When he turned to head to the fire truck again, he stopped when he felt a small tug on his leg. He looked down to find the little girl looking up at him with wide brown eyes. Her eyes were still puffy from crying, but nothing other than joy shone in them now. “Wiggly and Squiggly say thank you,” she said solemnly.
Travis knelt beside her and reached out to stroke his hands over the dogs, both of whom were glued to the little girl’s side. “No problem. We knew we could get them out safe, and here they are. How are you doing?” he asked, his eyes coasting over her. She was practically swallowed up in an adult’s jacket, likely borrowed from someone once the family got out safely.
“I’m good! Daddy says we have lots of work to do before we can move back in, but no one got hurt and that’s all that matters.”
“You’re absolutely right about that. Let’s go find your parents,” he said as he stood and held a hand out.
A while later, he stepped into the shower at the fire station and sighed as the steaming water ran over him. He was on duty for another few hours, but he needed to wash off the grit and grime from the last fire. Janie had been dancing through his thoughts for days and sashayed into his mind just now. The other night with her had taken him places he’d never been, nor considered possible. He forced his thoughts off of her. The last thing he needed was to start fantasizing about her while he was showering at work. Moments later after he’d barely finished getting dressed and was lacing up his boots, his radio buzzed. The police were calling for the ambulance to respond to a domestic dispute. He snatched his gear and raced downstairs, climbing into the ambulance beside Ben at the last second.
“Thought you might miss this call,” Ben commented as he turned on the siren and sped down the highway.
“Almost did, but I’m here,” Travis replied. “Know anything about the domestic dispute?”
At that moment, their radios sounded in unison, first repeating the address. What came next sent a flash of anger through Travis, so raw his fists clenched unconsciously. “Police are apprehending a Randy Price. Sixty-year old Caucasian male with known history of violence and criminal record. Most recently arrested for a domestic assault in Fairbanks. Reportedly fled the area. Call came in an hour ago from his girlfriend who reports he assaulted her and locked her in the shed. Police responded and Mr. Price had an altercation with one of the officers. Both sustained injuries.”
Travis’s chest tightened and his anger ran from cold to hot in a flash. “Let’s get there,” he said, his voice low.
Ben glanced sideways. “On the way, pushing seventy right now, so hold tight,” he said as he rounded a curve in the highway and turned onto a winding road leading up a hillside.
Within minutes, they pulled into the driveway of the residence with another cop car spinning into the drive in front of them. It was all Travis could do to hold back, but they weren’t to enter the scene without clearance from the police. He saw Darren lift a hand in a wave, gesturing toward an area where there were two trucks. The home was in ramshackle condition with no siding on it, torn weather sheathing flapping in the wind, and tarps tied onto the roof, likely to prevent leaking. There were several small outbuildings in the same condition. Travis saw a woman being led out of a shed. She was shivering so badly, he could see her shake from a distance. He pulled his radio off his shoulder. “Sylvia, we need another ambulance up here. Aside from the two injuries reported, there’s a woman who looks to be hypothermic, depending on how long she’s been outside.”
Sylvia’s reply was swift. “Already sent the next one right behind you guys.”
He heard the siren approaching as she spoke. Ben caught his eye. “Let’s get to the injuries first.”
In seconds, they reached the trucks where the officers on scene were gathered. The injured officer was sitting on the ground and leaning against one of the truck tires. The man Travis guessed to be Randy Price lay several feet away on his side with cuffs holding his hands together behind his back. Travis hadn’t said a word to Ben about Randy Price, but Ben seemed to know it might not be the best plan for Travis to handle him. “I’ve got Randy. You help him,” Ben said firmly.
Travis stopped in his tracks. “No, I…”
Ben shook his head sharply. “I know exactly who Randy is and so do you. I might think he’s an asshole, but it’s not personal.”
Travis took a sharp breath and nodded, his anger easing slightly. “Fine.” He spun away and strode to the officer. Travis realized it was Charlie Brooks, the police chief’s main partner and a long-time officer on the force. Charlie’s expression was a mix of annoyance and pain. His blue eyes were resigned when Travis knelt at his side. “Hey man, how’s it going?” Charlie asked, his tone strained.
