Montana Fire Read Free Page A

banging against her ribs. She didn’t
     dare turn on the lights for fear they’d find her.
    The phone seemed to take forever to ring. “911. What is the nature of your emergency?”
    Finally . Jamie strained to hear the intruders, but she couldn’t, not over the pounding in
     her ears. “I’m at the free clinic on First Street,” she whispered. “Two men got out
     of a dark van, and are now trying to break into the clinic.” Her tongue stuck to her
     dry mouth.
    The woman told her to stay calm, that officers were on the way, and to remain on the
     line.
    Stay calm? Really? “I’ll try.”
    Jamie slumped back against the wall, her body shaking. Nothing made sense. Why were
     they chasing her if they planned to break into the clinic? Why not wait until she
     was gone before trying to steal something? Yolanda had told her that after a gang
     had robbed them of drugs last year, she’d called the city and insisted they put in
     an alarm. They had. A lot of good it was doing Jamie now. Hopefully, the cameras would
     catch these guys in action.
    “Ma’am?” The voice on the other end broke through her thoughts.
    Jamie swallowed to wet her mouth. “Yes?”
    “Where are you?”
    She needed a moment for the words to sink in. “In the clinic.” Hadn’t she said that?
    “I have two officers at the front door. They need you to open up.”
    Relief poured through her, but her legs had turned to rubber. She straightened and
     groped for the knob in the dark. After twisting it open, Jamie moved as quickly down
     the hallway as her body would allow. She drew open the heavy wooden door that led
     to the waiting room, and hurried to the entrance.
    Red, blue, and white flashing lights spun around the room, creating a kaleidoscope
     of color. Thank God, help was here.
    Jamie unlocked the door and opened it. Standing in front of her was Thad Dalton, another
     of her friend’s fiancés, and someone else she’d seen at this weekend’s wedding.
    “Jamie?” Thad ran his hands down her arms. “Are you okay?” The second man, who Thad
     introduced as Trent Lawson, turned on the overhead lights.
    “Yes.”
    Thad led her over to the chairs and had her sit down. “Tell me everything.”
    In starts and stops, she explained about locking up then spotting the van that had
     stopped in the middle of the street. Questions about why this was happening kept bombarding
     her. Hadn’t she been through enough?
    “Did you get a look at their faces to see if you knew them?” Trent asked.
    “No. I’m sorry. They wore baseball caps and kept their heads down.”
    Thad leaned forward. “Can you remember if they were close enough to see you lock up?”
    She racked her brain, but no memory surfaced. “I don’t think so, but maybe.”
    “Is the place alarmed?” Trent asked. “We spotted the cameras. That should help us
     catch these men.”
    Oh, crap. “Yes.” She jumped up and punched in the number for the alarm, then returned
     to her seat.
    “I’ll ask one of the men to call the security company.” Trent asked her for the company’s
     name. “I need to let them know everything’s okay.”
    “It’s AA Protection Services,” she said, surprised she remembered.
    Once he spoke into his shoulder radio and gave the other officers the information,
     Trent dragged a chair around to face her. He took out his iPad, probably for taking
     notes, and looked over at Thad. “If they were here to rob the place, they’d probably
     assume any clinic with drugs would be alarmed. Perhaps they wanted the key.”
    “Even with the key, they’d have to punch in the code,” she said.
    Trent raised his brow. “Maybe that’s what they needed you for.”
    “You think?” Crap. Had karma decided she’d done something wrong in her past life and
     deserved this punishment?
    Trent firmed his lips. “I have no proof of anything. It was just speculation. I’m
     sorry.”
    She understood why he’d said it.
    “You’re safe now, Jamie,” Thad