“Bailey,” Mary breathed, alarm and worry rushing over her as her poor brain tried to sort out how this man had come to be here. He certainly hadn’t been there when she’d set out that morning, and there was no way he could have got in while she was driving. The only time she’d left the RV without locking the door was when she’d hit something on the—
Mary stiffened as realization slid over her. This was what she’d hit. She’d run over this man. That was the only thing that made sense. Certainly the blood now covering him suggested he’d been in some sort of accident. But how the hell had he got himself into the RV without her seeing him?
She started to crawl onto the bed, intending to see how she could help him, but immediately paused when he turned his head and opened deep black eyes to stare hard at her. She met his gaze briefly, then backed slowly off the bed. The man was pale as death, coated with blood from top to bottom and there was even more of it soaking into the carpet and pooling on the tile floor around him, but his eyes seemed almost to glow silver with life and she was suddenly afraid of him.
Mary stared at the man briefly, telling herself that she was not going to be able to help him, that this man needed serious medical care, an ambulance and hospital, surgery and gallons of blood. She spun away, calling out, “I’ll get help.”
She tripped back across the littered floor to the door, then paused and glanced back to call, “Bailey!” When the dog didn’t immediately appear, she said more sharply, “Come to Mommy, now!”
This time the dog did listen and came bounding out of the bedroom and toward her. Relieved, Mary unlocked and opened the door, then took the steps to the pavement and waited for Bailey to follow before closing the door again. She automatically reached for her keys, intending to lock the door, only to realize they were still in the ignition. Mary briefly considered going in to get them, but then simply turned to Bailey and ordered, “Sit. Stay.”
When Bailey sat next to the stairs and peered at her solemnly, Mary nodded, muttered, “Good girl,” and hurried for the truck stop entrance.
There was a gas station/store on one side and a restaurant took up the other. Mary rushed for the door to the restaurant and burst inside, only to pause and take stock of the situation. She noted with some surprise that there were a good dozen people seated at the tables, some in groups of two or three, some alone. It was more than she’d expected at that hour and her gaze slid to the clock on the wall to see that it was after eight. It seemed she wasn’t the only one traveling at night.
There were also two waitresses: the younger one stood next to a table, apparently taking an order, while the other, an older lady, stood behind a long counter lined with stools. Since the second one was looking her way, Mary hurried to the counter and blurted, “There’s a naked man in my RV bedroom.”
Amusement curved the waitress’s lips and she said wryly, “Lucky you.”
Mary blinked in confusion and then explained, “No. You don’t understand. He’s injured.”
“Got a little rowdy, huh?” The waitress teased lightly.
“Rowdy?” Mary echoed with bewilderment and then flushed as understanding struck. The woman thought she was saying he’d been injured during sex or something. Good Lord! “We weren’t—lady, I’m sixty-two years old. The boy is young enough to be my son,” she said indignantly.
“Well, double lucky you then,” the waitress said dryly. “But it’s not nice to brag about a steak meal in front of a gal who’s been on a fast for a decade.”
Mary clucked with exasperation. “I’m not bragging. He’s really hurt. There’s blood all over the place. He needs help, but my cell phone is broken. I—”
“Call an ambulance, Joan.”
Mary turned sharply at that order and peered at the woman now standing beside her with a man at her back. They were a young couple, the woman pretty with long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, while the man had short, fair hair and a solemn expression. Mary had noticed them when she’d entered, but hadn’t noticed that they were wearing hospital greens. She did now, and felt relief as the woman smiled at her soothingly.
“Hello, I’m Dr. Jenson and this is my husband, Dr. Jenson. Why don’t you take us to your friend and we’ll see what we can do until the ambulance gets here.”
“Yes,” Mary said with relief and turned to lead them out of the restaurant, but as she pushed through the door, she explained, “He’s not a friend. I don’t know him. I just found him in the bedroom of the RV when I stopped here. I think I may have hit him. He’s bleeding badly.”
“What did you hit him with?” the man asked, his voice a deep baritone as they crossed the parking lot.
“The RV,” Mary answered, noting with relief that Bailey still sat where she’d left her. The dog was good about obeying orders, but the way things had been going—
“I’m not sure I understand,” the man said slowly. “You found him naked in the bedroom of the RV . . . and then what? Threw him out and ran him over?”
