Sunset Ridge (15 page)

Cattle Valley: Confessions

Carol Lynne

Released 21
^st
November 2011

Excerpt

Chapter One

Luke Hatcher’s hands shook as he tightened the laces on his running shoes. When he tied the bow, his gaze went to the bloody uniform shirt wadded into a ball beside the front door. He’d worked hundreds of car accidents but none of them had been as horrific as the one hours earlier.

He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands in the hope that he could erase the images. When that didn’t work, Luke did what he’d always done when thoughts of spilled blood filled his mind.

Throwing open the front door, Luke took off at a brisk pace. Despite the predawn hour and having gone without sleep after a long shift, he yearned for the mental release only running provided. His normal stretching routine didn’t seem as important as the heart pounding adrenaline he’d learned to use to replace the memories.

Clad only in a thin pair of jogging shorts, the cold October night felt good against Luke’s bare skin as his feet hit the pavement. As he started his usual circuit around the streets of Cattle Valley, the mutilated body of the teenage girl resurfaced in the forefront of his mind.

It didn’t take a psychiatrist to tell him why the girl’s death had affected him more than all the others he’d witnessed in his line of work. Suddenly the girl’s face morphed into the image of his mother. Luke shook his head, trying to rid himself of the disturbing memory before he lost what little food he’d eaten in the last twenty-four hours.

Although the temperature was below freezing, sweat poured from Luke’s head and chest as he continued his five-point-six mile circuit around the older part of Cattle Valley. He preferred to bypass the new subdivisions that had begun to pop-up on the outskirts. Although the homes were each unique and well-constructed, they just didn’t hold the appeal the matured-treed neighbourhoods of the older section of town did.

There was one house in particular that always welcomed him. As he neared the home at the end of the dark lane, Luke slowed to a stop like he did most days. He bent over and rested his hands on his knees as he tried to control his laboured breathing.

Luke stared at the disrepair of the structure in front of him. The pillars on the front corners of the porch made the sagging roof appear to frown. If it was possible for a house to have a soul, he had no doubt the home at 226 Cherry Street would have been crying.

Luke had gone to City Hall to enquire as to who now owned the house, but received little information in return. The abandoned home belonged to no one Luke had ever heard of. The only information he got out of Carol was that the original owner was in a nursing home in Tulsa, Oklahoma and the taxes were paid yearly in cash by her estate. It was a pity the home had been allowed to fall into such disrepair.

It was hard for Luke to imagine he was looking at the same house that his mom had kept spotless with a profusion of colourful flowers decorating the front porch and walk. Of course he could have an idealised version of what it had once been since he’d been barely six when he’d been forced to move out of it after the death of his mother.

When the porch light next door turned on, Luke knew it was time to go. He stretched his arms over his head before heading back down the street the way he’d come. The daily period of rest in front of the abandoned house always served to settle Luke’s demons.

“Better than therapy,” Luke said as he continued down the street at a brisk pace.

By the time he reached the alley behind the shops downtown, the fall sky was starting to brighten. Luke tilted his head back to smell the aromatic cinnamon rolls that always permeated the morning air.

It was his own stupidity that he wasn’t paying attention to the ground under his feet. When his right foot landed in an unexpected hole in the gravel path, Luke’s knee hyper-extended, pitching him forward. He fell to the ground with a howl of pain as the sharp rocks dug into his hands and forearms. “Fuck!”

Luke rolled to his back for a few moments before sitting up. One look at his knee had Luke shaking his head. The swelling had already begun. He supported the underside of his knee and slowly attempted to straighten his leg. It was painful, but he doubted he’d done serious damage.

After a quick scan of the surrounding area, Luke realised he was going to have to stand on his own power unless he wanted to half crawl half drag himself across the gravel to the back of one of the buildings.

A noise from the shadowed dumpsters caught his attention. “Hello?” he called, hoping for help.

When no one answered and the alley was quiet once again, he decided it must’ve been a cat or some other vermin he didn’t want to dwell on. Clenching his teeth, Luke slowly got to his feet without having to use every dirty word in his repertoire although he did utter quite a few.

With the majority of his weight shifted to his left leg, Luke began the slow process of walking down the alley. Although there wasn’t anything open that time of morning, he knew Kyle was already hard at work in the bakery. If he could make it to the end of the alley and across the street without either collapsing or crying it would be a miracle.

Overhead, a light turned on in one of the apartments that lined the upper floors of the downtown shopping area. Luke stared up at the welcoming light. “Hello?” he shouted towards the apartment window.

Several moments later, Deacon McConnell parted the white cafe curtains and stared down into the alley. Luke waved his arms over his head while trying to maintain his balance. He pointed towards his injured knee.

Deacon nodded before letting the curtains fall closed. It took close to five minutes, but eventually the back door of
Falling Limbs Creation
s opened. “Something wrong?” he asked.

“A hole in the road got the better of my knee. Mind if I use your phone to call someone to come get me?” Luke asked.

With the aid of an intricately carved cane, Deacon made his way into the alley. As far as Luke knew, no one in town had dared ask Deacon how he’d damaged his leg. It wasn’t that they were afraid of Deacon, but the man definitely didn’t put out the kind of vibe that welcomed conversation.

Deacon gestured towards an older model Jeep. “Stay there and I’ll pick you up.”

With the sweat drying on his skin, Luke began to shiver in the cold morning air. He glanced towards the dumpster again. Why did he feel like someone was watching him? He narrowed his eyes and tried to see through the darkness to what was hidden in the shadows.

The Jeep pulling up beside him drew his attention away from the eerie feeling. He opened the door and carefully hoisted himself into the passenger seat. “You have a cat?”

“Yeah,” Deacon answered. “Why?”

