Page 109 of Total Shutdown

Kendra’s brows knit together. “But they’re your passion and expertise. There has to be something around.”

I offer her a defeated shrug. “Trust me when I say, I’ve been scouring the internet for opportunities. I even called a couple of garages to ask if they’d be interested in taking on a Harley specialist. They weren’t.”

“Well, they’re just plain stupid then,” Jenna grumbles. “They don’t know what they’re missing.”

“They’re missing a badly behaved employee who can’t hold down a job to save her life.” I snort. “No one wants the wild child, and most garages take one look at a woman and think she’s clueless.”

“Nope.” Kendra speaks up. “That award goes to Cameron.”

“Hell yes, it does.” I reach across and high-five her, just as my cell starts vibrating in my jeans pocket.

The buzzer goes off, and the home crowd explodes into cheers, celebrating a big win against a strong team, but I can’t hear anything as I put the phone to my ear.

“Hello? Ezra?”

“Collins, I-I need your help.”

I can’t be sure that’s what he says as I push past our chairs and out into a quiet hallway, my heart thumping behind my ribs, hand gripping my phone tightly.

“What’s the matter?” I ask, voice shaking.

I can hear voices in the background and outside noise and then, to my horror, a siren.

“Please don’t tell Dad.” His small voice sounds wobblier than mine, and my heart breaks.

“Tell me you are okay. What happened?” I ask, just as Kendra pushes through the door to the hallway, concern etched across her face.

Ezra doesn’t respond, and other than background noise, the only voices I can hear are those in my head, telling me something is very wrong.

“Hello? Is this Ezra’s mom?” an unfamiliar female voice says.

“Yes.” I look over at Kendra, eyes wide at my own response.

Did I just say that out loud?

“I’m one of the EMTs called to the scene. Your son has been involved in a traffic accident involving a motorcycle and a car. Everyone is okay since it wasn’t at a high speed, but we will be transferring him to the hospital for a checkup. Only light injuries were sustained.”

“I-injuries?” I repeat, blood draining from my face.

Kendra rushes over, keeping me steady as I fight to stay upright.

“Yes, ma’am. As I said, everyone is okay, but we do need to make sure what we are seeing is only superficial and there isn’t anything more serious internally.”

My palms sweat, and my heart rate is at an all-time high. I begin to tremble from the adrenaline as it pumps through every part of my body.

“His dad just finished a hockey game, but give me the name of the hospital, and we will be there immediately.”

As the EMT reads out the details, I open my Notes app and type in the name, pulling it back off loudspeaker. She says something else, but I don’t hear it. I’m spinning out, sinking panic taking ahold of the very depths of my gut.

This is my fault.

I knew he had ridden on that motorcycle, and this is on me. He wouldn’t be in danger, and he wouldn’t be heading to the ER right now if I hadn’t fueled his passion and convinced Sawyer when he raised his initial doubts about the safety of bikes.

“Collins?” Kendra speaks as I disconnect the call and stare blindly at the Blades logo stamped on the wall in front of me. “What happened to Ezra?”

I feel the first tear as it hits my cheek, initially warm but turning cold as it runs a track toward my chin. “We have to find Sawyer. Now.”

CHAPTERFORTY

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