Wild Hearts Read online

  Wild Hearts

  Center City First Responders

  Reina Torres

  Copyright © 2020 by Reina Torres

  All rights reserved.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of this author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons living or deceased is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright 2020 by Reina Torres

  No part of this work may be used, stored, reproduced, transmitted without the express and written permission from the publisher, except for brief quotations for review purposes, as permitted by law.

  Model Photo Credit: Golden Czermak - Furious Fotog

  Model Credit: Michael J Scanlon

  Contents

  Wild Hearts

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  NEXT… HER ROCK

  About the Author

  Also by Reina Torres

  Wild Hearts

  If there's someone in pain or in need in Center City, these courageous men and women are there to help. Fire, Police, Medical and Dispatch: they'll be there.

  Wild Hearts: Dr. Roan Ashley & Pilar Bravo

  Pilar Bravo moved from San Antonio to Center City not just for the job, but because she needed a new start. Including, time away from her huge and over attentive family. In Center City she could focus on her job as a Police Officer and live her own life. She wasn’t expecting to find anyone who could handle a woman who didn’t need a man to protect her. She could do a fine job on her own.

  Roan Ashley is the top ER Trauma Doctor at Cole Medical. He’s not just cool under pressure, he’s an iceberg. That all goes out the window when he sees CCPD Officer Pilar Bravo injured during the apprehension of a robbery suspect. It doesn’t stop there. While they begin to know each other off the clock, she keeps coming into the ER for injuries on the job.

  He’s falling fast for Pilar, but it seems like everywhere she goes, danger follows and while his calling is to heal people, to treat their wounds, the idea that she could be taken from him at any moment makes him question if he’s the right person for her.

  Being a female officer adds layers of stress onto an already stressful job. Equality is a great idea, but not everyone subscribes to that ideal. Pilar struggles with the difference between experience and seniority, and personal clashes lead to a dangerous showdown on patrol.

  Roan is left to struggle with his own fear of losing someone he loves and lending his strength when he can’t use his medical skills to save her. Standing on the side of the fight is not something he’s used to, but he’ll do what he needs to do… for her.

  Discover the interwoven lives of first responders in Center City. When there’s trouble, the brave and devoted members of Center City’s Fire, Medical, & Law Enforcement entities band together to make their home a better place, falling in love along the way.

  1

  Dr. Roan Ashley wasn’t all that used to hecklers, but it wasn’t all that bad, really. The people lining the fence and calling out jibes couldn’t even reach the top of the fence with their upstretched hands and most of them were just waiting for their parents to pick them up after school.

  “Hey!” His brother’s voice cut through the raucous sounds from the playground.

  He barely grabbed the basketball that his brother flung at his head. “What?”

  “Are you going to stand there? Or are we going to play?”

  Roan turned the ball over in his hands and stared back. His brother, Walker, took that as his cue to keep spouting shit. “What? The kids on the playground giving you performance anxiety? Go ahead, give in! Show the kids that the,” he turned to the side and pointed to the logo printed in bright white on his navy-blue t-shirt, “C.C.P.D. kicks a-”

  Roan threw the ball at his brother to stop him from making an ass of himself in front of the kids.

  While Walker was busy shielding his face, Roan ducked around him and managed to grab the ball up with little more than his fingertips.

  He knew the moment that his brother realized what he’d done. That particular curse wasn’t something he could stop. The kids on the school grounds heard it and a chorus of laughter and shocked gasps reached Roan’s ears a moment before he planted his feet on the court and leapt into the air. The instant that the ball left his fingers he was hit from behind.

  They fell to the surface of the court in a jumble of limbs as the ball came down a few feet away, bouncing over toward the fence. Rolling over onto his back, Roan glared at his brother.

  “What was the point of that?”

  Wincing, Walker sat up and shook his head. “A cheap shot for a cheap shot.”

  Roan scoffed at his brother’s words. “Right. Like you didn’t try to nail me with the ball.”

  “I would think you’d be more cautious than that. Don’t you have to protect those million-dollar fingers of yours?”

  Even with his brother’s narrowed glare focused on him, Roan reached out and offered his brother a hand to stand up. The joke didn’t bother him. After the thousandth time he’d heard it, it was old hat for him.

  After he paid back all his student loans for med school, his hands just might be worth the million dollars his brother always went on about. Cole Medical Center paid well, better than the county hospital closer to the center of town, but it still felt like he would be paying back those loans for the rest of his life.

  When Walker was on his feet, Roan took a half-step closer and gave his brother a half-hearted shove that sent him back a couple of steps.

  “I’m careful with my hands.” He shook his head instead of flipping him off. The kids had mostly moved away from the fence, but a few were still close enough to see the exchange. “You should be more careful with your mouth. The kids heard what you said.”

