Page 11 of Temptation
The EMTs were bustling around them. The male was back, helping his partner. The ambulance siren shrieked.
“My bracelet is gone,” Sloane heard herself say. Her head whipped toward the back of the ambulance. The doors were still open. Lily stood there, watching her. Lily was always so watchful. So intent. So serious.
Atlas was positioned right behind his wife. Watching. Taking in everything, but he had one arm curled around Lily’s stomach as he pulled her up against him.
“I’ll get you another one,” Lily vowed.
“It’s in the grave,” Sloane told her friend. “It fell…I-I was in the grave.” The horror of that statement shook through her. Tears pricked her eyes, but she blinked them away.
“You’re out.” Lily stepped forward, moving even closer to the ambulance. “You’re out, Sloane.”
Yes, they were out.
They were free.
But…
The person who took Preston is still out there. He’s still free, too.
Sloane hadn’t been the target. This whole scene had never been about her. She hadn’t been the prey.
“Ma’am.” The male EMT. Tall. Close-cropped, dark hair. Warm features. He sent her a reassuring smile. “Ma’am, I want you to take some oxygen. I want you both to have oxygen. We’re transporting you to the hospital.” His hand tapped Preston’s shoulder. “You can both ride in this ambulance together. You can stay close to her, sir. We just need to get you to safety.”
But they were safe.
Weren’t they?
The person who took Preston is still out there.
Her breath shuddered in and out. Too hard. She’d tried to control her breathing for too long. Now it shuddered and the EMT was there.
Preston had moved back.
An oxygen mask slid over her face.
“Breathe in,” the EMT instructed her. He offered her a reassuring smile. “My name is Adam, Adam East.” A nod. “Kinda like the actor from the old Batman TV show.”
He was talking to distract her. To calm her. She got that. Appreciated it.
“You know him, don’t you? The one from the show in the 60’s, the actor who played the hero? Always throwing out all those cheesy punches, left and right? I’m like him, but in the opposite direction. Adam East.”
What?
“I’m here to help you.” His blue eyes held hers. “Exhale.”
Preston was on the other gurney in the back of the ambulance. The female EMT was with him. Putting an oxygen mask over his face. Checking his injuries.
“Take a good, deep breath for me,” the EMT—Adam—encouraged Sloane.
She took a deep breath.
“Sloane, we have to talk to the sheriff, but we’ll meet you at the hospital!” Lily’s voice.
Her head turned toward her friend. Too late. The ambulance doors slammed shut.
“The sheriff will want to speak with you, too,” Adam assured her. “She’ll come to the hospital.”
Sloane shook her head. She didn’t need to go to the hospital. She wasn’t hurt. But she did like the oxygen mask. The air felt clean as she greedily pulled it in.
