Walk With Me

59. Never Should Have Left

Looking over the scene in front of me, I see that one car is empty, most likely hers. Another one with a busted back end has a man standing outside of it. He's on his phone and giving me a thumbs up, so I direct my attention to a third vehicle that appears to have one occupant sitting in the driver's side. His door is smashed in but his eyes are open and he's moving around. All good signs.

I turn and give the woman a quick once over. "Are you alright, ma'am?"

"Yeah, I feel fine."

"Okay, go ahead and have a seat on the sidewalk. We'll take care of it."

The next several minutes pass in a quick flurry of police lights and sirens as Jimmy arrives with the fire department and an ambulance blaring in on his heels. All responding units hop out of their designated vehicles and jump right into action and I'm pushed to the sidelines as they take care of business.

My mind has left the scene, all I can think about is getting the fuck out of here now that they have everything under control but since I technically was first on the scene, I'm supposed to stick around. You know, for paperwork purposes.

Fucking paperwork.

Jimmy makes his way over to me on the side of the road. The fact that he was just at Amber's house is the only relief I have that things are still okay at home, no surprises. She texted me a little bit ago, saying all was well and it wasn't necessary to send Alcott in to check on her. But what can I say? I needed some peace of mind.

However, now, there's something in Jimmy's smug ass grin that has me shooting him a glare as he approaches me. He better not have eaten all my cookies.

"I ate all your cookies, man," he smirks, getting right to the bullshit. "Make sure you tell Amber thanks for me."

"Asshole," I mutter, shaking my head. "But seriously, was she alright?"

Jimmy shrugs. "She was fine. Mia was fine. All was well," he assures me, giving me a genuine smile this time. He can probably see the concern oozing off of me and I can only appreciate that he seems to find it endearing. Either that or he knows better than to grate on my nerves today.

I lift my wrist to check the time on my watch. "I need to get the fuck out of here."

As the words are coming out of my mouth, my phone starts vibrating in my pocket. I reach for it, hoping it's just another text from Amber, reiterating how eager she is to see me. But it's not a text. It's a phone call and I find myself staring down at the screen, my eyes narrowing in question at the words on the caller ID.

"What's wrong?" Jimmy asks beside me.

"Amber's house phone," I say, tilting the screen to show him like I need a second set of eyes to confirm what I already know.

I mean, the words Amber's house phone are literally staring back at me. But my stomach just sunk for reasons I can't quite grasp yet and it's the sinking feeling I need confirmation on. Another person on the same wavelength as me to make sure I'm not crazy to think it's weird that Amber wouldn't just call me from her cell.

Why isn't she calling from her cell? She never uses the house phone.

Only Mia uses the house phone.

My heartbeat blasts in my ears.

"Get outta here, Tommy," Jimmy states, his voice tight as it fills up with a bit of his own concern.

My finger slides across the tiny green phone icon as I take off for my cruiser. "Hello?"

"Tommy." A quiet voice slips through the phone, barely audible as my boots slam against the pavement.