  Walker looked over his shoulder at the fence and managed to look a little contrite. “I was taken by surprise.”

  “Ha,” Roan gave him a pointed look. “Nice of you to acknowledge it.”

  “Again,” he repeated, “cheap shot.”

  Before Roan could answer back, they both stopped short and turned their heads toward the road on one end of the playground, Bromley Boulevard. The peal of a klaxon reached Roan’s ears and he knew his brother had heard the same thing.

  “What the-” Walker jogged over to the bench where they’d left their things. Picking up his radio, he turned the channel toggle and increased the volume. It didn’t take more than a moment before a report came through.

  Officer Pilar Bravo and her partner were headed back to Precinct Four when the alert came over the radio. As they listened in, the dispatch rattled off the pertinent facts.

  Reported Burglary at West End Check Cashing. Thirty-first between Bromley and Norris.

  Looking over at her partner in the passenger seat, Pilar didn’t have to wait more than a moment for a reaction. Crois St. Cyr’s mouth tightened at the corners and he dropped his chin in a nod.

  Instead of turning into the parking lot at the precinct building, Pilar stepped on the gas to increase their speed to continue up Norris Road. Crois reached over and flicked the switch to turn on their lights and sirens. Their squad car just passed Twenty-eighth when more information came through.

  Two assailants. White males. Dark clothing. Late Teens… Early Twenties.

  Pilar turned her head as they cross over Th
irtieth and saw the front end of a squad car on the next block.

  A click on the radio told her that someone was answering the call.

  “CC Four-Seven responding. ETA one minute.”

  She knew the squad car number and the voice coming from the speaker she had clipped to her vest bore all the markings of the no-nonsense clip of Officer Burke Pelton. His squad car was likely the same one that she’d caught sight of at the last intersection.

  While they were ahead, Burke’s squad car was one street closer to the crime scene. That didn’t mean that she wasn’t going to make every effort to get there as soon as she could to help.

  A click on the radio sounded as she leaned forward to look at the upcoming intersection. From the seat beside her, Crois responded to the initial call.

  “CC Four-Two responding. Approaching on Norris.”

  Dispatch stepped on the heels of his message.

  Report from the scene. Assailants carried knives with them. No injuries reported.

  When Pilar didn’t turn on Thirty-first she didn’t have to look to know what her partner was doing. He spoke up loud and clear.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Going past.”

  “I can see that.” Crois turned in his seat and laid a hand on the dash. “You want to tell me why?”

  “This time of day?” Pilar had to slow for a moment while a car in the left lane took it’s time to move out of the way. “They’re on the run and the businesses on the next street aren’t going to give them much cover.. If they’re running, they’ll stick out like a sore thumb. I bet their heading up the block. More foot traffic. Maybe they’re looking to get lost.”

  “Burke’s headed straight for the scene.”

  She shrugged. “Probably. I just don’t think they’re going to stick around waiting for us to come up. If they want to keep whatever money they got, they need to get away.”

  Dispatch came over the speaker again.

  Report of a pedestrian knocked to the ground on Bromley, north of Thirty-second.

  Crois’ rich baritone reached her ears. “Okay, maybe you’re right.”

  Pilar allowed herself a little smile. “Going for Kinder Playground. I bet they’re going to try to get lost in the after-school crowd.

  “Okay.” Crois’ tone was a little hesitant as if he was lost in thought. “Okay. I see that. Plenty of people at the basketball courts. A few in the park and picnic area. They’ll probably try to fit in there.”

  Burke came back on the radio. “Spotted suspect on Bromley. Ford’s on foot. Going to try to cut the suspect off at the intersection.”

  A red light ahead turned green, and this time the cars moved out of the way allowing Pilar to chart an easy course through as she drew closer to the park.

  Crois radioed in their plan and by the time she arrived at the intersection they found an empty spot at the curb. “I got this.” Crois was out of the car before she set the squad car in park. And at least one colorful expletive passed her lips as she threw open her own door and took in the lay of the land. The businesses on the south side of the street were quiet. A few pedestrians walked along the sidewalk.

  No one matched the basic description of the assailants as they were mostly female. The only male on that side of the street wore a suit. A far cry from the dark clothing of the suspects.

  She caught sight of Crois further down the sidewalk and as she approached, she heard him call to her.

  “You see anything?”

  As she reached his side, the streetlight at the other end of the block changed and people started to cross back and forth across along Bromley.

  “Hey.”

  Crois turned to look at her. “What?”

  “Up ahead. Skaters.”

  She started forward, keeping her eye on the man at the far side of the crosswalk. His height blended right in, but where the men walking along with him were wearing t-shirts and baggy pants, he was wearing dark clothing.

