. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this kind of usefulness. Couldn’t remember the last time his life held meaning.
Rey flipped on the siren and led the procession onto the road. Jake had no idea how far they had to travel to get the couple help. It felt like forever before they parked in front of an elementary school, where people stood in line waiting for help.
Rey got out, barking orders. In minutes, both stretchers had been pulled from the pickup bed. “This is a temporary medical aid station. I’m going inside to make sure somebody sees this couple right away. You coming?”
“No. I’ll wait here.” Jake was content to stay out of the way. He watched as the couple disappeared into the building.
His torn shirt had long ago stuck to his body, and he’d started to think his aunt might be right about getting his hair cut. He spent most of his time alone, working the horses and tending to the cows, not worrying about his appearance.
Jake leaned against the passenger-side door and waited. People came and went in a steady stream. Some needed no more than a bandage, and some would require stitches.
His high from the rescue subsided as he waited, allowing his lack of sleep to catch up with him. That twenty-five-mile drive to his motel was starting to look good. Maybe tonight would be better. Hell, he deserved nightmares for the horrible things he’d done as Johnny Darling. He’d been told so often how Holly Hoffman had huddled on a cot, shivering in fear of him. Today he still had trouble knowing what had actually been said or what was a memory—and if it was a memory, how accurate was his recollection? He was lost, except that he had no doubt that he should’ve been killed during her rescue. He’d never understand why Nate hadn’t killed him.
“You look tired.” Rey pulled Jake out of deep thought. Tom had been right about Rey looking sharp at the end of the day. Rey handed Jake a bottle of water.
“I’m good.” Jake opened the bottle and gulped down half the contents.
“So you’re crashing at the Sleep Right Motel. Hey, I’m sorry you got sent to that dump, but I didn’t know of anywhere else with vacancies.”
“I’ve slept in worse.”
“So banging headboards didn’t keep you awake?”
“Not at all.” Jake laughed, blowing off the question and getting in the car.
“Keep your head down.” Rey joined him and checked his messages. “There’s trouble at that motel occasionally. Just be aware.”
“No worries.” Jake didn’t want trouble, but he could only be pushed so far. “Where are we headed?”
“A drugstore on the outskirts of town. Tornado missed it all together, but the owner had taken his shotgun and camped out inside to keep the looters out. Sons-a-bitches drove right through the front door. The poor bastard was in his sleeping bag when the vehicle ran over him.”
“Shouldn’t you have taken one of your detectives?”
“They’re already there, along with a forensic team. You’ll have to meet up with Dalton another time. He and a couple of my men are on a call. A couple of gators were spotted a mile away from Larkin’s Alligator Farm. Rounding up and herding a bunch of alligators home could be a full day’s work.” Rey slipped his cell into his pocket and started the engine.
“Chief,” a female called loudly. “Wait.”
Jake jerked his head in the direction of the woman’s voice. The heat had to be playing tricks on his vision. He closed his eyes, then opened them in an attempt to refocus. His lungs tightened.
Holly Hoffman, her blonde ponytail flopping wildly, was running toward the cruiser.
“Jesus, I don’t fucking believe this,” Jake muttered.
His stomach rolled into a ball. Sure, they’d seen each other a few times since he’d returned to Dallas. He’d always had the sense she was uncomfortable in his presence, which made perfect sense. There was no way in hell to make it up to her. He would never try to blame his behavior as Johnny Darling on a brain tumor.
Because of their mutual friends, especially Kay Wolfe, Jake and Holly had reached an uneasy peace. Still, she must’ve been thrilled when she’d heard he’d moved away.
“You know her?” Rey asked.
“You could say that.”
She slid to a stop by the driver’s side window.
“The couple you just brought inside? The woman wants the name and telephone number of the man who carried her.”
“That would be Jake.”
Holly leaned down to eye level. Her mouth dropped open, and she stared as if she were looking into the jaws of a shark. The air stilled as Jake scrambled to gather his thoughts, which at the moment was impossible. What were the odds of running into her in freaking Connersville?
“Holly.” Speaking her name was the best he could do.
“You’re the hero she’s talking about?”
“I’m not a hero, and I’m not under arrest if that’s what you’re wondering.” That he gave a shit about what she thought, and that he’d felt compelled to announce it,
pissed him off royally. He gulped down a drink of water because every drop of spit in his mouth had dried up.
She didn’t respond. Instead, she walked around to his side of the car. She tapped on his window and waited until he lowered it.
