Page 31

THIRTY-ONE

S harp pain arced through her arm, and Samantha screamed—but no sound came out. Walter never loosened his grip on her wrist, squeezing so hard the bones felt like they were about to snap.

He drew the lit cigarette away from the tender skin on the inside of her arm. Tears rolled down her face. She’d screamed until her voice was raw, a shattered sound of what it should’ve been.

In that moment, she wasn’t a sister, girlfriend, or friend. She wasn’t a cop. A detective. An investigator. She was only one thing…

A victim.

She wanted to draw her legs up and kick him away—again—but it hadn’t achieved anything last time, except to make Walter angry.

The door flung open so hard it hit the wall. Men poured in dressed in black, black helmets and huge rifles. All around Samantha washed in a wave of sound and movement.

Walter was dragged up, away from her.

She curled her legs up to her chest and made herself as small as possible in the space. The wash of commotion swam around her, cresting and falling like waves.

She spotted the letters SWAT on a vest, and a face she knew. Then another she recognized. Tears continued to streak down her face as Romeo crouched in front of her. “Let’s get this off.”

His hands touched her cheeks, reaching back to remove the gag from over her mouth. It slipped free, and she worked her jaw, wincing at the pain in her cheeks where it had split her lips and dug in.

“Let’s get you out of here.” He reached down to slide an arm under her knees.

Samantha smelled the sweat on him and flinched.

Romeo backed up. “Tell me what you need.” But in his eyes, she saw he already knew.

Still, she lifted her bound hands and signed, Coda.

Romeo turned his head and called out, “Julio!” Then turned back to her and produced a knife.

Samantha held still while he wrestled her hands free. Then her feet. She sniffed.

“We need to get the medics in here,” he said.

“No need.” Julio swept in. “I’ve got it.” He dumped a medical bag beside her and crouched. Looking at her with the dispassionate look of a trained EMT. Someone who went on call after call through a shift, no personal connection to any of them.

He dug around inside, hesitated, and then found what he was looking for.

And yet, there was a note of…something in him. She could see it at the edge of his expression. A tiny spark in his eyes that she probably wouldn’t have noticed if she didn’t know him so well. One that said he was barely hanging on.

He tugged on gloves, then took her hand. “Let me check you out, and then we’ll go outside. Okay?”

The way he moved said his shoulder still hurt, but he wasn’t wearing the sling. As though determined to ignore it.

Because of her.

Something switched in her. Like a lever that flipped. Samantha reached up with one hand and touched the side of his neck. It probably felt like she was hanging on for dear life, which is probably what she was doing—but she didn’t want to think about how close to the edge she’d come.

She tugged his face close and pressed her lips to his. All of it was desperation, the need to be close, and the sheer relief of being alive.

He pulled back. “You’re safe now.”

Samantha stared into his eyes, feeling better than she had in hours. Better than she had since she’d been taken. She tried to speak but could only get out a squeak.

“We heard you. From outside.” A crack appeared in his composure.

She signed, Deerdan, making it a question.

“She’s out of surgery and stable,” he said. “They repaired the damage, but it’ll be a long road of healing.”

She’d assumed that Deerdan was dead. That God hadn’t shown up then, or with her in the cabin. No help. No hope. No way out. Now that Julio was here, she felt as if she had something to grasp. She’d never been someone who necessarily “felt” God with her. She’d sometimes thought that meant there was something wrong with her. As if God wasn’t pleased.

Right now, she didn’t have the mental strength to push everything aside and figure it out.

Julio touched something cold to the inside of her arm. “He got you good.”

She bit her lip, more tears gathering in her eyes. Not because it hurt. Whatever Julio was doing made her arm feel better. She didn’t want him to see the burns. And from the look on his face, he didn’t like knowing what happened to her.

“Did he do anything else?”

Samantha stared at the emblem on his shirt.

“Sammy, did he touch you any other way?”

She managed to shake her head, and then had to sniff again.

“Bruises?”

She shrugged.

“Okay, think you can stand?” Julio wrapped her arm. “Or I can get a stretcher in here and we’ll carry you.”

She signed, I want to walk.

“Okay.” He put his things in the medical bag and peeled off his gloves, a lot less tense than he’d been when he came in. He touched her cheek with his good hand, his palm warm against her face. “I’m glad you’re okay. So glad. I was praying the whole time, asking God to intervene. To keep you safe. He did, and I’m so thankful.”

She didn’t have the voice to say that God hadn’t shown up. She’d been rescued by cops and friends.

Julio shifted and helped her to her feet, sliding an arm across her back so he could take her weight and lead her to the door. Tucking her on his good side, so she wasn’t against his injured shoulder.

