Sharkbait
Crash Dummies

The first police officer to arrive knelt next to me. “Are you all right, Ma’am?”

“I’m all right,” I said. I’d landed on the sandy shoulder and James. “Help him,” I said as I pushed myself to my hands and knees. The ambulance wasn’t far behind.

My body hurt as I moved into a sitting position and removed my helmet. I checked my limbs, and it didn’t feel any sharp pain, and I could take a deep breath. That was good; no broken bones. I looked at my helmet in the flashing lights; the paint was trashed, and the visor cracked.

Better than my head.

The EMT’s arrived, and I waved them off to help James first. He still hadn’t regained consciousness, but he was breathing. They brought over a backboard, controlling his neck as they rolled him carefully onto it. They taped his helmet to the board and put a collar around his neck, then lifted him onto the gurney.

As I was watching them, I gave a quick statement to the policeman. I hadn’t gotten a good look at the driver, but I did provide a detailed description of the truck. “It was intentional. The pickup sped up to come alongside and look at us, pulled ahead, cut us off, and then slowed to make sure we had no choice but to go off the road.“

“Was it road rage?”

“We had just pulled onto the highway up at Lincoln Housing and hadn’t passed anyone. We never saw him before.” The gurney was almost to the road. “I have to go with him,” I said to the officer.

“Do you think you can walk?” I nodded, and he helped me to my feet. I was bruised but could walk. “A detective will visit you at the hospital and take both of your statements,” he said.

“Catch that fucker,” I said. The guys helped me into the back and closed the door. “Where are we going?”

“Sharp Coronado Hospital,” the EMT said as we took off with lights and sirens.

“He’s a SEAL, active duty. Doesn’t he go to the Naval Hospital?”

“It’s not the closest. The doctors will evaluate him in the ER first and transfer later if he needs it.” He was busy attaching leads to his chest.

I took hold of my boyfriend’s hand, praying to Luna he would be all right. My phone picked that moment to buzz. It was Hammer. “Where are you?”

“In the ambulance with James, heading to Sharp ER,” I said. “I need you to go to his CO’s place on Saipan Road.” I gave him the address.

“I’ve got his phone number; I’ll call him instead. I think I can see you up ahead. We’ll be in the doors right behind you.”

“Who is with you?”

“Susan and Amy. We left Luke and the twins at the house. Call your Mom and let her hear your voice.”

“I will. Thanks, Hammer.” I hung up and called my Mom back. “Hey, Mom. I’m all right,” I said as she started crying. I only had a minute to talk before we arrived at the hospital, and I had to hang up.

I watched as they took James away, then a nurse helped me down. I had my helmet still, and she sat me in a wheelchair with it on my lap. She wheeled me into an exam room and closed the door. She helped take my riding gear and clothes off, leaving me in my underwear, then she gave me a gown to put on. I looked down at my lacy underthings and let out a laugh. “What’s so funny,” the nurse asked.

“It’s the old Mom saying. ‘Make sure you’re wearing clean underwear in case you get in an accident.’ Now the Doctor gets to see my lingerie before my boyfriend does.”

She laughed and pulled the cart over. After taking vitals, history, and symptoms, the doctor came in. She looked at the helmet and my leathers sitting on the chair; they were dirty and scratched from the crash. “I’d say your gear paid for itself,” Doctor Thompson said as she shook her head. “You’re still safer when you don’t ride a donorcycle.”

“How is my boyfriend?”

“He’s with the attending,” she said. “Let’s make sure you’re all right first.” It took about twenty minutes to check me out. “I’m going to send you for an X-ray as a precaution. I’ll check back soon.” The x-ray was clean, and she told me to rest and take Advil for the soreness before signing my discharge.

Another nurse stopped me as I was gathering my things into a bag the nurse gave me. “Your friend is asking for you,” she said.

I followed her to another room, where James was in a hospital bed with an IV and monitors. His left wrist was in a brace where it lay on the covers. “JAMES,” I said as I dropped my gear and ran to his side. Leaning down, I kissed him as my fingers ran softly across his face. “How are you?”

“Concussion, two broken ribs, and a broken left wrist,” he said. “You?”

“Bruises. I landed on a big SEAL, and he broke my fall.” I leaned down and kissed him again, this time taking more time and tongue.

“Ahem.” I broke free as his doctor came in. “Ortho will be here shortly to cast your arm. Once that is done, we’ll transfer you to a room so we can keep you under observation overnight.”

“I can watch him at home,” I said. “I’ve done it before.”

“Tomorrow, perhaps. Mr. McFadden took a hard blow to the head. He’d be dead if not for his helmet.”

