The Man Behind the Badge

‘Where am I touching you?’

‘Leg. Shin.’

‘That’s great.’ She withdrew her arm and shone her pencil torch into the cramped space.

Newspaper crinkled under Tom’s knee as he knelt on the seat and leaned across to reach under the driver’s seat.

‘Be careful,’ Kayla said sharply. A heady mixture of whisky fumes and her light, spicy perfume assaulted his nostrils. ‘There’s glass from a broken bottle.’

‘Thanks.’ Tom winced at the gravelly catch in his voice.

‘Andy’s legs are caught under the dash. Apart from his ankle pain, there’s no other obvious injury but visibility isn’t great. I can’t tell if he’s trapped or just wedged forward with the seat.’ She looked up, her wide eyes on a level with his for a breathless second. ‘We can’t shift him until we can straighten his legs and see. Before we try to move him out of the car, I’d like to try and shift the seat back so I can assess any lower limb damage properly.’

‘Shift the seat. Right.’ Tom drew in a lungful of air when her eyes swivelled back to Andy.

‘Can you wriggle your toes for me, Andy?’ she said, calmly carrying on with her examination.

‘Y-yeah.’

‘Are you allergic to any medications?’

‘No.’

‘Do you take medication for anything? Diabetes? Heart condition?’

‘N-no. Need something for the p-pain.’

‘Okay. You’re doing great, Andy. I’ll get you something for your pain now.’ She turned away for a moment then was back with a vial and syringe in her hands. With the slender capping sheath clamped between her teeth, she filled the syringe. Tom blinked. He’d seen the paramedics use the same technique countless times. But somehow Kayla’s even, white teeth performing the familiar action was unbelievably sexy.

As she plunged the needle into Andy’s leg, Tom shook himself mentally and reached across to grope for the lever under the driver’s seat. ‘I’m going to move the seat back as far as I can, Kayla.’

‘Sure.’

He jiggled the lever. Nothing. Applied more pressure. Still nothing. The angle was awkward. He moved further forward, closer to Kayla. Closer to her evocative female scent. Concentrate. He braced his knee uncomfortably on the handbrake and yanked directly upward.

The chair slid back with a jerk. Andy moaned.

‘Sorry, mate,’ said Tom.

Kayla was there in an instant. ‘Where is your pain, Andy?’

‘Ankle. Still.’

Tom edged back outside. The deadly petrol fumes were stronger. They had to hurry. He clambered in behind the driver’s seat. ‘I’m going to lower the seat so we can take him out through the back.’

He wound the reclining mechanism with quick flicks of his wrist. ‘Nearly ready to move him?’

She nodded, her mind obviously on the job as her voice sounded distracted when she spoke to him. ‘Just let me make sure both his legs are free.’

There was a small popping noise.

‘Hell.’ Tom was moving as a terrifying whoosh followed. ‘Kayla! Get out! Now!’

He scooped up the fire extinguisher, pulling the pin as he ran to the flames that leapt out of the gap between the crumpled bonnet and the front fender.

Aiming the nozzle, he pulled the trigger. The fire retreated, beaten into temporary submission. Moving forward, with a sweeping motion, Tom covered as much of the engine as he could with the foam. As soon as the cylinder started to splutter, he threw it aside and spun back towards the cabin of the car.

Kayla was still there. She hadn’t done as he’d asked. Far from it, she’d taken his place in the rear of the car and had finished lowering the driver’s seat. She was struggling to move Andy.

‘I don’t know how long that will hold.’ He grabbed her by the upper arm, tugged her aside then slid in to take her place. ‘We have to do this now.’

‘We really need more hands,’ she said, for the first time sounding anxious.

‘We haven’t got them. Come on, Kayla. Don’t fold on me now.’ He threaded his hands under Andy’s armpits and locked his fingers across the man’s chest. ‘I’m going to pull him out. You try to ease his legs as they come free.’

‘Got it.’

‘Let’s do it.’ He grinned at her and could swear the corners of her mouth moved in a quick response.

‘Andy? This is going to be uncomfortable but we need to pull you out of the car now.’ It was the best he could do to prepare the victim for what had to be done.

‘P-please. Get me out. D-don’t leave me here.’

‘We won’t, mate.’

Tom moved back, taking the man’s weight, feeling the resistance and straining past it. Andy groaned. Tom had to steel himself against the agony in the sound. If he left Andy here, there was every chance the man could die in the car.

Kayla had grabbed the thick newspaper from the passenger seat and she used it to support Andy’s lower leg as his limb came free. In a move like a circus contortionist, she climbed onto the driver’s seat, then over and through the back door, the whole time cradling Andy’s injured ankle in the makeshift splint.

Between them, they carried Andy across the road.

‘Behind my vehicle, Kayla. It’ll give us some protection if the car goes up.’

They lowered a shivering Andy to the ground. Tom opened the back door of his vehicle and took out a blanket. ‘Here.’

‘Thanks,’ Kayla said as she tucked it around Andy’s body. ‘I need my bag.’

‘I’ll get it.’

Tom paused for a second as she bent over her patient, getting straight back into the job, her fingers on Andy’s wrist. ‘How are you feeling, Andy?’

She was a real trooper, brave and resourceful. Damn, that was attractive. His heart swelled. He was…proud of her.

She looked around, one eyebrow shooting up as though she was surprised to see him. ‘My bag, Sergeant?’

‘Coming right up.’ He smiled wryly, feeling chastened and deservedly so. She distracted the hell out of him.

He loped back to the wreck and grabbed her medical kit. The still-strong smell of petrol, coupled with the sizzle of foam on hot metal, was ominous. His prevention measures were still holding but he didn’t know for how long. He turned and ran back.