Deluge (The Best Thrillers Book 2) by James Best (top romance novels txt) 📗

walked up the drive, evidently intending to meet him when he found entrance. Evarts ran to the last house on the trailer park side of the street. He saw a lock on the gate to the backyard, but the garage door was wide open. He sprinted across the concrete garage floor, surprised at how much he appreciated solid, dry ground. He twisted open the lock on the backdoor handle and went back into the rain. A six-foot slumpstone wall encircled the backyard. He repositioned a patio chair and table into a makeshift ladder, and climbed up and dropped over the wall to be greeted by dozens of very wet people who all began talking at once.

He held up his badge, this time without exposing his gun. “People, quiet. We need to find another route out of this park. One a wide truck can pass through. Any suggestions?”

“I’m the manager.” An older man stepped forward, offering his hand. “Ben’s the name. This is a secure trailer park. Lots of seniors and part-time residents. They want privacy and protection from vandals. The entire park is surrounded by a tall wall. It can’t be knocked down with garden tools, and that’s all I got. We’re trapped.”

Evarts had feared that would be the answer. “Where can we get a truck to the other side of the wall?”

“Off Aarhus Drive, but how will we knock the wall down?”

“We won’t,” Evarts said. He turned to the crowd of residents. “How many of you have a ladder stored under your trailer?”

Hands went up throughout the crowd, including Ben’s. Just then, Evarts spotted Lopez jogging down the drive toward them.

“Get the ladders,” Evarts barked “Bring them to the spot Ben described. Get everybody over there. Scour the park, spread the word.”

“Some are bedridden,” Lopez said, out of breath.

“Get golf carts to the infirmed. You younger men, help the sheriff carry the invalids to the golf carts. Okay, move. Everybody’s getting out. Now.”

As Evarts walked with others to the selected spot on the wall, he called Pete, the dam technician. Thankfully, he had already dropped the remaining evacuees at a motel. He knew Aarhus Drive and promised to find the open path to the wall. He also said he would call Prentice and get additional transportation to the location.

Ben and Evarts helped people climb over the wall, using ladders on either side. They ended up with enough ladders that four people could scamper over at once. The infirm were more difficult, but Evarts and Lopez used a fireman carry and got them to the top of the wall for handoff to men on the other side. Once out of the trailer park, most of the residents walked between the homes to the street where a bus had been positioned. The infirm and enfeebled were ferried to the motel area in the Raptor, which had used an RV access path that extended between two houses on Aarhus Drive. In half an hour, the trailer park had been evacuated.

When the Raptor returned, Evarts waved Ben into the truck. He looked tired, and he deserved the ride. He had done a yeoman’s job of helping people over the wall.

“No,” he said. “I’ll walk out.”

He sounded dejected.

“What’s wrong?” Evarts asked. “You saved all of your charges. You should feel proud.”

“Proud? I feel stupid. Almost every trailer has a ladder under it. I didn’t think. If you hadn’t come along, my friends might have drowned.”

“Ben, you would’ve thought of the ladders as soon as you accepted that you couldn’t get out by the entrance. Don’t be hard on yourself. Get in. I’ll buy you a cup of coffee. You earned it.”

Ben hesitated only a second and gratefully climbed into the backseat, and the dam technician moved to the passenger seat. When they drove out of the backyard, they saw a police cruiser at the curb. Lopez stood in the street talking to Prentice through the driver’s window. Evarts jumped out, checking his watch. Less than two hours had transpired since they had been eating aebleskivers at the Red Viking Café. Prentice told Evarts that the neighborhood along Fjord Drive had been completely evacuated, as well as the school and golf club.

Everyone congratulated each other with hearty handshakes and slaps on the back. All three cops walked over to the Raptor and profusely thanked Pete, who had been so crucial to getting the job done. They agreed it was Miller Time, but coffee sounded like a damn good substitute.

Suddenly, they heard a rumbling noise in the distance. It sounded like a train coming right at them. Loud and constant. Then louder … and louder.

“What’s that?” Evarts asked.

Pete yelled for them all to get into their vehicles and drive north. Everyone scattered. Just as Evarts slammed the truck door, Prentice yelled, “The dam’s collapsed. Run for it!”

Chapter 14

“Can we drive faster?” Ashley begged.

Smith answered, “Not unless we drive over those cars in front of us.”

Baldwin looked up, confused. The conversation and relentless downpour had distracted her. Her irritable mood hadn’t helped either. On her last call to Evarts, he had curtly told her the Lake Cachuma Dam had sprung a leak, and he needed to play Paul Revere. He dropped the call before she could give him an assessment from her side of things. The coast was getting only the warm-up beatdown by this storm, while she struggled to escape the heart of it. She wanted him to worry about her safety, not a reservoir outside of his jurisdiction. Selfish … and a bit odd for her. She usually didn’t like it when he went into protection mode. They had lived through some serious stuff together, and she had shown that she could take care of herself. But for some reason, it annoyed her that he hadn’t asked about her situation. Why did she get angry with him when he trusted her capabilities and when he hovered protectively? She knew. In years past, they had survived a death-defying adventure together. As a team. Now