“I almost didn’t recognize you.” She reached in and grasped his bicep. His muscles bunched as a major electrical storm shot up his arm. It was a moment that he’d never forget.
“Yeah.” He scrambled for a response. “It’s the long hair and scruff.”
“No. You’ve put on weight and your color is much better than when you were released from the hospital.”
Jake couldn’t pull his gaze away from hers. She was more beautiful than ever. Her blue eyes could pierce a man’s soul and cut straight to the bone.
“Thanks,” he said. He searched her eyes but found no hate, no disgust, and no fear. The grip on his lungs eased.
“Mrs. Barnes is telling everyone about the blond man who rescued her and her husband.” Holly’s tone hinted at surprise but not shock.
“It was a group effort. The chief and a few neighbors did most of the work.”
“That’s not true,” Rey chimed in. “If she was referring to the man who carried her, that’s Jake.”
“She asked me to catch her hero before he got away. Are you okay giving her your phone number?”
“Sure.” Jake looked around for something to write on.
Rey handed him a business card and a pen. Jake jotted down the number on the back and passed it to her. His fingers brushed hers. She jerked her hand back as if he’d shocked her.
“Thanks,” she said, backing up a couple of steps. “I’ll give this to her.”
Instantly and for no reason he could understand, Jake didn’t want her to walk away. “I hear Dalton Murphy’s in the area. Have you seen him?”
“Once. He brought a man in this morning who needed stitches,” she said. “The guy had cut his arm breaking out a window. After the doctor sewed the guy up, he was hauled to jail for looting.”
Rey cleared his throat.
Jake snapped out of his daze. “We have to go.”
The corner of her lips lifted. She gifted him with a smile before she stepped back from the car. “See you.”
“You bet.” He sounded like a tongue-tied teenager.
He watched as she hurried into the building. What the hell was she doing here? This area wasn’t safe. Who was protecting her? Was Dalton keeping an eye on her?
Rey checked his messages, then drove away. Taking the first exit, he drove south. “I’m going to have barricades set up in a few neighborhoods. Damned looters are tearing up what’s left of the town. They’re even stripping the grocery store shelves.”
“Bastards.” Jake almost regretted that he couldn’t be deputized.
“You got that right,” Rey said, muttering something under his breath. “Hey, you got pretty uptight just talking with that nurse. She’s the woman from your past, isn’t she? The one who went to bat for you and testified that you saved her life.”
“You probably already know the answer to that.”
“I don’t know all the facts, but I’m not stupid. I read far enough to know you’re right with the law. That makes you right with me. As far as I’m concerned, your past is just that.”
CHAPTER 5
Holly’s thoughts drifted to Jake again. She’d unsuccessfully tried to shake him from her mind, to push his piercing blue eyes out of her memory. The sun had streaked his hair, leaving it the color of wheat. His skin reflected long hours working in the sun and gave him a healthy glow, and he’d put on weight. From what she could tell, his body was all muscle.
Had his mind healed too?
Jake’s bicep had tensed when she touched him, sending tremors up her arm straight to her heart. Yet he’d left the impression that he hadn’t been pleased to see her.
“Excuse me. Are we done?” An angry voice snapped Holly out of her daydreams.
“I’m sorry.” Heat flooded her face. How long had she stared at the thermometer? The boy and his mother were both scowling. Holly wished for a hole to crawl into. “Your son’s temperature is normal. Try to keep his scratches clean. If you’ll take him to that table”— she turned and pointed—”the nurse will give him a tetanus shot. After that, he’ll be ready to go.”
Holly understood why the woman was short on patience. Without electricity, the heat inside the building was stale and stifling. She glanced at Suzanne. The head nurse was sending the last patient in her line out the door.
“Time to shut it down for the night.”
“Okay.” Holly checked her watch. The afternoon had passed quickly.
Suzanne, her dark hair pulled back in a severe knot, put both hands on her lower back and stretched. Exhaustion had etched a few new lines around her eyes, making her look older than her thirty-five years. Holly watched the woman, thinking she’d use the word tireless to describe Suzanne. She’d lost her husband to suicide after he’d returned from Afghanistan, and now her job filled her life.
She joined Holly, helping pack supplies. “My feet hurt.”
“I hear you. I may soak in the tub tonight until my fingers and toes wrinkle.” Holly rubbed the back of her neck.
