Page 4 of Rattler's Revelation
“Um, she’s conscious. We’ll be done with our examination soon. Aren’t you…?”
“I was,” Puma says with a nod. “Take care of her. She’s one of ours.”
I smirk as the man snaps his attention back to Bianca.
When the EMTs finish their examination, they leave. Bianca has adamantly refused their offer to transport her to the ER.They leave her with a set of instructions and what to look out for as they pack up their supplies and leave.
“Are you alright?” I ask her as I move to her side. Puma stands with us, waiting for her answer.
“I’m a little sore, but I know it will be worse tomorrow. Other than that, I’m okay. I wasn’t going very fast when I hit the wall.”
“Can you tell us what happened?” Puma asks.
“Someone followed me when I left the casino,” Bianca starts. “At least I think they followed me from the casino. I didn’t notice them behind me until I turned off the strip. The van was right behind me, making me nervous. I made several turns, hoping to lose them, but they stayed behind me at each turn.”
“Why didn’t you call the police?” Rafe asks as he joins us.
“I considered it, but I didn’t think the police would believe me. I figured they’d think I was just being hysterical. Since I didn’t have time to convince them, I called Brigit.”
“I’m glad you did,” Brigit says, coming to stand in front of Bianca with Wildcard behind her.
“We heard you scream,” I prod Bianca.
“The van rear-ended me. I screamed in surprise. I was able to maintain control and tried to shake them by driving through a red light. They hit me again, and this time I crashed. I don’t know what happened after because I passed out.”
We all turn to look at the damaged vehicle. I flinch when I see the crumpled frontend and know that the only reason she’s standing here instead of on her way to the hospital is the airbag. I want to pull her into my arms and comfort her, but that’s not my place. Hell, that would likely traumatize her more, considering she believed Walt was the person who chased her.
“At least they didn’t grab you,” I say.
“We arrived before they could,” says one of the uniformed cops. He joins our group and studies Bianca. “We were right behind them. I saw Bianca shoot through the red light with thevan on her tail. We were going to pull them both over when we saw the van ram her off the road. They slowed down, but took off when they saw us coming.”
I study the cop. He has a short beard and a deep voice. I gauge him to be in his thirties, until I see his eyes. A younger man looks out of his soft brown eyes. When I lock eyes with him, I feel a spark of recognition. Glancing at this name badge, I see the name Sterling. Sterling? When Rafe claps his hand on the officer’s shoulder, I realize he’s Rafe’s nephew, Randy.
“Did you get their license plate?” Puma asks.
Randy nods. “We ran it, but it won’t help us. The plates belong to a county service truck. Whoever was driving the van likely stole the plates off the truck and switched them out. We’ll see if the traffic cams caught anything we can use to track down the driver or the van.”
“And we’ll check our security feed at the casino. Maybe we can find the van and get a look at the driver,” Wildcard suggests.
A soft sob from Bianca draws my attention. She’s staring at her car while a tear trickles down her cheek.
“Hey, are you alright? Do you need to sit down? We can still take you to the hospital if you’re in pain,” I whisper to her.
She shakes her head. “It’s not that. It’s my car. I don’t know how I can afford to fix it. I have insurance, but…”
“Don’t worry about it. We have an auto shop. We’ll take care of it.”
“He’s right,” Puma says. “I already called Hawk, and he’s sending a tow truck.”
“We can call you a taxi,” Officer Sterling offers with a soft smile for Bianca.
She opens her mouth and closes it again. She looks scared and lost.
“I have the SUV and can take you home,” I tell her. The look of gratitude she gives me has me wanting to wrap her up in myarms and steal her away. She looks as if she’s ready to collapse. Today has been a long and emotional day for her.
I lead her to the SUV, and when we reach it, she pulls back. “I need my purse and my bag,” she protests.
“I’ll get them,” Officer Sterling offers, squeezing her arm. I didn’t realize he was behind us, but I’m grateful he followed. He jogs over to her car and leans inside to grab her stuff. He jogs back as I buckle Bianca into the passenger seat. After he places her bags in the backseat behind Bianca, he slams the door shut and leans past me to hand Bianca his phone. “Enter your phone number and I’ll text you so you can have mine. That way, you can call me if you need me. Or you can reach me at the station, my name is Randy Sterling.” Bianca enters her digits and smiles as she returns his phone. He shuts her door before turning to face me. “Do you know who did this?”