“What?” She glanced back with amazement. “No, of course not. I think I hit him with the RV and while I was out looking to see what I’d hit, he must have crawled into the RV. I didn’t find him until I got here.” Pausing at the RV, she opened the door, and hurried inside to lead the way back to the bedroom. She hadn’t really needed to, as everything was compact and a straight shot from front to back. In truth, Mary led the way because she wasn’t at all sure the man would still be there. She could hardly believe he’d been there to begin with and half suspected he’d been some kind of hallucination brought on by the stress of the trip or something.
However, when she reached the open door of the small bedroom and moved up against the bed to peer over it, he was still there on the floor on the other side, broad shoulders wedged between the bed and wall, and butt hanging out into the bathroom, bare as the day he’d been born.
“Oh dear.”
Mary glanced around and realized she was blocking the way. Squeezing into the small cubby space between the bed and wall on this side to get out of the way, Mary glanced from the woman to the man on the floor and back before offering, “Maybe I should open the slide-out.”
“It might cause him injury,” the woman said, climbing onto the bed on her knees and starting across the surface to the other side.
“Lisa’s right,” the man said solemnly, taking Mary’s arm to urge her out of the cramped room. Even with her squeezed to the side, there wasn’t room for him to pass. Really, with the slides in, there wasn’t room to turn around in this section of the RV.
“Why don’t you go watch for the EMTs and let us see what we can do here first,” he suggested gently but firmly as he pulled her back toward the door.
Mary went willingly. In truth, she was happy to go. The sight of the man’s twisted body and all that blood was likely to give her nightmares as it was, and she certainly didn’t expect he’d survive. She didn’t want to bear witness to his death. It was bad enough that she may be the cause of it.
“Send the EMTs in when they get here,” the man instructed quietly as he stopped and leaned past her to open the RV door.
Mary merely nodded and descended the steps to the pavement. She heard the door close behind her and glanced back anxiously, then peered down at Bailey when the dog nosed her hand.
“It’ll be all right,” she murmured and gave the dog a pat, but wasn’t at all sure that was true. If the man in her bedroom was what she’d hit with the RV, and he died as she feared—that was vehicular homicide, wasn’t it? Or did there have to be intent to be homicide? Perhaps it was manslaughter or something. She had no idea, but it was something.
It had been an accident, she reminded herself. She’d never even seen him, but she had been tired and while she hadn’t thought she’d been that tired, she should have seen him, shouldn’t she? The man was buck naked, not wearing dark clothes that would have helped make him harder to see. She should have seen him.
The door opened behind her suddenly and Mary turned to peer anxiously at the pretty brunette as she hurried out of the RV. The woman didn’t even glance her way, but slammed the RV door closed and rushed toward the restaurant.
Mary stared after her with a frown, then glanced to the RV door, briefly debating going inside to see what was happening. Had he died? Was he—Her head swiveled again at the sound of the restaurant door opening and she watched wide-eyed as the woman led several patrons to the RV, all of them big, brawny-looking men. By Mary’s guess, every last one of them was probably a truck driver . . . or a lumberjack.
“Are you moving him?” Mary asked with concern as the doctor led the men over. It was the only explanation she could think of for the presence of so many big men. Although she had no idea how they thought they would all be able to maneuver through the tight RV carrying the man. And where were they going to put him? Did they plan to just bring him out here and lay him on the pavement, or were they going to take him inside the restaurant? That last thought seemed most likely. The lighting in the RV wasn’t great right now. She hadn’t turned on the generator when she’d stopped, so the only light was the small LED she’d flicked on to look for her purse.
“Wait here and watch for the ambulance,” the brunette said as she opened the door. She gestured for the men to go in ahead of her and then followed, leaving a worried Mary to watch the door close again. The RV rocked slightly as the people inside moved about and Mary bit her lip, wondering how the hell they thought they were going to move the man with so many inside.
She should have put out the slides, Mary thought again unhappily as she peered up the road first one way and then the other, wondering how long it would take for the ambulance to get there and from which direction it would come.
When the door opened behind her again, Mary glanced around expectantly, but only one of the men came out. Mary stepped out of his way as he descended the steps and pushed the door closed. She expected him to make some sort of explanation then, but the man simply walked away back toward the restaurant at an easy gait, a relaxed smile on his face.
Mary stared after him with amazement. She’d almost think he’d been sent to get towels or something else that might be needed, but if so, surely he should be rushing and looking at least a bit concerned?
She watched him enter the restaurant and saw through the large glass windows that he returned to what she presumed was his table and set about eating again as if nothing had happened. She also saw both waitresses move to his side, curiosity evident in their movements and expressions, but whatever he said must have allayed their concerns, since both women moved away moments later, relaxed and smiling as if at some joke.
