“Working on it.” He nodded to an approaching officer. “Landers!”

“How’s it going?” Landers said.

With him standing next to Reyes’s window, even in a cruiser, I felt like we were being pulled over, and any minute, Landers would ask Reyes if he knew how fast he was going.

“I have a little girl in my car—”

“Little girl?” I hissed.

He sighed. “I have a young woman in my car who’s looking for her boyfriend. They took shelter under that overpass when the tornado hit.”

Landers leaned down, giving me a once-over. “She’s lucky. Not all of them made it.”

“Like who?” I asked, bending just enough to get a better look.

“I’m not sure. Can you believe one guy was thrown a quarter of a mile and ran all the way back to the turnpike, searching for someone? He was covered in mud. Looked like a melted candy bar.”

“Was he alone? Do you remember his name?” I asked.

Landers shook his head, still chuckling at his own joke. “Something weird.”

“Shepley?” Reyes asked.

“Maybe,” Landers said.

“Was he hurt? What was he wearing? Early twenties? Hazel eyes?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, ma’am. It’s been a long day,” Landers said, standing up.

All I could see of him then was his midsection.

Reyes looked up at him. “C’mon, Justin. She’s been looking for him for hours. She watched him get sucked out by a damn tornado.”

“He had a significant laceration on his shoulder, but he’ll live if the fire chief can talk him into getting it taken care of. He was hell-bent on finding his, um … how did he put it? Epically beautiful girlfriend.” Landers paused and then leaned down. “America?”

My eyes widened, and my mouth fell open into a gaping smile. “Yes! That’s my name! He was here? Looking for me? Do you know where he went?”

“To the hospital … to look for you,” Landers said, tipping his hat. “Good luck, ma’am.”

“Reyes!” I said, grabbing his arm.

He nodded once as he flipped on his lights, and then he threw the gear into drive. We bounced as the cruiser crossed the median, and then Reyes pressed a heavy foot on the gas, barreling down the turnpike toward Emporia … and Shepley.

Shepley

The nurse shook her head, dabbing a cut on my ear with a cotton ball. “You’re lucky.” She blinked her long eyelashes and then reached behind her for something sitting on the silver tray next to my stretcher.

The ER was full. The rooms were only available for the more urgent cases. Triage had been set up in the waiting room, and I’d waited for over an hour before a nurse finally called my name and escorted me to a stretcher in the hall where I’d waited for another hour.

“I can’t believe you were going to walk out of here.”

“It’s getting late. I have to find America before dark.”