Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“Oh, no,” Charley whispered in stunned shock.
Her arms hung limply at her sides, and her legs felt like jelly.
With great effort, she managed a few steps toward her cousin.
“Chloe, please let me know as soon as you hear from Sully’s dad,” Charley said.
She hadn’t known Sully long but couldn’t imagine the world without him in it. “Please.”
“Charley, why don’t you come in? Let’s talk,” Chloe said, stepped closer, and hugged her. “If I can help you in any way, you know I will.”
“Well—” Charley desperately wanted to do so and hugged Chloe back, but felt she owed her cousin some information first. “I have a little puppy with me. I found him on my porch in the Springs this morning. He had cut his paw and was starving.”
“Bring him in. Derek and Cooper went to the stables after lunch, but the twins are watching a movie. Austin and Abilene will love seeing your puppy. Would you like lunch?”
“Oh, no thank you. I’m not hungry.”
Chloe looked at her with a knowing expression of concern. “We’ll have sweet tea and a snack.”
“Okay,” Charley said, needing her cousin more than nourishment. “I’d really like that.”
“Our cat, Scarlett, and Spike, our German shepherd, who you met at the party last night, are friendly to other animals. Spike’s with Derek and Cooper now, and Scarlett’s catnapping.”
“Okay,” Charley said. “I’ll get the puppy.”
Charley fetched Wyatt from the car, and attached his leash, the puppy scampered to the porch steps.
He had a little trouble getting up them, so Charley picked him up and carried him into the house.
Fluffy, black Scarlett, sunning herself in a window, woke but was indifferent.
The twins, however, were ecstatic and offered to play with Wyatt immediately.
Charley followed Chloe to the pretty kitchen and slid onto the bench seat at the breakfast nook table.
Chloe poured two glasses of iced tea and set them on the table.
With pumpkin bread and two plates in hand, she sat down on the bench seat across from Charley.
“So, Trish stirred up trouble as usual,” Chloe said with a raised eyebrow.
“Has she done so in the past?”
“Oh, yes.” Chloe nodded. Slicing a piece of pumpkin bread, she put it on a plate and handed it to Charley. “She went out with Cash once or twice years ago, and so I invited her to the Halloween party also…years ago. Anyway, as you may have guessed after meeting Tracy, Cash is partial to redheads.”
“Tracy is an absolutely stunning redhead,” Charley said. “Gracious as she is sweet.”
“Yes. We all love Tracy. She has been the perfect match for Cash. He couldn’t be happier, and Tracy is devoted to him.”
Charley smiled. “That’s so wonderful.”
“As for Trish, she pulled the I’m pregnant trick on Cash too.”
“Seriously?” Charley asked as Chloe nodded. “But she wasn’t?”
“No, she was not.” Chloe rolled her eyes much as she had the previous night.
“But she was so convincing,” Charley admitted.
“She was convincing with Cash too,” Chloe replied. “He told her that he wanted to see a pregnancy test. And he said if she did have a baby, he’d demand a paternity test.”
“What happened?” Charley asked. Though she wasn’t hungry, she politely took a bite of the pumpkin bread, because Chloe was eating hers.
“Trish told Cash since it was Halloween, she was just trying to scare him.” Chloe frowned. “She admitted she wasn’t pregnant right then and there. But it was the last time Cash ever went out with her.”
“Wow, I cannot imagine pulling such a horrible trick on a man,” Charley said.
“Me neither,” Chloe said and glanced at her watch.
“I was hoping Derek would hear back from Owen by now.” No sooner had Chloe spoken those words than Derek, Cooper, and the German shepherd entered the house through the back door.
The dog trotted straight to Chloe. “Hi, boys,” she said to her husband and son as she petted Spike.
“Cooper, Charley brought her new puppy with her to visit today.”
“Cool! Hi, Charley.” Cooper asked, “Where’s the puppy?”
“In the family room with the twins,” Charley said. “His name is Wyatt Earp.”
“I’m gonna go see him,” Cooper said and took off down the hall.
“Wyatt Earp, like Sully,” Chloe said to Charley and looked at Derek. “Coffee?”
“Sure,” he said as Chloe stood to let him sit on the bench seat across from Charley. “Hi, Charley. You’ve heard about Sully?”
“Hi, Derek,” Charley said to the former deputy sheriff as he rubbed his forehead. “Yes.”
As Chloe fixed Derek’s coffee, she asked, “Any news?”
“Yes.” Derek sat up straighter as she sat down beside him with his coffee. “But not from Owen. Since I hadn’t heard from him, I called the sheriff’s office and talked to a buddy.”