“I understand.” The doctor left, and the nurse came back in. “The police would like to speak to you before you leave, Miss Lawrence. His Commanding Officer wants to see him, and only one person can be back here at a time.”

“Go,” James said. “Come see me in the morning.”

“Visiting hours start at nine,” the nurse said.

I grabbed my stuff and walked out to the waiting room, where my people surrounded me. “I’m fine. Sore, but fine.” I told them about James as a detective waited to get my attention. “I’ll give my statement over there,” I told him as I pointed to the far corner of the room. “I want my Aunt Susan with me.” The three of us walked over and sat down. I told him everything I knew, which wasn’t much.

“If you saw the truck, could you identify it?”

“I think so,” he said.

“We found a truck matching your description abandoned in Chula Vista. It's now in impound. I’d like you to look at it.”

“Let’s go,” I said. Susan took my gear with them while I drove with the detective to the lot. It was the one that had run us off the road, a fresh scratch on the passenger door showing where his mirror hit. I focused on the driver’s scent, sorting through the other smells. I recognized it, and my anger boiled. I was going to kill that fucker, and the Master Vampire who ordered the attempt. Alexander dared to hurt someone I cared for, and for that, I could not forgive.

I couldn’t say anything to a human about THAT, though. “This is the truck that ran us off the road,” I said.

“It was reported stolen yesterday. Hopefully, our crime scene guys can get something out of it.”

I thanked him and got into Hammer’s car. We didn’t say much on the way home; I was tired, and I needed sleep.

I didn’t see the text that came in until the morning. I almost choked on my eggs when I saw it.

“Unknown Number: Don’t do anything stupid before you talk to me. Say nothing and come alone. Meet me at the Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport tonight at six PM, Pappadeaux’s Seafood Bar, C14 if you want the truth. Emily”

Oh, I was ready to do something stupid.

I just hadn’t decided which of several stupid things I was going to do.

I was still debating when Susan grabbed her keys. “Ready to go?”

“I am,” I said. I grabbed my purse and followed Susan out to the car. The visit with James went well, but he wasn’t going home. An ambulance was coming to take him to the Naval Hospital, where they would keep an eye on his concussion symptoms for another day or two. Since I couldn’t bring him home, that made my decision easier.

I couldn’t just run away on my own; I’d made promises too. In the car, I laid out what I knew and showed Susan the text. “Emily was the assassin Alexander said was ‘hired’ to kill me. Alexander was behind this, but why would Emily send this text?”

“It could be a trap,” Susan said.

“It’s in the secure terminal, in a restaurant open to the terminal and cameras everywhere,” I said. “It’s a lousy place for a hit. Emily picked it because she knows I’d think it was safe.”

“Or that’s the perfect way to get you to relax enough to come,” Susan said. “Still, a vampire will sense a werewolf four gates away. You can’t take any of us with you, not even from another Pack. You could take Hammer?”

I shook my head. “They’ve been watching us, so they know who he is. What we need is a human to watch over me that they don’t know.”

“IF you go,” Susan said. “We know Alexander was involved now. We can turn this over to Leo and Adrienne, and let them take care of it.”

“I have to go,” I said. “Emily knows something. For some reason, I trust her.” I had a better feeling around her than I ever did around Alexander.

“I’ll head for the bridge, you call Hammer and ask him if he knows someone he can trust to watch you. They need to be in law enforcement so they can be armed on the plane and in the terminal.”

As Susan drove us over the Coronado Bay Bridge towards San Diego, I talked to Hammer. Hammer’s friend Ben was in the Drug Enforcement Agency and was willing to help out. There was a flight leaving at noon; I bought a ticket and texted the info to Ben so he could get his own. Susan waited with me until we saw his Uber drop him off, then I opened the door.

“Be careful,” Susan said as she dropped me at the terminal. “If it doesn’t seem right, turn around and replace Ben.”

“I will. Thank you.” I went inside through the TSA line and found a pizza place in the terminal. Ben sat down a few tables away, pulling out one of those old-fashioned paper books as he waited. I looked at my phone and texted James. “Short notice business trip, I’ll be back late tomorrow. Rest up and heal.”

“I miss you already,” he sent back.

We landed in Dallas at four. I went to a ticket agent and bought a return flight to San Diego, leaving at eight. Ben was sitting close enough to hear the flight number, and he went to a different agent to get his ticket while I sat down again. We were both seated in Pappadeaux’s by five, me facing the terminal with him seated farther back.

As I finished my seafood platter, I smelled the vampire approaching.