Page 74 of Killer Notes
Laney jerks forward, turns and falls sideways. Danny scrambles away from her body, eyes wide with horror and shock. He stares at Laney and then me.
Dean and John round on Laney’s unmoving body and check for her vitals. Dean subtly shake his head. She’s dead. But my worry is for the man in front of me.
“Sweetheart,” I say gently, my hands out toward him, but he stumbles back several steps like I’m the devil. Realizing that I still have the gun in my hand, I slide it into my shoulder holster and turn back to Danny.
“Stay back,” he trembles. Tears are sliding down his cheeks, and they’re mixing with the dirt and blood that’s smeared on his face. But it’s the fear emanating from his eyes that has me stilling.
“Danny,” I say softly, one hand extended out to him. “I love you.”
“You don’t mean that,” he says, angrily rubbing at his eyes.
“I do. I love you. And I’m sorry I didn’t say it back to you when I had the chance. I’m an idiot. Please, baby. Let me hold you.” I take a slow step toward him.
He takes a slow step back. “Why now?”
“Because I realize that without you in my life, I have nothing. Without you in my space, I have no happiness. And without your love, I’m no one but a fool.”
Danny releases a heart wrenching cry before he rushes to me. “I love you,” he says as his arm circles my neck in a strangle hold.
I wrap my arms around him, then kiss his lips. “Are you okay?”
As we stand there, our bodies locked in each other’s hold, the Nevada State Police and the Pershing County Sheriff arrive on the scene. They take control, and between Dean and John, I know what’s going to happen next. I might not like it, but it will surely affect Danny.
I glance over to John, who gives me a single nod of understanding. Protect Danny.
As standard procedure goes, in a situation like this, I relinquish my firearm. And once I’m read my Miranda rights, I’m handcuffed and taken in for questioning.
Danny freaks out as the cops take me into custody. He’s yelling at them to let me go, but John holds onto my man and whispers something to him. He stops fighting, but the agony on his face splits me in two.
“I’ll be back before you get on that stage,” I say, cracking a smile I’m not feeling.
“I’m holding you to that,” he replies with watery grin. He, too, is putting up a false front.
“John?” I call out before they try to push me in the back of the squad.
“I will not let anything happen to him,” he promises.
I then drop into the back seat and take a slow, deep breath. God, I hope I’m right and I’m back before Danny and Warrior Black get on that stage.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-ONE
Danny
As I watch the officers drive away with Tobias in the back seat, I can’t hold in my anguish and I burst out crying. John, being the good guy he is, gives me his shoulder.
“He’ll be back. This is all part of the procedure,” he keeps repeating, but I can’t see past the fact that Tobias is heading to jail, procedural or not.
“That’s what Tobias said, but what if this is different? What if these cops won’t let him go?” I ask between wiping my eyes with a wet wipe John gave me and blowing my nose.
“That won’t happen. Dean called Mark, the agency’s lawyer. He’s on it. I promise you, Tobias will see you on that stage,” he encourages me while handing me another wipe.
Once the EMTs look over my cuts and scrapes, I’m clear to leave. Dean and John then drive me to a small building in Gerlach that houses the sheriff’s office. There, I’m asked a whole bunch of questions about Laney, what transpired in the car, the notes, and what she said to me in the car. Then they shift the topic to Tobias. With Dean by my side, I proceed to explain my and Tobias’s relationship.
I ask about Tobias, but the sheriff isn’t forthcoming with any details. I ask to see him, but come to find out, he isn’t here. They have him somewhere else. My heart plummets at that information.
A good two hours pass before they let me go. As John and Dean drives me to the Black Rock, the air in the vehicle is thick with quiet tension.
When we pull through the gate, I’m surprised that there are tons of activity.