  The others were also carrying skateboards. One wearing a helmet and another had one tucked up under his arm.

  “Looks like him.”

  Crois took off along the sidewalk and Pilar bit back the words on her tongue. She didn’t want to alert the suspect. If he wasn’t the man they were after, that was fine, but if he was, she didn’t want to get his attention.

  It didn’t matter in the end. Crois St. Cyr was visible enough to catch his eye. At a couple of inches above six feet, Crois turned heads out of his uniform. Dressed in the dark blue uniform of the CCPD, he was practically a billboard.

  Pilar saw the moment that their suspect realized that he was in trouble. His shoulders tensed up like a tightrope wire and he threw a look back over his shoulder. What he saw, he didn’t like, and shoved his way between the two skaters in front of him and nearly tripped on the curb before he darted into the skate park on the corner.

  Roan put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  Walker gave him a hard look. “Going to help them box him in.”

  There wasn’t much more to say after that because Walker was already gone, his service pistol in one hand. Roan shook his head. He hadn’t even seen his brother pull the holster and gun out of his duffle bag. He wanted to remind his brother that he wasn’t bulletproof.

  The officers looking for the suspects were all wearing vests. And while Walker was more than proud of his Center City Police Department t-shirt it certainly didn’t provide protection from bullets or knives, whatever the case may be.

  Scooping up their basketball from its place against the fence, all he could do was watch the situation unfold in front of him. Walker headed for the sidewalk where they’d seen the two officers run past. Roan couldn’t help but feel like there was something about to happen that he had no control over, and he didn’t like that feeling at all.

  He came from the medical side of the Ashley family, the branch that liked to stitch and mend, but Walker, while he looked almost like Roan’s twin, was part of the martial side of the family. Like their father who had died in the line of duty years before in New York City, Walker, their stepfather, and stepsister were also in law enforcement.

  Roan was part of the minority in his family. His mother had been a nurse until her retirement, and she was currently on the board at Cole Medical Center. Together they tried to keep everyone healthy, but they couldn’t do a single thing but worry over and pray for their family members who wore badges on a regular basis.

  Taking a deep breath, he realized he was again on the sidelines, left to take care of things after everything happens.

  He didn’t like that feeling at all.

  There were times in her career that moments came down to something that she couldn’t control. The fact that she was just a hair shorter than five foot six was one of those things. Her brother Vicente Bravo wasn’t even the tallest in their family, but even he had a handful of inches on her. As a Special Agent with the FBI, his badge also carried more weight than hers did.

  She could handle that most days, but since she transferred to Center City from San Antonio and been partnered with Crois who was over six feet, she looked even more petite than she did with her old partner.

  And part of her diminutive height were her legs. She didn’t have the same length of stride as Crois. She didn’t even match their sergeant, Kate Turner, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t fast.

  It just meant that she had to take more than one step for every one of Crois’.

  And he’d already had a head start on her when he went into the skate park after their possible suspect. Still, she kept him in sight as they exited the skate park on the far side of Kinder Playground. That’s why she saw it clearly when the man dressed in dark clothes from head to toe stumbled and Crois all but tackled him because the only other option was to over shoot and run smack dab into a waist high fence.

  It didn’t take more than a few seconds for Crois to get the man on his knees and reach for his handcuffs. He ha
d one wrist shackled when a couple of kids armed with cell phones stepped up close to get pictures of the action.

  Crois didn’t waste time. He looked over at the boys and ordered them to, “Step back!”

  Before he could hook the cuffs on the other wrist, the man threw his head back and a dull thud of sound sent Crois’ head snapping back as well.

  Pushing up to his feet, the suspect went for the easy out. He rushed at the two teens and their cameras, but Pilar had kept her eyes on the suspect. Before he managed more than a step, she tackled him to the ground. He flopped over on his back and brought up his cuffed arm in a wild swing. She felt the solid impact of the cuffs high on her cheekbone. The force behind it was going to leave a mark, but the pain didn’t make her angry. It narrowed her focus. Grabbing a hold of the metal cuff on the suspect’s arm, she brought his arm behind him and managed to get the other cuff on without incident.

  Crois stepped up beside her and the two got him on his feet. Her partner called Pelton to let them know they had the second suspect.

  “That was a cheap shot.” Crois let out a puff of breath that flared his nostrils. “You know we had you.”

  The suspect opened his mouth as if he was going to snap and then seemed to think better of it.

  Pilar looked up at her partner. “We got him, that’s what matters.”

  “Hey!”

  She looked over and saw Detective Walker Ashely step through the crowd and make his way over to them. “Detective. Are you on this case?”

  He jerked a thumb over his shoulder as he answered. “I was on the court playing against my brother when I heard the call come through.”