Rick looked down into her determined face, respecting the strength of character he saw there. But he also felt her fine-boned shoulders under his hands, and an urge to protect her surprised him. Years of training and experience told him not to get involved. He had to do whatever he could to keep his professional distance. If he let things get personal, the job would consume him.
Yet here he was, holding a pretty girl by the shoulders, searching her anxious eyes for something he could do or say that would do any good, discovering that as foolish as it may be, he did not want to keep his distance.
He wanted to give her more than a pep talk, but it was all he had at the moment. “Look, you’ve been through a terrible day. Don’t worry about anything until we know more. One thing at a time, okay?”
He left one hand on her shoulder and looked toward the ambulance. Joash wore an oxygen mask and was being loaded into the back of the truck. Terrell sat on the back edge with his own oxygen mask while Val and Haddie climbed inside with Joash.
Watching them, Rick remembered the long hours Terrell had sat by him in the hospital when he was recovering from the stabbing. He remembered how Val had stocked his freezer with ready-to-eat meals, and how they had cared for Axle until Rick was on his feet again. The Watkinses were the best kind of people, the best kind of friends. Now they were facing their own crisis. It was his turn to step up and help them. And he suddenly knew the best thing he could do to help.
“Stay right here,” he told Stephanie. “I need to talk with Terrell.”
* * *
Julian Hale.
Until this afternoon, Stephanie hadn’t known Julian’s last name. In her mind, he had simply been Julian, the IT guy. She had never talked to him much, because he seemed like the kind of guy who was happiest when you got out of his way and left him alone to work. Any small talk she had attempted only seemed to make him uncomfortable, so whenever he was in her classroom, she would leave. She would walk down the hallway to the office to make copies or check her always-overflowing mailbox, anything she could find to burn the time. On the days she had chosen to stay in her classroom, she had purposefully kept the chitchat to a minimum for his sake. She had thought that was what he wanted her to do.
For as little as she knew of him, he apparently knew all about her, though. Every. Detail. Rick and Terrell had told her about the bulletin board in his attic. She shivered at the thought of her school picture stapled up there. Julian probably knew her middle name and her social security number. What other trivial details of her life had he uncovered? Did he know the name of her kindergarten teacher? Or what kind of cereal she liked to eat in the morning?
Stephanie pulled the blanket Rick had given her tighter around her shoulders. What she really wanted to ask was why me? What was it about her that had convinced Julian she deserved to die? She thought she had been kind to him. What had made him hate her so much that he wanted to kill her?
Another patrol car pulled in behind the ambulance where Rick stood talking with Terrell. Terrell had slipped off his own oxygen mask, and the two men kept glancing her way. Stephanie cringed. They are trying to figure out what to do with me.
She hated being a burden. She preferred the caretaker role. It had always been important to her to be strong and independent, not needy and self-centered like her broken mother. This whole situation had slipped out of her control. Somehow she needed to take it back, to take care of herself instead of standing here waiting for Val and Terrell to make everything better for her, or for Rick Powell to feel he had some kind of obligation to become her knight in shining armor.
It looked as though the firefighters were gaining the advantage over the fire. Would the house ever be what it once was? She closed her eyes. Thank you, Lord, that everyone got out okay.
She knew this was her fault. She might not have lit the match, but she did not believe this was an accident. How else would her friends suffer if they continued trying to protect her? What would Julian try next time that could hurt them? Stephanie slipped the blanket off her shoulders, folded it and placed it on the hood of Rick’s car. She wasn’t going to let there be a next time.
By the ambulance, Rick nodded at something Terrell said, and then he turned his body with his back toward her blocking Terrell from her view. Rick leaned in closer, absorbed in their conversation. This was her cue to exit. She could slip away now while Val was preoccupied with the kids and paramedics and Terrell was talking to Rick. She had to do this her own way, but Val and Terrell would stop her if they knew what she planned to do.
Stephanie stopped a passing paramedic. He didn’t look too busy, or in too much of a hurry to get somewhere else, but it still embarrassed her to interrupt him from his work. She couldn’t just disappear, though. Taking off with no explanation would send them all looking for her again. “Excuse me,” she asked him, her voice too squeaky. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Do you happen to have a piece of paper and a pen I could borrow?”
“Yeah, sure.” He pulled a small notepad and pen from the breast pocket on his uniform. Ripping off a sheet of paper, he handed both to her. “Just keep the pen.”
The paramedic walked a few paces away, then turned. “Hey, weren’t you inside the house? Has anyone checked you out yet?”
Stephanie hated lying to him, but she hadn’t been near the fire long enough to inhale any smoke. The longer she stood around chatting, the more her window for slipping away undetected was shrinking.
“Yeah. I’m good. Thanks for the pen.” She flashed him what she hoped was a confident “I’m just fine” smile. He nodded and left her to fend for herself.
Using Rick’s patrol car hood as a hard surface, Stephanie wrote a quick message:
T and Val—I know you want to help me, but you have enough to deal with right now. Don’t worry about me.
I promise I’ll be smart. Praying for you guys. I’ll check in soon. Love, Stephanie.
And Rick—Thanks again for all your help. I’m pretty sure you literally saved my life today. I’m grateful.
She anchored the paper with Rick’s windshield wiper. When she turned, she saw Axle standing on the sidewalk watching her. He cocked his head, looking curious.
“Take care of them for me, okay, Axle?” The dog wagged his tail.
She didn’t have a plan yet, not even a clue where she should go first. She did know, however, that she could not stick around and allow Julian Hale to harm little Haddie or Joash or their parents any more than he already had done.
It was cold, and it was wet. She had no coat, no money and no cell phone. She had no idea what came next, but Stephanie put one foot in front of the other, determined to lead Julian Hale away from the people she loved.
“Are you sure?” Terrell sat on the back edge of the ambulance. His eyes blinked rapidly as he gaped at Rick. “I mean, I’m thankful for your help, but you’ve worked so hard to get back out in the field. It’s been such a long road to recovery. I would never dream of asking you to put that on hold, especially not on your first day back on duty.”
Rick kicked a pebble away with the toe of his boot. He rammed his hands deep into his pockets and fiddled with a challenge coin he always carried. Was he sure? The decision was made—he was going to protect Stephanie and help Terrell and Val. It wasn’t about what he did or did not want to do. This was about the meaning of friendship.
He swallowed down what he wanted. He wanted to be a member of his team again and to be back at work with Axle. Law enforcement was his calling. It ran in his blood. His grandfather, his dad and his uncle were all retired cops. Rick had not been one of those kids who followed in his family’s footsteps because he thought it was what he was supposed to do. Rick had