Sweat pouring down his face, more from the pain in his knee than the exertion, he went to the car, saw the front tire still spinning madly. He recognized this car. Had made fun of it in his head not more than fifteen minutes ago.
“Chloe!” He yelled her name, went to the driver’s side, and tugged on the door. Miraculously it opened, revealing Chloe hanging upside down, still strapped into the seat, held there by her seat belt, her head hanging at an odd angle. His heart nearly stalled in his chest. He needed to get her out of there. “Can you hear me?”
No response. She had to be unconscious. And he was scared shitless to move her.
What if she had serious injuries? Like to her spine or something internal? Removing her could be dangerous, risky.
He glanced around, the utter silence that surrounded them unsettling. What if the car caught on fire? He knew it wouldn’t blow up. That was strictly for TV and movie purposes but holy hell, if there was a slow leak, it could ignite and send the entire vehicle into flames within seconds.
Deciding he’d rather risk it than watch helplessly as Chloe was lost forever, he dived inside and reached around her. Cradled her back with his arm as he found and released the belt lock. She fell into him, her head thrown back against his shoulder, and he did his best to crawl out of the car with as little movement as possible.
She weighed hardly anything. He stood, gathered her in his arms, and walked a few hundred feet, dropping to his knees under a small grove of towering pine trees. Flashing lights cast spheres of blue and red across him and within seconds he saw Deputy Mike Vargas headed toward them.
“What the hell? Is that Chloe?” Mike stopped before them, grabbing the radio from his shoulder and reporting he was on scene. “What happened?”
Cam studied her face. A bloody gash ran across her eyebrow, and already there was a bruise on her forehead and left cheek. She felt frail in his arms, downright lifeless, but he could feel the steady thump of her heartbeat. She would be okay. She had to be. God, finding her like that had taken him right back to his own accident. He wouldn’t wish that sort of terror on anyone.
Especially someone he knew and…cared about.
“I don’t know. I heard the screeching tires and ran over here. I dragged her out of the car.”
“You the one who called 911?”
Cam nodded, adrenaline still coursing through him. He felt helpless, wished Chloe would wake up and tell him she was okay. Wished he could tell her he was sorry for the terrible things he’d said to her.
“What were you doing here? Where’s your car?” Mike whipped out a notepad.
“I was walking home from The Tree.”
“Why? Because you were drunk?” Mike’s gaze was razor sharp as it settled on him.
Cam scoffed. Vargas was Chloe’s age. A little annoying twerp when they were kids, but he’d grown up, filled out, and now behaved like the typical cop. Suspect of everyone and trusting no one. “I wasn’t drunk; I had one beer. Ask Mac. He was there.”
“And why didn’t you ride home with Mac?”
“Why does any of this matter, Vargas? You act like I’m the one who caused this accident.”
Mike shoved his notepad into his back pocket. “I pulled Chloe over about ten, fifteen minutes ago.”
Shock coursed through Cam. “What the hell for?” She never broke any laws.
“She was driving below the speed limit. I followed behind her for a few miles and she didn’t even notice me. I wanted to make sure she was all right.” Vargas’s gaze dropped to where Chloe lay still and silent in Cam’s arms. “She looked like she’d been crying.”
Guilt squeezed Cam’s heart in its ferociously tight fist. He’d made her cry with his rotten words that had been full of half truths. He was a complete jackass.
And was most likely responsible for the accident.
A siren sounded and Cam glanced up, caught sight of the fire engine pulling to the side of the road. They were trained emergency responders—he knew Chloe was in good hands.
But he didn’t want to let her go.
The moment they arrived, first-aid kit in hand, the firefighters took over. Cam stepped back, wanted to stay out of the way, but didn’t want to take his eyes off Chloe. She had to be all right.
Had to.
“Why do you think she wrecked?” Vargas stood beside him, also observing the two men checking all of Chloe’s vitals.
Cam shook his head. “I don’t know. That’s a hairpin curve if I’ve ever seen one but Chloe’s been driving that road since she legally could.”