Page 55 of Snowed Inn For Christmas

“Julie!”I called again, even louder this time.I looked at the woman standing in front of me, my eyes pleading with her.“Please.I just need to find my girlfri—”

“I’m alright,” Julie said quietly, pulling my attention to the corner of the room where she sat in a chair.“Where is Daisy?”

“She’s safe.She’s with Patrick,” I said, stepping toward Julie when the female stepped in front of me again, holding her hand up as she continued to block me.

“I’m not going to tell you again,” she warned.

“I’m sorry.I really need to see her and make sure she’s okay.”

“I understand.However, this is an active crime scene.You cannot be in here.You need to step outside and wait.An ambulance is on the way to check her out, but as far as we can tell, she appears to be okay.We will update you if anything changes.”She nodded to the door, indicating it was time for me to go.

I nodded, chewing the side of my cheek to keep from fighting with this woman.Julie and Daisy were okay, so that was all that mattered.

“I’ll be outside,” I said to Julie, hating that I couldn’t go see her yet.

“Okay.I’ll be out as soon as I can.”

I turned and walked out of the cabin, allowing myself a moment to catch my breath.I had no idea what had happened or whether Julie was truly okay, but she was alive and breathing, and that was good enough for now.

Thirty-Eight

Julie

“I’m fine.Really.”I said, exasperated as the paramedic continued to examine the bruises that were already forming on my throat from where Joel had tried to strangle me.

“You need to go to the hospital to get checked out,” he said, giving me a pointed look after I had declined the first three times.“You could have internal bleeding, and I’m pretty sure you have a few cracked—if not broken—ribs.It’s hard to tell anything without a CT scan.I would feel better if you had a proper assessment at the hospital.”

“I need to see my daughter first and make sure she’s okay,” I said, not wanting to deny medical treatment, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to focus on anything until I knew Daisy was okay.While I had seen her for a few minutes when I got to the cabin, I hadn’t been able to check on her and had no idea what had happened while she was with Joel.

“Should we take Daisy to get checked out...just in case...”Gage asked, his words trailing off as the paramedic looked between us.

“I don’t think it would be a bad idea,” I agreed.It had been weighing on my mind for a little while now.

“Where is she?”the paramedic asked after he finished writing his notes down.

“At the inn a few miles down the road.It’s on the way to the main road into town,” Gage answered.