The brightness outside glared, sending shards of pain through her temples. She lifted a hand and shielded her eyes.

The shade over her face allowed her to see the ocean of people around the cabin.

So many cops. K-9 handlers, vests on with their dogs beside them. More cops. A few firefighters. They were walking back and forth up a narrow dirt road between the swaths of forest up a hill to this clearing.

Heat surrounded her, but the fresh breeze blowing through the trees was a much-needed change from inside the cabin. Her clothes clung to her.

As she picked her way across the clearing, tucked close to Julio, people started to notice. Cops turned. Watched. Someone clapped. Another guy said, “Good to see you, Jesse.”

“Yeah, Detective. You held out.” The man who’d said that raised a fist and pumped it in the air.

She bit the inside of her lip.

More turned, backing up until they had a clear path to go. A quarter mile down the road, a car backed up, stopping before they reached it, and Romeo jumped out. He ran around and opened the back door for her.

Samantha got close enough she could lift up and kiss his cheek.

“Hey, now.”

She ignored Julio and signed, Thank you.

Romeo nodded. “Wish we could’ve got here sooner.”

She figured they’d shown up right on time. Samantha put her hand on the top of the door and looked back at the ugly old cabin at the top of the hill. Not because she wanted to see it again before she left and never came here ever again. She wanted to look at the ocean of people.

All of whom had shown up here to get her back from Walter Barnes.

Deerdan was alive. Samantha’s sister was safe. No one else had been hurt. Maybe God had shown up after all—not just in any way she’d realized. He’d kept worse things from happening to her than what she’d handled. Now that it was over, she was more than relieved, but she’d missed something.

God was real—she’d known that for years. The things He said were true.

It shouldn’t be about what she could get out of it, or her faith was just about being selfish. And yet, what an abundance of things God had done today. She’d just had to see it for herself. As if she were still a young believer, looking for proof rather than having a testimony of things that were a solid foundation of knowledge. She’d be able to stand on that foundation, but it felt like she’d never taken the time to build it.

She’d said she was a Christian.

So why had she never acted like it? Or even truly believed Him in her heart, rather than just accepting it as logical and reasonable to do the right thing.

Now, she had proof. Like Walter in the back of a police car, being driven away. Arrested. And he wouldn’t get out anytime soon since he’d attempted to murder a police sergeant and kidnapped another officer. She had a crowd of people who’d shown up. Brought together by God, because they cared about her or they were the kind of people who stepped up for a cop who’d been hurt. Didn’t matter. It meant God could give her back Julio in her life.

“Hey.” Julio tipped his face close to hers. “Ready to go?”

She didn’t want to go to the hospital. She wanted to go home, but Bristol wasn’t there. The place would be empty. She signed, Your house.

“You mean ours.”

She stared at him.

Julio glanced at Romeo. “I’ll give you an address. You can drop us off.”

“Do I look like your driver?” Her partner sounded like he wanted to argue, but his tone was more like one he’d use with his sister, Cat, on the phone.

She signed, Yes. Julio chuckled.

They slid into the back seat, and Julio held her hand, one arm around her shoulders. She leaned over and put her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes. Feeling all the strength and warmth in him—the man God had made, just for her.

“You okay?” He touched her check. “That seemed like an important moment back there.”

She asked God for the ability to speak, just a little. Her aching arms felt far too heavy to lift. Without either, she’d be unable to communicate at all, but even with that, she’d still be safe with these two men. The guy she’d always loved, and her partner and friend. She’d be able to get along just fine.

“You’re exhausted, Sammy. Tell me later.”

“I just realized how many gifts I’ve been given,” she managed to whisper.

He nodded. Then he touched his lips to hers. “You should go to the hospital, but I also like the idea of you recuperating at my house.”

She lifted her head and eyed him, one brow raised.

“I have a guest room.”

Samantha laid her head on his shoulder again, able to let go of the fear for just a second. Protected. Safe. There wasn’t much of her life where she felt the way she did when she was with Julio. The man God had created just for her, and she knew he felt the same. There was never anyone else. There would never be anyone else.

She’d protected herself by cutting him out of her life.

But in the end, what kind of life had it been?

She moved her hand around so she could lace her fingers with his and hold on tight. Doing that reminded her she had done something similar when they were in high school. Samantha flexed her fingers so he loosened his. Then she drew her two middle fingers in, tucking them against his palm.

I love you.

Julio turned his head and kissed her temple, whispering, “Love you, too.”

Samantha closed her eyes and pushed aside the pain long enough to let the fatigue claim her.