Page 59

“Goldie?” I muttered, almost incoherently, as light flashed in front of me.

Shaking my head, I raised a distant hand and patted to the side of me. “Briar?” I mumbled again through the whine.

“What’s your name?” a muffled voice asked. Male sounding.

“Where is she?” I replied. It didn’t matter my name right now. I needed to know if she was okay.

“Sir, I need you to answer my question,” the same person said, the ringing becoming distant.

The hiss of a leaking engine reached my ears. Sirens wailing and the usual accompanied blue and red flashing lights blasted around me. Black, leather upholstery dangled, ripped and torn, shredded from the seat and ceiling, cocooning me in.

“Is she okay?” I asked, pushing at the hand that was trying to strap something around my neck. “Is she okay?”

“Sir, hold still, you may have—”

“I’m fine.” I swatted the hand away again.

“Hold still, sir, and let me do my job,” he demanded.

“Goldie!” I shouted, shoving off from the seat I was leaning against. Rolling to the side, I crashed out of my truck, which was somehow back upright.

“GOLDIE!” I called again, stumbling to my feet as a set of hands grabbed me, stabilizing me. And time stopped, petrifying my entire being in place.

There was glass and shards of metal everywhere. Debris from parts of my truck littered the intersection barricaded by all of the first responders needed for an accident. Grass that had once evenly filled the ravine now showed a clear, dirt path where we had tumbled, ending at my truck that looked like nothing but a ball of useless chromium.

“Briar,” I muttered, terrified. Hands tried to gently guide me to the ground, but I ripped out of them and spun around.

“WHERE IS SHE?” I snarled at the paramedic trying to help me. I shouldn’t have yelled at him, I knew that, but I didn’t care right now. I needed to know she was okay.

“Cassidy?” a shaky voice I recognized answered me. I briefly closed my eyes and glanced to my right.

Relief filled my entire frame at the sight of the beautiful blonde, sitting on the grass with a paramedic crouched in front of her. She had a couple of scrapes along her forehead, and there was a small bruise forming on the side of her jaw, but otherwise she looked fine.

“You’re okay, you’re okay,” I muttered.

She gave me a smile, wincing as the lady helping her dabbed at one of the scrapes. “Sit down, dummy, and let the man do his job,” Briar chastised.

I plopped myself to the ground and closed my eyes. Everything swayed around me, but she was fine, so I didn’t care that my head pounded, pressure swelling against my skull. I let the first responder help me all while in a daze.

We’d been hit. Someone had run a red light and T-boned my truck. Briar could have been seriously hurt or even killed by someone who wasn’t following the rules of the road.

“My light was green. My light was green. I know it was green,” I mumbled. I’d glanced at it right before we passed into the intersection during the conversation with Briar. Right before she was going to tell me something… An answer. What was she going to say?

“Yes, your light was green,” the paramedic said as he pushed gauze against my forehead. I narrowed my gaze at the man who seemed vaguely familiar and finally studied his face. Slender with very sharp features and a prominent nose stared back at me. I knew this man. “Now, can you tell me your name?”

“Cassidy Duke,” I answered.

“Good. How old are you?”

“Uh, thirty-two.”

“And what day of the week is it?”

“Friday.”

“Alright. We’re going to need you and Miss Kensington to head to the hospital to make sure—”

“Who?” I asked, furrowing my brows.