“Miss? Are you all right? Were you in the accident as well?” He held a flashlight, which he ran over her body. She grimaced, knowing she must look a sight.
“I’m fine, I wasn’t in the accident. How’s Russ? His breathing was shallow, and his pulse was weak.”
“Are you a medical professional?” the paramedic asked.
“Go on and get Russ to the hospital,” the sheriff interjected. “I’ll bring Molly in to get looked over.”
She ground her teeth together in frustration and to stop herself from snapping something at him she’d probably regret.
Jake turned to her. “I’ve radioed into dispatch. They’ll send someone out to get your car in the morning. If you give me your keys, I’ll get whatever you need from it and lock up.”
“Um, I don’t need anyone to pick up my car. There’s nothing wrong with it or me. I certainly don’t need to go the hospital to get checked over.” There was no way she was going anywhere with Mr. obey-me-or-else.
He sighed. It was a ridiculously long, drawn out affair. “Molly, it’s been a long day. I started work at five and now it’s well past seven. I now have to take your statement, get to the hospital and check on Russ, then go write up a report. I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t fight me on this one thing, because, like it or not, you’re not driving yourself anywhere tonight and you are going to the hospital to get checked out. Up to you whether you want to do this the easy way or the hard way.”
He had to admit to being disappointed she hadn’t chosen the hard way. Sure, it made his life easier but far less interesting.
After she’d climbed into his car, with a huff that let him know she was doing it under duress, he’d waited until she’d buckled up before closing the door and walking around to his side. He’d grabbed the spare blanket he kept under the passenger seat, wrapping it around her. Her look of disbelief told him she hadn’t expected that. It was just common courtesy, something he’d give to anyone.
>
And if his hands lingered a bit longer than they should have, well, he wasn’t going to read too much into that.
It didn’t surprise him she wasn’t used to such a small kindness. A lot of men seemed to have forgotten how to look after a female properly. It was a damn shame to his way of thinking. There was nothing he’d loved more than taking care of Rebecca.
He squashed that thought.
“Will you be able to get an update on him once we get to the hospital?” Molly finally asked after they’d been driving for a few minutes.
He nodded. “Yep.”
“Do you think he’d been in that ditch long?”
“Possibly.”
“Are you going for the strong, silent, law enforcement stereotype?”
He glanced over at her. “What?”
“The one-word answers? I thought it might be the look you’re going for.” She ran her gaze over him assessingly.
He raised an eyebrow. “I’m not trying for a stereotype.”
“Hmm.”
“Where were you headed?” he asked, not liking the way she was analyzing him.
“What? Oh, to Haven.”
“No, I meant where is your end destination?”
“Oh, that would be heaven, I guess,” she joked. “Well, it would be if I believed in it.”
He tried not to sigh with frustration. “I guess we’re all headed there eventually. Let me try again. Where are you going after you leave Haven? You on holiday?” He’d seen the luggage in her car when he’d retrieved the small overnight bag she’d grudgingly asked him to get.
“Sort of, I guess.”
“You on the run?” he asked, irritated. He was growing kind of tired of her half-answers.