Sam and Clark stepped up to him.
“She's a busy one today, huh,” Sam stated more than questioned.
Larson nodded. “Yeah. The radio has been non-stop since I started my shift at three.”
“Us too, Larson, we've been running pretty steady since before noon,” Clark informed him. “Welcome to the Fourth of July weekend in Door County. Nothing too major though, at least up until now. Just a couple of bumps and bruises as a result of low speed fender benders in town. You know, everyone's craning their necks looking for a parking spot and not paying attention to the vehicles in front of them.”
“Don't forget the bee bite call," Sam added. "Actually, that kid was in a world of hurt. It was a good thing the EMTs were already nearby because the kid didn't have his EpiPen along.”
Larson gestured toward the ambulance. “So, what was the deal with the moped lady?”
Sam shook his head. “She simply missed the curve and hit the tree. Rung her bell pretty good. I don’t think she’s hurt too bad, though. Probably just a concussion.”
“That really bites,” Larson replied. "Here she’s on vacation and winds up in an ambulance."
“Yeah, poor lady. To make matters worse, it's really not even a true vacation for her," Clark commented.
"What do you mean?"
"Ms. Dodson arranged this trip to help her daughter get her mind off an unfortunate event that sent her to the ICU for a bit recently. Evidently, she and her friend were attacked on a beach in North Carolina. Meredith suffered a stab wound—her friend's fate is still in limbo. And now this happens to her mom.”
Sam tilted his head slightly in the direction of Ms. Dodson’s daughter and friend as the women filed into the second park vehicle that came to pick them up. “And that friend of hers, what’s her name?” he asked.
“Carolyn,” Clark replied. “Yeah, a real piece of work—freaking hitting on you when her friend is laid out on the pavement.”
So, miss hot pants eyed up him, too.
Sam chuckled. “She is kind of cute, in an over-enthusiastic and desperate kind of way.” He arched a brow. “Hmm, desperate. That might be to my advantage.”
Larson shared a chuckle with the others. He could actually see his buddy and 'Miss Hot to Trot' hitting it off.
The ambulance pulled away. The kid in the moped rental company truck pulled up to the mopeds parked on the side of the road. Larson, Sam, and Clark went to help the young man and Talia load them.
Larson reached for the one that had hit the tree. The rim of the front tire was bent out of shape.
Talia quickly stepped in front of him and gripped the handlebars. “I got this one.”
He flinched, never having heard such a stone-cold tone of voice in his life, and he dealt with criminals for a living. It was completely opposite of the soft, soothing tone he’d heard her use when talking to Ms. Dodson’s daughter and friend. For the life of him, he couldn’t figure out what he’d done in the past to irritate Talia so immensely.
At first, her attitude toward him bothered him, but now he was actually getting a bit annoyed by it. What gave her the right to be so rude and snippy to him? Where was her professionalism?
He stepped back and eyed her medium-built, five-and-a-half-foot frame. Yeah, she grew up on a dairy farm, so she was probably fairly strong, but there was no way she was going to load that moped herself. She’d have to wait for one of the other guys to finish loading the other scooters to help her.
Larson leaned back on his heels and crossed his arms over his chest. “Fine, all yours.”
He spun and walked away to help Sam, Clark, and the kid from the rental company secure the scooters already loaded in the bed of the pickup.
Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Talia struggle to wheel the damaged moped to the truck.
Serves her right.
When she got to the tailgate, her dad reached down and gripped the handlebars to help. Talia grabbed the back of the moped and hoisted it up. She’d just about lifted it high enough when she lost her grip and started to stumble.
Instinctively, Larson lunged forward and grabbed the scooter from her, wielding it up onto the bed of the truck as she landed on her rump.
“Now look what you did!” Even in the dusk-lit sky, it was easy to see her flaming red cheeks. They matched the fire in her eyes.
Fury shot through his veins. And to think, for a brief moment, he’d thought about extending his hand to help her up.
Forget it, she’d probably rip my arm off.
“How in the hell is it my fault you fell on your ass? The way I see it, you should be thanking me for saving you from being crushed by the moped.”
She sprang to her feet and moved toward him, her angry gaze glaring up from only inches away. “You knocked me over when you grabbed the moped. All I was doing was readjusting my grip and you—”
“Readjusting your grip? Who are you trying to kid? It was too heavy for you, and you were about to drop it on yourself.”
“It was not, and I didn’t need your help. Not then, not ever. You’re just a—”
“Talia!” Clark barked. “Enough.”
The ranger fastened her gaze on her dad. They exchanged a long look before she stomped off to her vehicle and peeled out. Burnt rubber permeated the air.
Larson was floored that Clark yelled at his adult daughter. The man didn’t have an aggressive bone in his body and didn’t say much to start with, but to yell at her in front of people meant he was really angry about something. It couldn’t have been the argument he and Talia shared.
He stared at Talia’s taillights as they wove through the curvy road. Just a...what? What had she been about to call me? And why do I care?
Heat flooded his cheeks as he turned to face her dad. The man must wonder what that heated exchange was all about.
Clark and Sam jumped down from the bed of the pickup truck, and the rental company kid pulled away.
“I’m sorry, Ryan.” Clark’s eyes filled with regret.
That can’t be good.
He called him by his first name. He always called him by his last name.
“She’s...”
Larson held his hand up. “It’s okay, sir. I’ve obviously done something to make her mad. I’m sorry for that. But, honestly, I don’t know what I did.”
“You didn’t. It’s not you,” Clark replied, sadness in his gaze. “It’s a long story.”
Larson felt sorry for the man. Hmm, long story. What's that about?
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About the Author
Valerie Clarizio is a USA Today Bestselling author who lives in romantic Door County Wisconsin with her husband. She loves to read, write, and spend time at her cabin in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
She's lived her life surrounded by men, three brothers, a husband, and a male Siamese cat who required his own instruction manual. Keeping up with all the men in her life has turned her into an outdoors enthusiast, of which her favorite activity is hiking in national parks. While out on the trails, she has plenty of time to conjure up irresistible characters and unique storylines for her next romantic suspense or sweet contemporary romance novel.
Read more at Valerie J. Clarizio’s site.
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Crazed Reckoning, a Nick Spinelli Mystery Page 15
