“Becky,” she called out, “it’s clear.”
Other cops swarmed in, but I went straight to Laura. She let me take the gun from her hand and set it on the table and then pull her into my arms. She leaned her head on my shoulder for a minute and then pulled away. She went into the dark room and came back a minute later with Becky Simms in tow. I was glad the girl was safe, that we’d found both missing teenagers. Mainly I was so grateful that Laura was alive, and we’d gotten to her in time.
Carl and I got the women into our car and drove them to the hospital to get checked out. I texted Damon that we were on our way, that there’d been a break in the case we were working. We took them in the staff entrance because a local TV van was already parked at the front entrance. A nurse rushed them into a curtained cubicle while Carl and I stood guard in the corridor. A few minutes passed before a doctor went in there. When he came out, I stopped him.
“Are they okay?”
“They have no life-threatening injuries. They are both well enough to give a statement, and the girl’s parents are coming in now.”
The Simms family rushed in and crowded the cubicle. Carl and I retreated to the waiting room. Damon and his mom were no longer there—probably gone to ICU to see their dad or wait up there. I sat down, tried to figure out what I was going to say to Laura when she came out. I talked to the officers from Overton, and they assured me we’d get together on depositions the next day. I heard Laura’s voice. She was talking to Carl who had wandered over to see what took so long.
“Then I just wrestled the gun away from him. He advanced on me, had verbalized intent to kill me, so I shot him. Then everybody came in thirty seconds too late to save anybody,” she laughed.
I got up and went over to them. Carl made himself scarce, mumbling an excuse. I crowded her to the wall, grabbed her face and kissed her. There was nothing to say. Just this. Just her lips hot and eager under mine. Laura clasped her arms around me and held on as tightly as I held her, equal in passion, in need.
Then a voice sounded from behind us.
“What the fuck are you doing with my sister?”
27
Laura
I broke away from Brody and looked at my brother, standing with his hands balled into fists at his sides looking pissed as I’d ever seen him.
“This is not what I meant when I told you to take care of my sister,” he said hotly.
“Shut up, Damon,” I said. “I’m a grown woman, and also I just shot a guy in self-defense and saved the Simms kid. Now is not the time to give me shit about what you think of my dating choices. How’s Dad?”
“He’s awake, and the scans are good so far. They’re saying with therapy he can make a full recovery.”
“Great, let’s go see him,” I said.
I went to hug him but he backed away, stormed out. Brody started to go after him but I caught his arm.
“Let him go cool off first,” I said with a sigh.
Instead of arguing, which I expected, Brody took me in his arms again. “I was so scared I was going to lose you,” he said with his breath hot against my hair. “I’m done holding back with you, darlin’,”
“Good,” I said.
We took the elevators up to the ICU floor and Brody waited in the hallway while I went in and saw my father. He smiled up at me and squeezed my hand weakly. My mother asked me what had taken me so long, but I didn’t want to worry them. I maneuvered the conversation back to how my dad was feeling and she never seemed to notice. After I was satisfied that my dad was really alright, and my mom was settled comfortably in the chair next to his bed, I headed out.
Brody pushed away from the wall and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “What do you say we go home?”
“Sounds good.”
My mind was still racing from everything that happened with my dad and with the kidnapping and the shooting. But when Brody had said he was done holding back, everything in my reeling mind latched on to that one point. Brody Peters was ready to be with me. For real.
We got to his house—it seemed like days instead of just hours since I’d left there to get stuff for my mom and he had hugged me at the door. He pulled me inside and threw the deadbolt.
“No interruptions this time. Your dad is doing well and he’s got good care. The case is solved. So it’s just you and me now,” he said, “that okay with you?”