Luke nodded towards the dumpster. “I heard some noises. Just wondered what it could be.”

“Tabby’s inside sound asleep in my bed. Must’ve been someone else’s cat.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

* * * *

With his knee in a brace, Luke reported for work early Monday morning. He’d spent the remainder of Sunday in bed and stretched out on the couch, but despite the hours of rest, he was exhausted. For the first time since becoming an Emergency Medical Technician, Luke couldn’t escape an accident scene.

His first stop was Leo Burkowski’s office. With the assistant chief on the phone, Luke waited patiently just outside the open door.

“Yes, Ma’am, I completely agree,” Leo replied into the phone. “I’ll send a few of my men over around lunch-time so they can get a better feel for what you need.”

Luke’s spine stiffened. With his knee functioning at less than one hundred per cent, he had a bad feeling he’d be one of the guys sent to the school. The car accident that had resulted in the death of seventeen-year-old Kati Hargrove and the life-threatening injuries of her eighteen-year-old best friend, Clint Stowers had cast a dark cloud over the entire town.

Leo hung up the phone before motioning Luke into his office. His gaze went to the heavy black Velcro brace around Luke’s knee. “Something you need to tell me?”

Luke took a seat, stretching his right leg out in front of him. “Hyperextension, but I’m okay to work.”

Leo rubbed his jaw. It was only seven in the morning and already Leo seemed to have a five o’clock shadow. “You really think you can lift a backboard with a patient’s dead weight on it in your condition?”

“I can do what needs to be done.” Luke knew he should’ve called in sick, but he needed the concentration his job required. He still couldn’t close his eyes without seeing what was left of Kati’s youthful face.

“Principal Quigley needs help at the school. She’s called in Dr Pritchard and Dr Singer, but with over four hundred students, she needs more understanding men and women to help the children through this recent tragedy,” Leo explained.

“I’m not the best person for the job, sir.” How could Luke help children deal with the death of their classmate when he couldn’t get himself over the accident? Luke could tell by Leo’s raised eyebrows that he was about to issue an order, one that Luke would be forced to obey if he wanted to keep his job. He’d never talked to anyone about his mother except Kenny.

“I lost my mother in a car accident almost twenty-three years ago, and I’m still not over it. Needless to say, I don’t think I’m the best man to help those kids deal with their feelings at the moment.”

“Or, maybe you’re the perfect man to help them. There’s nothing wrong with being sad as long as you can help them understand that life must go on.”

“Respectfully, sir, I’d really rather not. How can I look into their crying eyes knowing first-hand how their friend died?”

Leo leaned further back in his chair and clasped his hands behind his head. “Want me to make you an appointment with Dr Pritchard?”

“I don’t need a shrink. I need a hypnotist.” Luke got to his feet. “Can I go back to work or are you planning to fire me if I don’t go to the school?”

Leo gestured to the brace on Luke’s knee. “Take a sick day. I’ll give Aaron a call and see if he’s had enough sleep to come in.”

Spending another day on the couch didn’t appeal to Luke. “I really can work. I didn’t do any damage. Dr Brown just thought it would be a good idea to wear the brace for a few days.”

“You’re a pain in my ass, you know that, Hatcher?”

“I’ve been told that a time or two, sir,” Luke agreed.

“And stop calling me sir. It’s irritating.”

“That’s why I do it,” Luke said with a grin before leaving Leo’s office. He made his way into the station lounge and eased into his favourite recliner beside Jakob.

“Wild weekend?” Jakob asked, gesturing to Luke’s knee.

Wild?
Luke snorted. He hadn’t had sex since his thwarted evening with Priest. “I wish. Nope, I stepped into a hole while running yesterday morning.”

“Ouch. That sucks, man.” Jakob tapped his fingertips on the arm of the chair. It was obvious he wanted to talk, but wasn’t sure what to say. The two of them had worked the Saturday night shift, so Jakob had witnessed everything Luke had.

“You know there was nothing you could’ve done, right?” Jakob asked.

Luke nodded before clearing his throat. Kati had died by the time they arrived on scene, but it was obvious she had lived long enough to traumatise her best friend forever. “What does it say about me that I wish she’d have died on impact?”

Jakob bumped his fist against Luke’s hand. “I’ve thought of nothing else since we cut that boy out of the car.”

It was nice to know he wasn’t the only one who couldn’t get the images of that late night out of his mind. “Have you called the hospital to check on Clint?” Luke asked.

“Yeah, but they couldn’t tell me much. Just that he spent most of yesterday on the operating table.”

“What’re his chances, did they say?”

Jakob shook his head. “Too early to say. I thought I might take a trip to Sheridan tomorrow to check on him if you want to go?”

Since taking the job in Cattle Valley, Luke had regularly checked up on victims he’d rescued. Unfortunately, visiting Clint in the ICU wasn’t something he felt comfortable with. “Sorry, I’ve already got plans, but definitely call me and let me know how he’s doing.”

Luke was saved from further explanation by his ringing cell phone. One look at the display and his mood lightened. “Excuse me,” he told Jakob as he got to his feet. He walked across the room towards the kitchen before answering. “Hey.”

“Hey, buddy,” Kenny greeted. “Just heard you were on duty Saturday night. Thought I’d call to see how you’re doing?”

“Not good,” he admitted. The truth said a lot about his friendship with Kenny. The two of them had been through a lot together, and Kenny had never let him down. “I can’t stop thinking about my mom.”

“I was afraid of that. Are you working today?”

“Yeah. Beats sitting home feeling sorry for myself. How’re things at the school?” Luke opened the junk cabinet and withdrew a package of cookies.

“Pretty bad, but I can get away if you need to talk,” Kenny offered.