Tornado Warning Read Online Free PDF Page B

she’d get the hint, he went inside and the waiting room of the shop was full of people.
    “Ryan, we’ve got about twenty-five people who need repairs done.” Justin handed him a clipboard. “Most have hail damage and shattered windows.”
    “I feel their pain,” Ryan replied.
    “Yeah, I saw the wifey drop you off. Your truck not so lucky?”
    “The wifey is currently my bus ticket, yes.” Ryan studied the list. “My truck is currently in bad shape, but I’ll get her running again. With as busy as we are, I may never get to go home to do it.” He motioned toward the cars parked, taking up every bit of free space in the garage. “Is there anything we can fix fast? Something minor?”
    “Define minor,” Justin replied, his smile nervous.
    “Something that won’t take all damn day. We’ll have to triage everything and prioritize it based off of that.”
    “Triage?” Justin arched his eyebrow and took the clipboard from Ryan. The kid was a hard worker, but anything past spark plugs, engines, and brakes and he was clueless.
    “Triage. You know, like what they do at hospitals. They see what is worse and what can wait to figure out where the hell to start.”
    “Ah!” Justin snapped his fingers. “Gotcha. Well, we’ve got a few cars with some minor dents. Then we’ve got some that were brought in on trailers.”
    Ryan went into the waiting room, trying to figure out what to do. There were only three certified mechanics on staff, including him.
    “Ryan, how long do you think it’ll take to fix my truck?” Several people asked the same questions, all of them speaking at once. Why were there so many people? He was the only mechanic shop in town, but Harper Springs didn’t even get hit by the storm. Or maybe they had before it had shifted. Cecilia’s car was okay, but they were ten miles outside of the city limits. It seemed like there was a narrow window where you either got hit hard, or you didn’t get anything at all.
    “If your car is currently drivable and safe on the road, I’m going to have to ask you to come back. We’re at capacity for what we can work on, so please, if you’re just here for some hail damage, you’ll have to be put on a waiting list. I’ll be more than happy to work on your cars, but right now I just can’t get to them.”
    “How long do you think it’ll take?”
    Ryan couldn’t pinpoint who asked the question, so he just directed the answer in the general vicinity of where the voice came from. “I’m not sure. Justin has taken your information down and we’ll call you as soon as we can get you in. I’m going to get back there and start working on the vehicles who are in the worst shape, and then I’ll have a ballpark figure of where we stand with the rest of you.”
    He didn’t give anyone a chance to refute his decision and went to work on a truck that looked almost as bad as his. When he saw the name on the work order, he understood why – it was Chief Rayburn’s, and he had been chasing the same night Ryan’s truck had gotten demolished.
    Rather than think about the past twenty-four hours, he dug into his work. Justin tackled another vehicle with the same caliber of damage, and the other mechanic didn’t say a word when he came in, knowing the task at hand and getting down to it. With as complex as the vehicle damage was, they were in over their heads. He figured if he came in at six AM and worked twelve hour days, he might be able to make a dent in them, but that took away his time with his family and fixing his own truck.
    “Gibson, what’s the verdict on my truck?”
    Glancing over his shoulder, Ryan cleaned his hands off with a rag, but the oil was so thick that it was useless. Chief Rayburn stood at the entrance of the garage, his arms folded over his chest. Sometimes he was hard to read, coming off brash and hard, but sometimes he seemed to have a decent sense of humor.
    He joined Ryan, standing over the open hood. “It took in a lot of water,