Lost & Found (Possessed 3)

Until she didn’t wake up.

Until she was gone.

Chapter Fifteen

“This is bullshit!” Ace exploded into Nick’s office where he’d been hiding away since James had taken Pepper home to Vancouver where she could get the best of care. Better than what Golden’s small hospital could offer.

They fucking fought tooth and nail, but in the end, it didn’t matter. James was her family; he and Nick were reduced to her fucking lovers.

They would die for the woman, and all the authorities saw them as were men who warmed her bed at night. He had nearly gone off the deep end on Nick when he’d stood there, watching, as they got her ready to leave by life flight.

Nick had been hiding in the sheriff’s office with the excuse of wanting to be close to the vet in case Roxie’s recovery wasn’t going well. It was a load of shit. As far as he was concerned, she was fine. Her wound had healed nicely, and while she was still a bit stiff, there was no reason to believe there would be issues.

“I’m not doing this again, Ace,” Nick said evenly, not even looking up from the report he was reading.

They had another debriefing in a few days to go over everyone’s actions of that day again. To find out why they’d dismissed protocol when finding Pepper. As far as he was concerned, it was their way of trying to nail them to the wall.

“Do you even care that she’s gone?” Ace hissed.

Nick finally lifted his gaze, pure malice in his eyes. “Don’t fucking put that on me. James took her. Told us he’d call with updates. We’ve heard nothing. Did it occur to your thick skull that she’s awake and asked not to see us? That we’re reminders of everything she went through? Or maybe she has no fucking memory again!”

Ace heard him. The problem was, he knew Nick was speaking from a place of hurt, not logical. They were both dying inside. They were forced to stay there, ordered by the county to not leave town until further notice. They had no choice but to wait. Even when calling the hospital, they never told them anything other than she was stable.

They said nothing about nightmares, or if she woke up, if she remembered. Fuck did he hope she remembered. She needed to know that when they gazed into her beautiful green eyes, they saw the future. That when she came apart for them, they got more pleasure than any other moment in time. She needed to know they would give her anything she desired if only she would remember.

“Are you giving up, Nick?” Ace finally mustered up the nerve to ask. If he was giving up, Ace didn’t know how he would proceed.

For the first time since James took Pepper a little over a week ago, Nick showed some emotion. He saw the sleepless nights reflected back at him.

“No! I won’t fucking give up on her even if she gives up on us. I just…shit…” He looked out the window before answering again. “I want her to want to be here because she can’t live without us. I want her happy, and if that’s without us, then so be it. But first, we need to get the county off our fucking asses.”

“Finally!” Ace breathed a sigh of huge relief. “I was worried you were done,” he admitted.

“Not in this fucking lifetime. Besides, if we don’t go after her, I think Dad might actually go for it.” Shit. He hadn’t thought about that.

“So, what do we do? The hospital isn’t giving us shit, and James hasn’t answered my calls.”

“Once the hearing’s over on Thursday, we go after her. Simple as that.”

With so much going on in the days leading up to their disciplinary hearing, Nick had barely left the department while Ace had been stuck at home repairing the cabin. He hadn’t meant to cause his cousin doubt, but thinking about Pepper without being able to see her sweet smile or hear her tinkling laughter, he’d been a fucking mess.

After Pepper had been admitted to the hospital, everything happened at warp speed. They’d barely gotten Roxie to the vet in time to save her life. She had needed multiple blood transfusions and had to stay under observation for a week before she’d been released. When he had taken her home, all she’d done was look for her mistress. The whining was incessant. She became incredibly sad as if she’d lost her best friend.

Nick had finally convinced Pepper’s doctor to allow Roxie to have just ten minutes in her room. The excitement and pleasure that rolled off the animal had been enough to acknowledge that whatever fine he may get for breaking the rules, it would have been worth it.

Taking the dog home was still difficult. For both of them.

Without Pepper, the house felt empty, lifeless. He didn’t want to be there, even to help with the repairs. Going to his dad’s felt just as lonely. So, he’d stayed in town, using Roxie as an excuse whenever Ace would ask about it.

It fucking hurt not having Pepper around. She’d been there for such a short time, and yet, she was the life in their lives, the happiness in their home.

She was theirs.

It was now the morning of the hearing, and he wasn’t looking forward to having to explain their relationship with Pepper to people he either barely knew or didn’t know at all. He wasn’t up for answering questions that were none of their business. Nonetheless, because he and Ace wanted to protect not only Pepper but potentially other citizens from town if Medina had decided he lost interest in her, they were the ones on trial.

Mind you, Alex Medina was dead. He understood they wanted to place blame on someone breathing, but frankly, he thought they should just let it go and accept that they did what they could under the circumstances.

“Mr. Kelly, Mr. Mitchell, come this way please.” A court officer approached them.