Deadly Reunion (The Taci Andrews Deadly Series) (23 page)

“I’d rather you didn’t, I really
am
fine. Seriously, isn’t there something more important you could be doing than sitting here and taking care of me?” I asked.

Sean’s smile widened and he chuckled softly. The EMT person returned with the collar and handed it over. “Probably, but right now you’re top priority. Now be a good girl and hold still while I put this on you.”

That brought a half hearted smile to my lips but that was about all he was getting; I was still annoyed with all the commotion we were causing in the middle of the street.

“There, how does that feel?” he asked when he finished fitting it around my neck.

“Snuggly soft, thanks,” I muttered.

He grinned. “Anytime. So do you think you can stand or would you like to be carried to the ambulance?”

That brought me to my feet; no way was I going to get strapped to a board and shoved in an ambulance. It was bad enough that I was wearing the neck brace, no sense in giving the gathering crowd anything more to gawk at.

“I’m great, just lead the way,” I replied as cheerfully as I could muster. The neck brace was really uncomfortable.

Taking my arm he guided me towards the back of the ambulance while our entourage followed closely behind. I breathed a sigh of relief when I was finally in the back of the truck and out of everyone’s view.

“Oh man, is she going to the hospital? Do I need to go with her? I might need some testing too,” the kid’s voice whined from beyond the ambulance doors.

I rolled my eyes. Yeah, a brain scan might do him a world of good.

“Is there any chance we can hurry things up a little bit here? I’m on my lunch hour and my boss gets a little cranky when I’m late getting back,” I said, watching as a blood pressure cuff was strapped to my arm.

“Maybe he’ll be a little more forgiving if he knew you were in a car accident. Where do you work? Would you like us to call him?” my new friend asked as he pumped up the blood pressure cuff, assessing eyes watching the machine off to my right for the numbers to pop up on the screen.

“I’m a reporter for the Riverdale Times and no, I don’t want you to call him,” I said quickly.

He paused while taking off the blood pressure cuff, his brow furrowed in thought. “Taci…as in Taci Andrews? Aren’t you the one who did the piece on the big drug ring bust a month or so ago? That was some piece you reported, I had no idea something like that was going on in Riverdale.”

I smiled. The drug ring bust had been huge news in a town like Riverdale. What had started as a filed missing person’s report ended up at the new construction site out on the highway with a drug ring working under the guise of a construction company. With the help of my partner in crime Annie we snooped around an old farmyard and discovered the barn was being used to repack and transport the drugs. We could have gotten in and out with no problem had we not gotten caught by the bad guys. Things got a little hairy for a moment there until I was able to distract the bad guys so we could make our escape but not without consequences. It’s surprising how firing a gun can make a room filled with formaldehyde suddenly explode. Who would have guessed?

“That’s me alright, I’m glad you liked the story. So, do you think we might be able to wrap things up here without a trip to the hospital today?” I asked hopefully, giving my best flirtatious smile. A shadow passed the back of the ambulance doors, drawing my attention. Parsons stood a few feet away from the doors seemingly uninterested in what was going on. The stiffness in his shoulders told me otherwise.

“Your vitals look good, you don’t have any obvious fractures or bruising and by your smart assed comments I’d say you’re in pretty good spirits so no, I don’t think this warrants a trip to the hospital. I just need to get some paperwork filled out for you to sign and then you can be out of here,” Sean reported back.

Breathing a sigh of relief I sat up, swinging my legs over the side of the gurney.

“Great, let’s do it then,” I replied, watching him pull a clipboard off a shelf and begin the task of filling out the forms.

“Ok Taci, I need you to sign here stating you were offered a trip to the hospital and declined and then once again on the sheet underneath. Oh, and what are you doing this Saturday night about 7:00?” he asked smoothly, catching me off guard.

I blushed, I couldn’t help it. It’d been awhile since somebody asked me out and by the way I saw Parsons straighten up before stalking away I was pretty sure that’s what was happening. Now had Parsons actually acted like he might have cared about my well being I probably would have blown off the invitation on the off chance I would hurt his feelings. However, since Parsons was a dumb ass and wounded my pride I wasn’t exactly in the mood to spare his feelings. “Actually I don’t have a thing going on. What did you have in mind?”

“I’ll surprise you. So, can I plan on picking you up at 7:00?” Sean asked, scrawling his signature at the bottom of the paperwork underneath mine. Ripping off a page he handed me a copy, his hopeful eyes watching mine.

“7:00 it is. See you then,” I replied sweetly, sliding off the gurney and out of the ambulance.

My car had been hooked to the back of a tow truck while I was inside playing with Sean and I was disappointed to see the hanging bumper was no longer hanging but was now sticking out my backseat window. Great. Resignedly I walked over to give the tow truck driver the address to my repair shop before watching my car be towed away.

“Looks like your ride is leaving without you. Can I give you a lift somewhere?” Sean’s voice spoke from behind me. I turned towards him, smiling in relief. I’d been so remorseful at the thought of my car going back to the shop that I hadn’t considered how I was going to get back to work.

“I’m heading to that side of town Harmsen; I’ll drop her off,” Parsons voice came out of nowhere, making me jump.

I turned towards Parsons, somehow managing to keep the shock from my face. From the tight set of his jaw I could tell he was pissed and I could only imagine why. Parsons isn’t exactly what you would call an “open book” sort of guy.

Sean took a step closer to me, a frown on his face. “It’s not a problem Parsons, I think I can handle it. Besides, aren’t you on duty?”

Tony gave a slow smile, shaking his head. “Just got off duty when the call came in so no, I’m not. But I believe you are and I’d really hate to see you get in trouble.”

I narrowed my gaze on Parsons, letting him know I didn’t appreciate his interference before turning back towards Sean. Reaching up I pulled the forgotten collar from my neck and handed it over.

“It’s alright Sean, Tony’s an old….friend and can drop me back off at work. I’ll see you Saturday night,” I assured him.

Sean looked as though he wanted to argue but since he didn’t have much of a leg to stand on he let it drop.

“Saturday night then,” he agreed, flashing me a toothy grin before walking away.

Turning back to Parsons I eyed him expectantly.

He met my gaze unflinching, giving a shrug. “What?”

Author Biography

Amy is a lifetime resident of the town of Clinton, Iowa and resides there with her husband Dan and their two children, Emily and Brody.

Visit Amy’s website at
www.amymanemann.webs.com
or write her at
[email protected]
.