“Tell us, please, what you found out, Derek,” Chloe urged.
“Yes, please,” Charley said. Expecting the worst, her body was nearly numb from fear and anxiety. She crossed her arms over her heart and hugged herself.
“The crash wasn’t discovered until early this morning. Trish Potter was driving, and the car went over an embankment at a curve in the road on the way to her house,” Derek said. “Because it rolled all the way to the bottom of the ravine, no one saw the wreck until daylight.”
So, while Charley lay crying all night, Sully lay at the bottom of a hill? She cringed and silently berated herself. Please God, let Sully be alive.
“Are they alive?” Chloe asked.
Charley dug her nails into her arms as she waited for Derek to answer.
“My buddy at the sheriff’s office said Trish died instantly.” Derek looked from Chloe to Charley and said, “Sully was in the hospital, unresponsive but alive as of two hours ago.”
“Which hospital?” Charley asked, barely above a whisper.
“The medical ICU at Memorial Hospital in the Springs,” Derek replied as his cell phone rang.
“It’s Owen.” Derek answered his phone and listened intently.
“Owen, I’ll go to the place where the wreck happened right now.
You know it’s not my first crash site and probably won’t be my last.” He listened again and then said, “I’ll call you back and let you know if we find anything or not.
Either way, you’ll hear from me.” He hung up and scooted sideways.
“What did Owen say?” Chloe asked, letting him slide out of the bench seat.
“Owen says Sully is still unconscious, maybe due to a concussion. He sustained a laceration across his side and lost a lot of blood. But the seat belt saved him. Trish was not wearing hers and was nearly decapitated.”
“Dear Lord,” Charley whispered. “This is all my fault. I should not have left the party without Sully last night.”
Chloe instantly said, “No. This is not your fault. You had your reasons for leaving the way you did.” She gave Derek a look that said she’d explain later. “Trish was driving the car, not you, Charley.”
“Owen said that Sully’s Ruger Redhawk was snapped into the holster on his belt when he reached the ER. Owen has the gun. But he asked me to go to the crash site to look for Sully’s wallet and cell phone.” Derek stood and said, “He says both are missing from Sully’s belongings in the hospital.”
“May I go with you, Derek?” Charley asked. “It’s the very least I can do to help.”
“Sure,” Derek said as Chloe nodded. “Too bad we don’t have something of Sully’s for Spike to sniff. He’s good at ferreting out things that go missing.”
“I have a sweatshirt of Sully’s at my cabin that we can take to the crash site,” Charley offered and stood up.
“Let’s get it on the way.” Derek gave Chloe a hug and kiss.
“Charley, the kids and I can keep the puppy until you and Derek get back.”
“Chloe, thank you so much,” Charley said and hugged her. Chloe’s hug was warm and reassuring. Knowing Chloe would understand she was referring to the information about Trish’s horrendous tricks on men, she added, “For everything.”
Derek led the way to his truck and let Spike into the back seat as Charley slid into the passenger’s seat.
Derek started the engine, Charley buckled up, and they were off.
They stopped at Triple C Ranch-South, and Chloe raced into her cabin.
She retrieved Sully’s sweatshirt and hurried back out to Derek’s truck.
“Owen says a tow truck is coming to clear the crash site and wanted me to get there before the truck,” Derek explained as he headed them toward the scene of the crash.
“Of course,” Charley said. “Is Owen with Sully in the hospital?”
“Yes.”
“Except for their cousins, Roy and Randy, they only have each other.”
“Right. My understanding from working with Owen is that they lost Sully’s mom a while ago. But father and son have stayed close,” Derek said. “I can identify with that because my mom and I lost my dad years ago. She and I have stayed close too.”
“I met your mom at the Halloween party. She’s lovely. Does she live in the Springs?”
“Yes, in her townhouse in a complex known as Shadow of Kissing Camels.”
“I know where that gated community is. It’s beautiful.”
They rode in silence then, and Sully’s warning replayed in her head. If it rains, snows, or is icy, these country roads can get treacherous. So be safe and don’t speed.
Derek knew his way around the countryside and drove straight to the crash site.
Charley’s heart clenched at seeing tire tracks going over the muddy edge of an embankment.
They exited the truck where broken tree branches and flattened shrubs descended the hillside.
Standing at the edge of the sloping incline, they saw the car which had rolled and flipped, finally stopping far below, upside down against a pine tree.
Charley wanted to scream from the stress and tension.
Instead, she silently followed Derek and Spike into the ravine.
