Page 67 of One Night Years Ago

“Is the pain bad?”

“I’ve had worse. Should probably get myself to a doctor, though.”

“Rob radioed the hospital already. One of the doctors will meet us at the docks.”

Hunter nodded, his gaze on the water. Natalie realized he needed time to process things. Normal people didn’t go from rescuing someone from the water to living their life as normal just a few minutes later. That only happened in movies. It was going to take some time for him to feel normal again.

“Where did he go?” he asked.

Ignoring the rain, she sat down beside him. “He ran off into the woods. I wanted to chase after him but decided to listen to you. I called Rob and met him with the boat by the beach.”

Hunter nodded.

“You made the right decision. He’s dangerous. Emma was trussed up like a chicken. He knew she wouldn’t be able to swim.”

“He’s taking huge risks. He must know we’re going to catch up with him eventually.”

“He’s a big man. As tall as me or even taller. That should narrow things down.”

“Not as broad-shouldered as you. But tall,” Natalie agreed. “I wish I could remember … if I could just remember what happened the night I was attacked. Did I know him? How did he convince me to go out the back door of the bar with him? But it’s all a blank until the moment your brother got there.”

“You need to stop punishing yourself.”

“We’re here,” Rob said, coming up beside them.

Natalie looked up and saw Barbara Leroy waiting by the dock, wearing a long purple waterproof layer which covered half her face.

“Hey, Barbara,” Natalie said. “I thought it was your weekend off.”

“Dr. Ford wasn’t available, and I wasn’t doing anything that exciting. Not half as exciting as what you all have been up to, apparently. Can you both walk?”

Hunter jumped off the boat, walking gingerly towards the doctor. Natalie wanted to touch his face, see if he was as cold as he seemed, but she didn’t know if he’d appreciate her touch.

“Is that your shoulder again, Hunter?” Dr. Leroy asked. “We seem to be making a tradition of meeting like this.”

Natalie turned to help Emma off the boat, but Rob was already there, carrying Emma in his arms. Dr. Leroy immediately turned her attention to her. “How are you feeling, Emma? Put her down here, Chief Deputy Hope, let me take her blood pressure.”

Natalie understood the blood pressure thing was just an excuse to get Emma in the back of the ambulance.

“I’m not going in there,” Hunter said, looking at the ambulance. For the first time, his expression changed to something like fear.

Natalie arched an eyebrow at him.

Dr. Leroy looked down at them from the back of the ambulance, where she was wrapping a blood pressure cuff around Emma’s shoulder. She shrugged lightly. “Why don’t you drive him in my car instead, Natalie?”

“You can use the patrol car,” Rob said, handing Natalie his keys. “I’m going to walk home. I need a bit of time to unwind.”

Natalie wrapped her hands around Rob’s. “Thanks, Rob. I couldn’t have managed any of this without you.”

A smile lit up Rob’s face. “We certainly earned our salary tonight, didn’t we?”

“That we did, Rob, that we did.”

“I hope the mayor remembers this next time he thinks of lowering our salaries.”

Natalie smiled. “Come on, Hunter, I’ll drive you to the hospital.”

Chapter 26