Mary was frowning over that when the door opened behind her again and another of the men came out. Like the first he looked relaxed and happy as he descended the steps and closed the door. But this time Mary didn’t move out of the way, instead stepping in front of him.
“What’s happening? Is he—?”
“He’ll be fine,” the tall, gruff voiced fellow assured her. She noted puncture marks on his neck as he sidestepped her to head toward the restaurant, but got distracted by his words when he added, “The blood was more show than damage.”
Mary stared after him with disbelief. The amount of blood she’d seen had been more than show. It had looked like he’d bled out all over her floor. In fact, she hadn’t dared looked at his face when she’d led the doctors inside, afraid she’d find herself looking at eyes glazed over with death.
Much to her relief the sound of a siren in the distance distracted her then and Mary turned her head to peer along the road. Spotting the flashing lights, she swallowed and moved forward, ready to flag down the vehicle and wave it over the moment it pulled in. The ambulance was just turning into the lot when movement out of the corner of her eye made Mary glance back toward the RV. Another man had come out of the RV and was returning to the restaurant. Like the others, he looked calm and untroubled, but Mary didn’t have time to worry about it, as the ambulance was coming to a halt before her and two men were jumping out.
“Are you the one who called?” the man who had been driving asked as they approached her.
Mary shook her head. “The waitress did for me.”
The driver nodded, his gaze sliding over her. “What seems to be the problem? Chest pains? Problems breathing?”
Mary waved the suggestion away and turned to head back toward the RV, explaining, “No. I’m fine. But I hit someone with the RV and he was badly injured. There are doctors with him now, but—”
Mary paused both in speaking and walking. She’d glanced over her shoulder to see that she’d lost the EMTs. Both men had rushed back toward the ambulance. She stared after them, relieved when she realized they were just getting their gear. They were quick about it now that they knew the situation and seconds later were wheeling a stretcher toward her with several items stacked on top of it. A strapped spine board was on the bottom, with a neck collar, an orange bag with the medical symbol on it, and a defibrillator on top. The sight of the spine board and collar made her realize the naked man in her RV probably shouldn’t have been moved until it was determined that he hadn’t broken his neck or back. But she was sure the doctor had seen to that before she’d called the men in from the restaurant to move him to the bed. At least that’s what she was assuming they’d been brought out for. She had no idea why they’d left one at a time rather than all together after accomplishing the task.
The EMTs were moving quickly now and Mary had to jog to keep ahead of them.
“Who’s the doctor with the victim?” the driver asked suddenly.
“There are two of them, a husband and wife. I think she said Jenner or something,” Mary muttered, trying to recall. She’d been in a bit of a state at the time.
“Jenson?” the other EMT asked as Mary paused at the RV door and started to open it.
“Yes, that might be it,” Mary admitted, then glanced around with surprise as the last of the four men from the restaurant came out the door she’d just opened and started down the steps.
She noted a mark and smear of blood on his throat, then glanced distractedly back to the ambulance driver when he said, “Your friend’s lucky then. The Jensons are top notch,” he announced and then hurried up the steps as the exiting man got out of the way.
“He’s right,” the second EMT assured her as he followed. He also closed the door behind him, making it obvious they didn’t expect her to follow.
Mary let her breath out on a sigh, but didn’t really mind being left outside again. There wasn’t a lot of room in there, and despite the reassurances from the men who had left the RV, she really didn’t think all that blood was just show. Besides, now that she was thinking about what she’d seen in her first glimpse of the man, she was quite sure there had been something odd about his chest. Aside from the muddy tire track across it, it had seemed a bit misshaped or flattened. And she thought one of his legs had been as well.
Muttering worriedly under her breath, Mary moved closer to where Bailey had curled up on the pavement and patted her head when the German shepherd promptly stood at attention beside her.
“It’ll be fine,” she repeated the mantra reassuringly, and just wished she believed that.
Glancing toward the restaurant, she recalled her intention to eat while she was here, but no longer felt like it. Perhaps afterward . . . if she wasn’t immediately arrested and dragged off to the hoosegow, Mary thought with a grimace. The possibility made her wonder where the police were. Surely they should be here by now, taking statements and starting their investigation?
The door opened behind her again and Mary glanced around to see the doctors coming out of the RV. There was blood on their clothes now, Mary noted and it suddenly occurred to her that what she’d thought was ketchup on the floor of the RV was probably blood as well.