There, Charley stood amid the totaled car, broken glass, a fender here and a bumper over there. And blood. A lot of blood. Looking at the passenger’s door, Derek said it appeared to have been opened with the jaws of life, which Charley knew was a hydraulic rescue tool.
“Here, Spike,” Derek said and held Sully’s sweatshirt for him to smell.
Spike took off across the rubble, and they followed.
The German shepherd searched, sniffed, and pawed the ground.
He jumped forward, barked, and dug. Derek and Charley hurried to his side.
Derek lifted a fallen tree limb near the passenger’s door, and they both saw the wallet that Spike had found.
Charley knew Sully carried his wallet in his back pocket.
It must have slipped out during his rescue.
As Derek held the tree limb up, Charley grabbed the wallet.
She took a quick look as Derek dropped the limb back on the ground.
“I think the wallet is intact,” Charley said. “His driver’s license is here, along with bank cards and cash.”
“Good job, Spike,” Derek praised the dog. Then he gave Spike another whiff of Sully’s sweatshirt. “Can you find his phone?”
Spike was off on a second mission. Derek and Charley searched the area as the German shepherd sniffed the ground.
Charley remembered Sully’s window being down when he passed her ranch.
She told Derek, and he said if Sully was holding his phone, it may have gone flying.
They spread out wider from the car. Along with Spike, they hunted for the cell phone.
When Spike barked, Charley and Derek hurried to him.
His nose was in the dying yellow flowers of rabbitbrush, and his front paws were digging.
Charley and Derek began rifling through the branches, and Charley’s hand hit something hard.
She wrapped her fingers around a black case.
“We found it!” she said excitedly. Pulling her hand out of the rabbitbrush, she and Derek saw that the cell phone screen was unbroken. When Charley squeezed the side button, the phone lit up. “It’s got a low battery, but it’s working.”
“Landing in the brush saved the phone from being broken and kept it dry.” Derek patted the dog’s head. “Good boy, Spike.”
“Yes, good dog, Spike,” Charley agreed. “Thank you.”
Spike barked, and they climbed back up the hill to Derek’s truck. When they were inside the vehicle, Derek pulled out his own cell and punched in a number.
“Owen, it’s Derek. We’ve got Sully’s wallet and cell phone.” He listened and said, “Charley Cooper is with Spike and me. The wallet appears untouched, and the phone seems to be okay. Are you still at the hospital?”
“I’d be happy to take the wallet and cell to him,” Charley whispered, desperate to see Sully. Letting her make amends was too much to ask, but she could deliver his property.
Derek nodded. “Charley says she would be happy to bring both to you.” He listened and said, “Okay, I’ll tell her.
Any update on Sully?” After a moment, he hung up and looked at Charley.
“They’re deciding whether or not to send Sully to the Neurosciences Center at UC Health University of Colorado Hospital in Denver. ”
Charley flinched and squeezed back tears. “I’m going to Memorial Hospital.”
“Okay, and Owen would appreciate you bringing the wallet and cell phone.”
As Derek turned the truck around, a tow truck drove into view.
He gave it a wave, and Charley was relieved to have successfully accomplished their mission before it had arrived.
During the trip back to Triple C Ranch-West, Charley’s phone signaled a text from Leon saying he had a stomach virus and asking if she could visit him.
“Sully has to make it,” she said softly to Derek and texted, No, I can’t, to Leon.
“Sully’s tough just like his dad,” Derek replied.
Back at the Brevards’ house, Chloe came out on the porch to greet them. She walked down the steps, meeting up with them along the driveway. She was elated they had found Sully’s missing wallet and cell phone.
“I’m heading straight to the hospital to meet up with Owen and hopefully see Sully,” Charley told her cousin. “I can take Wyatt off your hands and drop him at my apartment.”
“Sully said at the party last night that he didn’t want you at your apartment alone,” Derek said, as Spike stood at his side.
“Right. I heard him say that too,” Chloe said and nodded. “Leave Wyatt here as long as you need to. Take your time and come back here whenever you’re ready. Night or day, we’ll have a bed waiting for you, Charley.”
“Thank—” A sob cut Charley off and she hugged Chloe. “Thank you.” As always, Chloe’s hug was warm and reassuring. How grateful Charley was for her family. “I don’t know what I’d do without all of you.”
“Give us an update on Sully when you can,” Derek said, draping an arm around Chloe.
“I will. Thank you, Derek, for letting me go with you.”
“No problem.”
Chloe smiled and said, “Go see about Sully.”