The Accidental Detective: Finding Her Boss

Chapter 34

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"DOUG!!! HELP-"

"LORIATTE!!"

Doug considered himself a runner, a fast one. Moments ago he had faked being slow to let Loriatte win because he was a gentleman like that, but the man was fast.

He used to run track back in high school and in college, he also participated in a couple marathons here and there to keep his heart strong- had a couple trophies to show for it. The point is, he was fast.

Even faster than the 'I excel in everything I do' Zayden Harrison, even though the police boy would never admit it.

But, for the first time in his life, Doug felt slow.

No matter how fast he pushed himself to run- his legs pounded against the floor of the bridge, lungs burning, arms pumping- pushing himself so he'd be able to reach Loriatte in time, his long legs stretching as he ran across the bridge trying to get to the other side of the park, determined icy blue eyes locked in on Loriatte's figure who thrashed around the arms of a masked man.

He tried, he really did. But he just couldn't get to her.

He saw a suspiciously parked van on the other side of the park, the door opened like a maw.

He ran faster.

"LORIATTE!" He screamed again, the wind slicing past his ears.

But he was too late and by the time he reached the middle of the stupidly long bridge, Loriatte was already thrown into the back of the black van, it's doors slammed shut, then spun around with a violent u-turn and tore down the pedestrian bridge- heading straight towards him.

There was no time for him to run back, so he dove over the bridge.

The world tilted then vanished beneath the rush of wind and the roar of tires.

He held his breath as his body plunged into the calm flowing body of water, the cold swallowing him like an ice blanket. The river wasn't too shallow, thank God, but his body screamed as water slammed into him like concrete.

He kicked upwards and broke the surface with a gasp, violently coughing up some water that managed to get into his mouth.

Not giving himself any time to catch his breath, he swam to the shore, dragged himself out of the water, and collapsed onto the banks, chest heaving with his heart jackhammering against his ribs.

Staggering to his feet, Doug clutched his torso with his left arm, trying to push through the pain that shot through his midriff. He staggered up the steep slope to higher grounds, pushing past the small crowd of people that had gathered because of all the commotion.

Doug felt like the world around him was spinning as he spun in frantic circles, out of breath and completely lost, trying to spot the van that nearly ran him over with Loriatte in it.

But nothing.

It seemed like the park seemed to stretch on and on with the crowd around him getting bigger as everyone looked at him with concern.

The only vehicle he could see was the ice cream truck, which was now closed, and the owner of the truck was standing in front of him, clutching his wrist with a worried look in her aged eyes.