“Better than you probably,” Travis replied. “What’s up with your shoulder?” he asked, nodding toward the shoulder Charlie held with one hand.
Charlie blew a puff of air out, blowing his brown hair out of his eyes. “Dislocated it. Hurts like hell. At least Randy’s in cuffs.”
“Mind letting me take a look?” he asked.
Charlie let his hand fall away. Travis quickly felt over the shoulder, which was definitely dislocated. A minor injury, but rather painful. He caught Charlie’s eyes. “It’s dislocated alright. What happened?”
Charlie breathed in sharply when Travis carefully rolled Charlie’s shoulder between his palms, but he responded without missing a beat. “I’m sure you heard his girlfriend called to report he’d punched her and locked her in the shed. He’s not the brightest bulb, so he didn’t think to take her phone away. She called from the shed, but not before she’d been out for enough time that she was damn near freezing when we got here. It was quiet when we arrived. So quiet, we weren’t sure he was still here. Next thing we knew, Randy comes flying around the corner there…” He paused and angled his head toward the corner of the house. “…and his fists were flying. Not sure exactly how I messed my shoulder up, but it happened when he tripped and took me to the ground with him. Bummer for him, he landed on his knee on a rusty old trap. Tore his knee up good.” Charlie shook his head. “Am I right that it’s gonna hurt worse for you to put my shoulder back in place than it did when it popped out?’
Travis nodded and glanced up when another team reached them with a stretcher for Charlie. Charlie looked from Travis to the stretcher. “Seriously guys, I can walk. It’s just my shoulder.”
Travis eyed him and shrugged. “Don’t know if that’s true, or if it’s more that you know what’s coming.” Charlie was distracted when someone called out to Darren. When he looked away, Travis made sure he had the right hold on Charlie’s shoulder and moved swiftly, realigning the shoulder ball into the socket.
Charlie whipped his head back, his breath hissing through his teeth. He tensed and then relaxed. “Okay, not so bad. I’m guessing it’s gonna be sore as hell for a bit.”
Travis nodded. “Oh yeah. We’ll get a sling on it for now. We should still get you to the hospital for a quick check. I wanted to try to get it in place now before it swelled up. The doctor can do a more thorough check and maybe give you a specialized splint if you need it. Think you can stand?”
Charlie rolled his eyes. “Of course I can stand.” Belying his dismissive comment, he took Travis’s hand when offered and came to his feet with a grunt.
Travis walked him to the ambulance and fit a sling on Charlie’s arm, leaving him to wait with one of the other officers for a moment. He looked over to where Ben and two other emergency responders were tending to Randy. He itched to go over there. Just as he started to move in their direction, a hand curled around his arm. He glanced back to see Darren. He started to shake his arm free, but Darren held firm. “I’m sure you’ve got some thoughts about Randy, but now is definitely not the time.”
Travis shook his arm free, swearing under his breath. “What is it with everyone keeping me away from him?”
Darren held his gaze for a moment and shook his head incrementally. “Maybe you’re stupid, but I’m not. Randy’s got years of bad history with Janie’s mom and it ended with his fist in Janie’s face. The last thing we need right now is you pissed off at him in the middle of a call that has nothing to do with Janie.”
Travis knew Darren was right, but he didn’t like it one bit. He shifted his shoulders and busied himself by tidying his supplies and putting them away. He glanced back to Darren. “Seeing as I’ve barely talked about Janie, how come you and Ben are worrying about how I might respond to Randy?”
Darren rolled his eyes. “Dude, this town’s small and word travels.” With another shake of his head, he strode away toward where Ben and the other team were wheeling the stretcher to the second ambulance.
Later that afternoon, Travis climbed into his truck. He’d had enough sense to start it a few minutes ago, so it was getting warm inside. He drove away, his mind spinning over thoughts of Janie. He’d had to fight the urge to come up with a reason to stop by the hospital. The only reason he wanted to stop by was to track Randy down. He knew it didn’t make a lick of sense to find the guy for the sole reason of knocking his lights out, but that’s what Travis wanted to do. He hated knowing that any man was violent towards the women in their life, but knowing what Randy did to Janie made it far more personal.