“How is he?” Mary asked.
The man paused and turned to close the door behind them. Mary frowned as she noted the marks on his neck, but then glanced to the brunette as she said brightly, “He’s fine. The EMTs are with him now.”
“But—” Mary paused and glanced toward the RV as the generator came on. They probably needed extra light, or to plug in their defibrillator or something, she thought and then realized they’d left everything but the stretcher and the orange bag out here when they’d gone in to assess the situation.
“What are they . . . ?” Her question trailed away as she swung back to see that while she’d been distracted, the Jensons had taken the opportunity to slip away and were now on the way back into the restaurant.
Letting her breath out on an exasperated hiss, Mary glanced back to the RV and had just started forward when the door suddenly opened and the EMTs started out. She could hear the sound of a shower from inside before the door closed and glanced to the two men with bewilderment as they moved to their rolling stretcher.
“Are you going to be able to get that inside?” she asked when one man moved to the head of the stretcher. “It’s kind of tight in there.”
“No need,” the EMT said lightly, offering her a shiny smile. “He’s fine.”
“He’s not fine,” Mary argued quickly. “He was nearly dead. He—you aren’t just leaving him?” she protested as the man began to drag the rolling stretcher back toward their vehicle. “He needs help.”
“He’s fine. The blood was all show,” the second EMT, the driver, said reassuringly, following the stretcher back toward the ambulance.
“But—” Mary turned to peer at her RV with dismay, wondering what she was supposed to do with the man. Wait for him to come out seemed the most sensible answer. She found it hard to believe he was just fine as everyone kept saying, but if he was, she presently had a huge naked man in her RV. And in her shower from the sounds of it, she thought grimly She’d have to fill up the water tank, and empty the gray tank once she reached the campground, and—who was she kidding, she wasn’t going anywhere until the man presently enjoying her shower got his butt out of her RV. Mary wasn’t forgetting the shiver of trepidation she’d experienced when her gaze had met his. There had been something about his expression, the concentration, and the deep dark black eyes with silver flecks that almost seemed to glow . . .
No, she wasn’t going inside until he came out. If he came out. What if he just drove off with her RV? She’d left her damned keys in there, Mary recalled. And her purse. The man could just drive off with her vehicle and have himself a relaxing holiday in her RV.
She should go in and get her keys while he was in the shower. Not that she was sure he was actually in the shower, she thought. Mary couldn’t imagine he was in shape to manage such a task. But everyone kept saying he was just fine, she reminded herself and started to open the RV door, only to pause with it barely cracked as she realized the sound of rushing water was gone.
She’d just wait for him to come out, Mary decided, easing the door closed again as she heard movement inside. The hum of the generator stopped and she shifted nervously, wondering what she should say when he did come out. If he came out. Surely he would come out?
Bailey whined beside her and nosed at the door, suggesting she thought Mary should go in, but Mary shook her head. “We’ll wait,” she said quietly, turning her back to the door, and watching idly as a speeding black van slowed abruptly on the highway and put on its blinker, indicating its intention to turn into the lot. It would have a bit of a wait, she noted. The oncoming traffic was pretty thick, perhaps from the ramp onto the I-10 just up the road. Then she whirled toward the RV door again with horror as she heard the engine start up.
“Oh, no freaking way,” Mary muttered, and dragged the door open to rush in. She had just stepped off the automatically descending metal steps and onto the wooden ones inside when she was nearly knocked off her feet by Bailey as the shepherd raced past her to get inside first.
Grabbing for the counter on her left and the passenger seat on her right to steady herself, Mary scowled at the dog, who had settled in her customary position between the driver’s and passenger’s seats. The dumb dog didn’t seem to realize that the man at the wheel shouldn’t be there. In fact, Bailey was staring up at him with something like worship, her tail thumping the floor and tongue hanging out.
She’d have to have a talk with the dog later, Mary decided as she moved away from the door and stepped up onto the RV floor to scowl at the young man in the driver’s seat.
Mary’s scowl was replaced by shock as she noted the change in him. Gone was the pallid, blood-soaked victim struggling for breath that she’d first spotted in her bedroom. This man was flush with color, his long dark hair wet from the shower and slicked back from his face. He was no longer dragging in raspy, labored breaths, but breathing just fine. He also didn’t have a drop of blood on him . . . anywhere. Mary knew that for certain because the one thing that hadn’t changed was that he was still buck naked, and his bare ass was presently in her driver’s seat.