Revealing Annie - Freya Barker Page 0,10

of me.

A boxing gym for sure, but a yoga studio?

“You got trouble, Annie?” The biker named Brick lifts his head up and stares at me in a way that has the hair on my neck stand up.

“Why would I have trouble?”

I watch as he holds up what looks like the cut end of an electrical wire of some sort.

“Cuz this looks like you got some. Somebody’s messed with your engine.”

“Oh dear,” Heidi says, leaning closer to look, while I feel ice flooding my veins.

Brick’s eyes are locked on my face from under his heavy eyebrows.

“Can’t think of any,” I force myself to say.

He stares at me a beat longer before he turns back to the car, dropping the wire from his hand and slamming the hood down.

“You know,” Heidi volunteers, “just last week some cars in the parking lot got keyed. We figured it was bored neighborhood kids. Maybe this is too?”

Christ, I hope so. I can handle vandalizing teenage hoodlums.

“Could be,” Brick mumbles before turning to me. “We should probably call the cops.” Something must’ve shown in my reaction to that because he immediately adds, “Or maybe Heidi can drop you home, and I’ll tow your car up to the shop in the morning to first have a look at the damage.”

That sounds like a much better idea to me and I nod immediately. “That’s fine.”

Brick fishes in his breast pocket and comes up with a bent business card he hands to me.

“Gimme a call after eleven, I’ll know more then.”

Heidi is kind enough to give me a lift home after I retrieve my bag from my car and hand the keys over to Brick.

“How did I not know these were here?” she says, driving her car through the meandering paths between the trailer homes. The park is set back from the road and mostly hidden under mature trees by the river.

“This is me,” I point at my place, wondering if I should go so far as to invite her in.

“Cute,” she says. “I hope you don’t mind, I’m just gonna dash.”

“Not at all.” I try not to sound too relieved. “Thanks so much for doing this.”

She waves me off. “Oh, not a problem. Brick is a good guy. He’ll sort out your car.”

I watch as she drives off and walk up the path to my front door, when I hear a faint scratching noise. I stop in my tracks and listen carefully. There it is again, scratching, and then a whimper.

Sounds like it’s coming from my neighbor’s trailer.

Sumo

“Annie?”

The last person I expected to see opening the door to the trailer we were directed to was the slight woman in front of me.

“Edward’s in the bedroom,” she says, stepping out of the way and pointing to the back of the trailer.

I’m tempted to ask her what she’s doing here, but it’ll have to wait. Right now my job has priority.

I hurry to the old man’s side. He’s lying on his back in bed, his face a pallor that immediately alerts me, but his eyes are open.

“Hi there. Edward, right?” His panicked eyes focus on me. “We’re gonna take good care of you, Edward. Now, can you tell me what’s going on? Are you having pain?”

A grunt is my only response, increasing my sense of urgency.

“Prepare to move fast, Billy,” I tell my partner over my shoulder, even as I start assessing the patient.

His heartbeat is faint and irregular, his skin is clammy to the touch, and when I strip back the blanket covering him, I immediately notice the swelling of his ankles and feet.

Five minutes later he has nitro on board, an IV in his arm, and is on oxygen. Edward is not a small man, so it takes significant muscle power to carry him out of the small trailer, and for once I’m glad for young Billy instead of five-foot-nothing Blue by my side.

“You riding in the back?” I ask Annie, who’s been standing to the side, pale-faced. I’m still not sure of her place here, but she clearly cares about the man.

An elderly woman walks up and puts a hand on Annie’s shoulder.

“Go,” she urges.

“But Blossom…” Annie says, looking down at the fat little dog sitting at her feet.

“I’ll take care of the damn dog,” the old woman says.

“But, Mrs. Sokoloff, she’ll need to—”

“Oh for Pete’s sake, will you hop in already? Not like she hasn’t shit in my yard before.”

With a firm nod, Annie takes my hand and lets me pull her up in the rig.

While