In the Cards (Road Trip Romance #8) - A.K. Evans Page 0,3

out by the medics, I got Corinne’s car seat installed into my cruiser. I questioned whether Cooper was tall enough to be riding without at least a booster seat but would check once he was back in the car. The kid was tall, so we had that in our favor.

With Corinne’s seat safely fastened in my car, I did a quick search on my phone for the Sagebrush Bank and Trust. After pulling up their site, I found several branches in the area. Glancing at the time, I noted that they’d be closing in less than five minutes.

So, I waited.

While I waited, the medics brought the kids back over to me. Cooper and Corinne needed to continue with the fluids but were otherwise out of immediate danger.

Knowing we’d be leaving soon, or at least hoping I’d get in touch with their aunt so we could, I got Corinne buckled in her car seat and had Cooper buckle up on the opposite side. Thankfully, he was just tall enough to ride without a booster seat.

Once I had the kids situated, I looked at the time and saw it was a few minutes past five o’clock—time to call their aunt.

Using their mother’s phone, I scrolled to the contact labeled ‘Zoe’ and tapped on it. Two rings later, she answered, “Hey, Evie. I just saw that you called me earlier. I’m walking out of work now and heading home. Are you on your way with the kids?”

“Zoe?” I called.

There was a brief pause before she hesitantly replied, “Yes? Who is this?”

“My name is Dex Taylor, and I’m an officer with the Sagebrush Police Department,” I introduced myself.

Before I could share anything else, Zoe gasped and begged, “Please tell me Cooper and Coco are okay.”

Coco?

Apparently, Corinne had a nickname.

“They are okay,” I assured her. “Unfortunately, your sister is not. She’s alive, but she’s being taken to the hospital now. Afterward, she’s probably going to be heading down to the police station.”

I heard Zoe audibly sigh. “What did she do now?” she asked.

“I’d be happy to give you all the details, Ms…” I trailed off, suddenly realizing I didn’t know her last name.

“Fitzgerald,” she replied. “But please, call me Zoe.”

“Right. Zoe. I’ve got the kids buckled in and ready to go,” I explained. “I’d be happy to bring them to you. They didn’t know your address, so I’ll just need that.”

“Absolutely,” she responded. Then, she rattled off her address.

“Great. I should be there shortly with Cooper and Corinne. Then, I’ll fill you in on what happened.”

“Thank you, Officer.”

With that, I disconnected the call. After jotting down Zoe’s phone number, I passed the phone off to Tucker, so he could take it and put it into evidence.

A moment later, I got inside my patrol car and looked back at the kids. After giving them a friendly smile, I asked, “Have either of you ever taken a ride in a police car?”

They shook their heads.

Grinning, I said, “Well, it looks like I get to give you what will hopefully be your first and only one. I just talked to your Aunt Zoe, and she gave me her address. Are you ready to go see her?”

“Yes!” they both shouted in unison.

Not wanting these two innocent children to have to endure another minute of suffering, I took off.

Suffice it to say that while I might have been a bit angry when I was driving to the scene earlier, those little faces had turned my mood around for the drive away from it.

Two

Zoe

Twenty-one years earlier

“Okay, girls, stand close together and look here.”

Mom was crazy.

She insisted on pictures for every occasion, no matter how much Evie and I hated them. Despite our dislike for photos, we still did as our mother asked and moved to stand next to one another.

She snapped a couple of pictures and beamed, “My girls. You look so adorable.”

It was Halloween. Evie and I had been huge fans of The Little Mermaid ever since I could remember. And this year, we decided to dress up as characters from our favorite movie. I was Ariel; Evie was Ursula.

Mom thought it was fantastic.

We did, too.

We just didn’t need four hundred pictures to prove it.

Evie was a bit more vocal about the inconvenience. “Alright, that’s enough pictures,” she declared, taking my hand in hers. “We’re going out trick-or-treating now.”

Without waiting for a response, my sister led me away from our photo shoot and toward the neighborhood sidewalk. For the next two hours, Evie and I had the best time visiting