“We’ll take turns. Just don’t use all the hot water.” Suzanne’s chuckle was warm and friendly. “The influx of injured should slow down over the next day or two. But who knows how many people are still missing. That older couple who came in a few hours ago, they were lucky.”
“What happened to them?” She’d given Jake’s number to the woman, but had been too busy to check on her and her husband.
“Dr. Abroon ordered an ambulance. They’re to be transported to the hospital in Vale City. I haven’t seen the ambulance yet. Have you?”
“No. Are they still waiting? I’ll go to check on them.”
“Okay, but come right back,” Suzanne cautioned. “The van will be loading shortly. We’ll need to be ready to go to the motel. You could get stuck here for hours.”
Holly shrugged her shoulders. Maybe she wasn’t so tired after all. “The van will come back, right?”
“Sure, but you’ve done enough today.”
Holly placed her last box of supplies on the pull cart. “I’m okay with staying. The poor woman was terrified, but she was still so brave. I want to be sure she’s okay.”
Holly walked to the back of the room and into the surgery area. She saw nurses and doctors preparing to leave. A few passed her on their way out, but she made her way to the couple, who were lying side by side. Both had IV drips that were slowly rehydrating them.
“Mrs. Barnes?” Holly spoke softly, hoping not to startle her.
The woman smiled, just a slight lift of her mouth.
Holly lifted the woman’s thin and fragile wrist. Mrs. Barnes’s heart rate was slow and steady. “How are you feeling?”
“Stronger. Safe.” The scratches on Mrs. Barnes had been taken care of, but her face was flushed. She turned her head toward her husband. “I wish the ambulance would come.”
Holly’s heart tugged. “I’ll go ask for an update. First, I’m going to check on your husband.”
Mr. Barnes smiled. “She fusses over me too much,” he grumbled. “I’m fine.”
Holly checked his blood pressure. “You are better. And you’ll be fine.” She joked with him, wondering how many years the couple had been together. How many emergencies had they been through together?
“I’ll be back.”
Holly located Dr. Abroon helping with a stack of supplies. She joined him and finished putting the last of the supplies on a cart.
“Thanks,” he said. “Shouldn’t you be loading yourself into one of the vans? They’re leaving in a few minutes.”
“I can’t leave Mr. and Mrs. Barnes. They’ve been here a long time,” she said, walking with him to where the Barnes couple waited. Holly took Mrs. Barnes by the hand.
Dr. Abroon slipped his stethoscope from around his neck, listened t
o Mr. Barnes’s heart, and then moved around to repeat the process on his wife. “It’s not necessary you stay. I’ll be here.”
Mrs. Barnes’s grip tightened and Holly couldn’t turn away from the woman’s troubled gaze. “I don’t mind. I’ll sit with them.”
“Suit yourself.” He smiled. “I’ll check on the ambulance.”
“He’s been very attentive,” Mrs. Barnes said. “I hope he’s right about my husband.”
“Dr. Abroon is one of the best.” Holly pulled over a stool and sat next to Mrs. Barnes. “Can I get either of you anything?”
“No, thanks,” they answered at the same time.
“I heard the doctor say your ride was leaving,” Mr. Barnes said. “You should go.”
“I couldn’t rest, knowing you two were still here.”
“Well, we appreciate you staying,” Mrs. Barnes said. “Are you from around here?”
“I live in Dallas. I hate to admit it, but I’ve never been this close to the coast.”
“A homebody, right?”
Holly laughed. “I had a beach vacation planned with a friend, but that was a long time ago.”
“We have a small house within walking distance of the beach. Now that our children are grown and scattered across the state, we don’t use it much. When this is over, you’ll stay there.”
“I couldn’t.”
“You can. You must. I want you to write down our number.”
“Mrs. Barnes, you’re too kind.”
“It’s Irene. I think we can skip the formalities.” The corners of her mouth lifted. “Don’t you?”
Holly located a piece of paper, pulled out her pen, and said, “You’re right. Give me your number.” While she did not intend to impose on Irene, Holly went along with the idea.
Two pops silenced the conversation.
“Was that...?” Irene’s eyes flashed wide.
“Gunshots.” Holly knew exactly what the sound was. She’d spent more than one afternoon at the gun range.
Crashes that had to be furniture being upended sent her pulse racing. She worried that Mr. Barnes’s blood pressure would do the same. Holly held her finger to her lips asking for quiet.
No Greater Hell (Lost and Found, Inc. Book 4) Page 4