The First

Chapter 34

Prattle over the radio kept Ross company. Often he would listen to the scanner when the girls weren't home. He'd speed off toward the next incident before they called on the FBI. In the Portland bureau, they'd nicknamed him 'Speedy'. While he hated the name, it made perfect sense.

"Dispatch, this is Engine Seven," one of the firefighters said over the radio.

"Go ahead, Engine Seven."

"We're on scene. Looks like a one-car MVA. How far out is the ambulance?"

"The closest ambulance we have is coming from Salem. It'll be about 20 minutes."

"Forget the ambulance. We need Life Flight. We've got an approximately seventeen-year-old girl with severe trauma."

"I'm afraid Life Flight is down."

"What do you mean it's down?"

"Life Flight went down on Halloween. They were transporting a pregnant woman."

"I hadn't heard."

"Do the best you can until the ambulance gets there or transport the girl to Dallas Hospital yourself. They're also pretty understaffed since the incident."

"Thanks, but she needs a level one trauma center. We'll get some I.V.'s started, but she's lost a lot of blood."

"I'll let the Paramedics know."

"Thanks, Dispatch. Seven, out."

"Dispatch copies, Seven. Good luck."

Ross hoped the injured girl wasn't Alexa's daughter. The thought of having to make a call to her with devastating news made his jaw clench. What would he say? "I'm sorry Dr. Mason, but I didn't get there in time. Your daughter was ravaged to death by a beast." He shook his head, remembering the horror he'd witnessed at the police station. Those images would stay with him the rest of his life and possibly beyond the grave.

"Dispatch! Dispatch!" a panicked voice came over the radio.

"Go ahead, Seven."

"Are there any officers in route?"

"That's affirmative, Seven. SWAT and the FBI should be there any minute."

She said it as if Ross had the entire agency with him. Anything to get the freaked-out firefighter to calm down, I guess.

"Thank the lord," the firefighter said. "I think we have one of those things here. It ain't moving, looks hurt pretty bad. Little girl ripped off its balls...with a goddamn tire iron."

"Copy, Seven. And thanks for the details. Dispatch out."

"Seven copies."

At near ninety miles per hour, the lights from Engine Seven came into Ross's view. Rain clouds rolled through the sky, threatening a downpour. Not a good sign. The Trills weren't just ruthless, downright vicious, with primal desires; they also began to show signs of cunning. Finding one in the dark would be much harder. How in the hell did a little girl take one out with a tire iron? If she had taken it down by hitting it in the gonads, they may have found the Trill's Achilles heel. A fact he'd need to get to Alexa as soon as he proved it.

Ross pulled behind two Sheriff's Deputy's cars. A cloud of dust blew over the rig. Before he could get out someone slammed their hand on his window. Ross jumped and promptly flipped the firefighter standing next to his car the bird.

He rolled down the window. "Thanks a lot. You trying to give me a fucking heart attack?"

"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare ya." A firefighter with broad shoulders, flat face, and mustache, which looked as if it could crawl off his lip and attack, stuck his head into the car.