High Roller by A Parker & Ali Parker

Author:A Parker & Ali Parker [Parker, A]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BrixBaxter Publishing
Published: 2021-08-17T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

Mason

It hadn’t rained in Reno for at least a month and a half, which left a good chance of the pavement being slick with runoff oil. I wondered if that was how Susan crashed. Had she been driving too fast? Maybe she slid into a telephone pole or into a ditch.

No, she’d sounded too scared.

Something had happened.

She wouldn’t tell me on the phone when she called, but I could hear the tremor in her voice and her sniffles, and I knew she’d been crying. All she’d been able to croak out was that she needed me, which made me feel elated and pulled thin all at once, and when I told her I was on my way, she whispered for me to hurry.

So, I drove like the devil despite the risk of oily pavement.

I came upon the scene while a tow truck with yellow lights pulled William’s pickup truck onto its ramp. As I approached, the damage became more and more clear, and I was shocked by the extent of it. The whole passenger side of the cab was completely crumpled in and the frame was bent. Part of the bed appeared to have come apart under the pressure of the impact.

What the fuck happened?

I pulled over behind the tow truck as the operator walked around and inspected his load. I got out of the truck and hurried over to him.

“Where is she?” I asked.

The tow truck driver had a bald head and squinty eyes behind a pair of glasses straight out of the eighties. He nodded up ahead of his tow truck and with a smoker’s voice said, “Sitting up there on the curb. I tried to call her an ambulance, but she refused. Claimed she’s just fine. She hit her head, that’s for sure, but she said she was waiting for you. Mason, I assume?”

“Yeah,” I said absently, but I’d already started walking away from him. I hurried around the tow truck and stopped in my tracks.

Susan sat on the sidewalk curb with her legs stretched out in front of her. She picked gravel and dirt out of skinned knees and didn’t even notice me standing there. Dried blood stained her hair and forehead, as well as her bottom lip. Her right cheek was red and swollen, and as I watched her shift to get more comfortable, she grimaced and pressed a hand to her ribs on the right side.

“Suzie,” I breathed.

Her big brown eyes swept up to me and her brow furrowed. I couldn’t tell if it was from pain or relief.

I moved toward her and went to my knees on the road in front of her. “What happened?”

Her eyes danced between mine as she ran her tongue over her swollen lip. “I was stupid.”

“That’s not an answer. Where’s the asshole that hit you? Look at me, Suzie.” I cupped her chin in my hand and gently turned her head up. I gazed into her eyes and made sure she focused on me. I worried she had a concussion, but she looked clear headed.

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