THEO
After I’d rippedRyan a new one and left him in the drunk tank, I headed over to my office where Dane was waiting for me.
“Hey man, I’m sorry about all this,” I said as I sat down at my desk. He pushed a cup of coffee over to me and took a sip of his own.
“You have nothing to apologize for. Your deputy on the other hand…”
“Fuck, I know. I don’t know what he was thinking.”
“He’s just lucky no one was hurt, or worse.”
“Amen. You sure you’re doing okay? Whiplash can sometimes take a while to appear.”
“Yeah, it wasn’t a bad hit. I mean, I’ll probably be a little sore tomorrow, but nothing I can’t handle.”
“Well please let me know if it gets bad, or if there’s anything I can do.”
“I appreciate that.”
“I want you to know, I operate with integrity here. No special treatment or sweeping things under the rug. Ryan will have to deal with the consequences of his actions.”
Dane tipped his head forward and sighed.
“I don’t want to ruin the kid’s life or anything. But he can’t be doing shit like that. Maybe this will be the lesson he needs.”
“I hear you, and I’m hoping so.”
Dane’s cell phone rang and he pulled it from his pocket.
“Dispatch,” he said, hitting the call button and raising it to his ear. He answered the call, and then stood up.
At the same moment, Miller came bursting through the door. Dane looked at me.
“Sheriff. It’s Sara.”
* * *
Lights flashed from every direction against the darkness of the night. With my foot heavy on the gas, it only took me a minute to get to Sara’s street. Dane sat next to me in my cruiser, on the phone with one of his firemen who was already on scene.
As I sped down the block, the rage of orange flames appeared before us. I cursed.
She was okay. She had to be okay.
I brought the car to a screeching halt on the opposite side of the road to leave room for the fire trucks. Dane said more were on their way. An ambulance was already parked nearby, too. Did she need it? Why hadn’t she answered her phone?
I flew out of the car, not bothering to close the door behind me. Firefighters were carrying hoses to the side of the house on their way to the back. A small crowd of neighbors had gathered, but had the good sense to stay back and out of the way. I brushed past them, down the sidewalk. Up ahead, by the front door of the little black house, paramedics were kneeling on the ground, supplies scattered around them. I couldn’t see her, but I knew she was there.
“Sara!” I ran up to the front of the house and saw her lying on the ground by the steps. The paramedics were strapping her to a backboard.
“Get the stretcher,” one of them called to another, who ran out to their rig.
“What’s going on?”
“Hey Sheriff,” the same one, Greg was his name, I think, said. His voice was calm, but his movements were quick and professional. “We found her by the door. Looks like she passed out from smoke inhalation. No other injuries.”
I almost fell to my knees. I wanted to grab her, hold her, and never let her go. But I needed to let them do their job. I fisted my hands to keep them from reaching out.
“Why isn’t she awake yet though?”
“We’re working on it.”
He hooked up an oxygen mask to her, and continued to check her vitals. His colleague reappeared with the stretcher and they got to work loading her onto it.
“Let’s get out of the way so the FD can do their thing. We can finish stabilizing over by the van.” Greg said.
As they rolled the stretcher down the walkway, I stayed by Sara’s side, finally able to hold her hand in mine. Her face was expressionless, so unlike the animated Sara I knew and loved.
“You’re gonna be okay, baby.”
I fought back the tears that wanted to pierce my eyes. This wasn’t the time for that. I needed to be strong. I barely noticed the movement around me. Firefighters running in and out, more trucks arriving and parking on the street, Dane shouting orders at his team. It all registered somewhere in the back of my mind, but my focus was on Sara.
The paramedics were running some tests and prepping for transfer, but I just kept holding her hand, staring at her, pleading with her to wake up. My chest ached with the uncertainty. My mind swirled with what-ifs. How did this even happen? I leaned down to kiss her forehead and whisper a plea.
“Please wake up, baby. You can’t leave me. I love you too much and I need to tell you that. I need you to hear it.”
At a gentle squeeze of my hand, I shot upright. Sara’s eyes fluttered.
“Sara!”
She coughed, a rough sputtering in her chest. And then her eyes looked upward and met mine. And all of the emotions I’d been feeling, not just right now, but for weeks, came flooding through me.
“You’re okay, baby. You’re gonna be okay. I love you so much. So damn much.”
Her eyes softened and a crease formed between her brows. She reached up to tug at the oxygen mask.
“No, baby, you need to keep the mask on. You need to breathe in the oxygen. It’ll help, I promise.”
She shook her head, and lifted it, just an inch, so she could speak.
“I love you, Theo.” Her voice was raspy, barely above a whisper. But I heard it. It sounded like a song from heaven.
And goddammit, the tears broke through and fell now. I didn’t care. I didn’t give a damn about anything, because the woman I loved with all of my heart just made me the happiest man in the world.
I fixed the mask and kissed her forehead, over and over, whispering how much I loved her too, how much she meant everything to me. At a nudge on my calf, I looked down to see a black cat winding between my legs.
“Raven!”
Sara’s eyes grew wide, and I bent down to lift Raven up and show her. Raven sniffed at Sara, nuzzling against her arm.
“She’s safe, baby.”
Sara’s eyes filled with tears, and she raised her hand up to pet Raven’s head. But the paramedics were ready to load her onto the ambulance.
“Can I ride with you guys?” I asked Greg.
“Well yeah, but not with the cat.”
I looked down at Raven curled up in my arms. She must have been so spooked. Sara’s eyes grew worried.
“I promise I’ll take care of her, baby. I’ll meet you at the hospital as soon as I can.”
She nodded, her face relaxing. I mouthed “I love you” again right before the doors shut and they pulled away. That image of my strong, fearless woman hooked up to oxygen and strapped to a stretcher would live in my mind forever.
Another fucking fire? It had to be the same guy. A cement block settled in my gut. He came after my town. And now he came after my woman. It was time to bring this fucker to justice, and I swore I’d do anything and everything to make it so.