Rescuing Her 18+ (Her Series book two)

Levi

"11-24 to Sheriff Brooks." The dispatch announces on the radio as I sit in my patrol car and twiddle my thumbs.

"10-4. Location?" I answer back.

"The old dirt path on the edge of town. About a mile in." Debbie tells me.

"10-4. On it." I crank my car and head out.

Being the sheriff of a small town reminds me of the Andy Griffith show when I was younger. A smile comes across my face as I reminisce about staying up late to watch it with my pops. That was our thing, no one else's.

I come from a large family with four other brothers. We each had our own thing we did with our dad. Ours was oldies television. That's what inspired me to become sheriff in the first place. Lord knows it wasn't for the excitement.

An 11-24 means an abandoned vehicle was found somewhere it shouldn't be. Usually I would wait and give whoever left it a chance to get it, plus sometimes teens like to park in hidden areas to screw each other. I stumbled upon that scene once while on patrol and needed to bleach my fucking eyes afterwards. But something about this call doesn't sit right with me. I don't know why, but all day I've just felt... off. Call it a sixth sense, but I have a feeling something is going to happen today. Something big.

My personal cell rings, and I see that It's my older brother Nash calling. He and Alice, his wife, are due to have my niece any day now, so I answer on my bluetooth.

"Baby coming?" I ask, my new typical greeting.

"You always ask that." He chuckles.

"Well, I'm ready for my niece to get here so her favorite uncle can spoil her. What can I say?" I tease.

"No way in hell are you the favorite!" My other brother, River, shouts in the background.

We have a sibling rivalry going on about who the favorite uncle will be. The little princess will be spoiled rotten. Until she becomes a teenager, then she'll hate our guts because we'll scare off every boy that comes sniffing around. Poor kid.

"Are you joining us for family dinner tonight? Alice is cooking some spicy dish I've never heard of, but it sounds delicious." Nash muses.

"I thought she hated spicy food?"

"She does, but according to some article she read, it can help make her go into labor." He doesn't sound happy about it.

"Let me guess, you tried to put your foot down, and she shoved that foot up your ass?" Pregnant Alice is a feisty Alice. It's entertaining as hell to watch, especially when I think about the scared and battered woman she was when she first came into our lives.

"Bingo. She said it's safe for the baby, so I just let her do her thing." I hear the amusement in his voice and it brings a smile to my face. My big brother deserves all the happiness in the world, so does Alice.

"Yeah, I'll be there. I'm checking on an abandoned vehicle now and I'll be headed out once I'm done."

"Alright, brother. Be careful. See you soon."

"Will do." We hang up right as I come to the old dirt path.

I drive down the path as I think about finding my woman. The legend in GaleTown talks about how when you find your soulmate, It's like lightning strikes. It hits you out of nowhere. My brother described it the same way when he met his Alice in the diner in town.

Honestly, before then, I always assumed it was bullshit. I mean soulmates? It sounds like a fairytale or something just as made up, but I see the way Nash and Alice are together, and hope it's real. I want there to be a special woman out there just for me. Wishful thinking, maybe, but it is a nice thought.

I finally come across the rusted out Oldsmobile that has to be the abandoned car in question. That eerie sense of something big happening hits me again. I make sure my body-cam is on and that my gun is in my belt. Two things that have never been needed on patrol before, but I'm not taking any chances.

I climb out of my car after alerting dispatch that I'm on scene and make my way over to the rust bucket, carefully. The closer I get, the more that eerie sense seeps into my bones. There's no way in hell someone could drive it out here. The thing looks like it needs to be crushed, it's in awful condition. The entire body is rusted through with holes all throughout, and it's missing a steering wheel.

Once I come around the front, I see the hood is gone and so is the engine. Who would tow this piece of junk out here and why? I go around to the back on the off chance it has a license plate that I somehow missed upon my initial inspection. No luck.

Letting out an aggravated huff over the ridiculous situation, I pull my cell out to call Greg, the local mechanic, to come pick it up, when I hear a small whimper. I don't move a muscle as I listen for it again, in case it's my ears playing tricks on me. Then I hear it again.

"Oh, fuck." I say, like the professional I am. Something or someone is in the trunk.

"Please, let it be a something." I pray as I go to the driver's side and hope the trunk latch works so it will open.

I let out the breath I was holding when the trunk pops open. I go back towards the trunk and have one hand on my gun, just in case, and the other hand on the trunk to pull it up. As soon as it's open, I'm on my radio calling for an ambulance.

"Dispatch, this is Sheriff Brooks on scene for the 11-24. I need an ambulance immediately! There's an injured woman in the trunk."

"Oh, shit. I mean... 10-4, Sheriff. Ambulance is en route now." Debbie says.

I don't hear whatever she says after that. All my focus is on the tiny woman that's barely clinging to life. She's pale as a ghost and has dark bruising all over her face and neck. She's completely naked and upon further inspection, she has multiple stab wounds along her arms, legs, and torso. There's blood everywhere.

I reach inside to find a pulse. "Please be alive, Darlin." I whisper. There's a pulse, thank fuck. It's faint, but it's there. I pull my hand back out as I wait for the paramedics to arrive. I don't want to move her in case it makes the situation worse.

I'm staring at her precious face and vow to hunt down and destroy whoever hurt this beautiful creature, when her eyes flutter open and my world comes to a screeching halt.

The broken woman left for dead inside a trunk, with vivid blue eyes... is mine.