Page 44 of Special Agent Raven
Stopping in front of the desk, Noah’s sincerity showed itself. “Hey Cane, I know how that feels, wanting a drink so bad it rips at your guts.”
“You, too?”
“Oh yeah. Look, we need to talk, you and I. Gotta tell you how I pulled myself from the brink after hearing that Louise had terminal cancer. Drank like a fish for months, almost lost my job and my family. She left me, took the kids, and swore she’d go it alone unless I wised up.”
“What happened?” Still shaking, Cane leaned back in the office chair, listening carefully.
“I wised up. Went to some meetings, got my head screwed back on, and brought us here to a place where she’d always wanted to live. A place where she figured we could raise our family better than in the city. From the day we arrived, that lady of mine began forming connections with other women, making friends, wanting to leave Josh and Ami with a village to help raise them. It’s been a Godsend.”
“I’m so sorry you lost her the way you did, bro. I mean it.”
“Yeah, about that. She was suffering a lot, the pain getting worse every day. Maybe the good Lord decided to bring her home to Him to save her from the next few months of excruciating agony when things would get worse and the end was non-negotiable. I don’t know. But when I thought I’d lost them all, I found out what real hell felt like. Never want to go through that again. Thanks to you and Raven, I won’t have to.”
Agitated and showing it, Cane nodded. “I’m still there… in hell I mean.”
“You got a story too, don’t you?”
Taking the bull by the horns, Cane spit it out. “I killed my wife and our son a couple years ago. That’s when I hit rock bottom.”
“Jesus.” Noah moved closer and sat down across the desk from Cane. “What happened?”
Holding his forehead in both hands, Cane fought to release the words, to talk about himself, something he’d rarely done since the incident. “I-I was driving the car, and a drunk plowed into us. I’d been so worried about a case we were working on, I wasn’t paying attention to the road. Fucker came out of nowhere.”
Noah reached to touch and then stopped. “Not gonna say what you’ve heard a thousand times. But I will share what Louise told me when I hit bottom. She said, “Shit happens. Just like that.” I couldn’t believe she’d take her sickness so lightly, but I could tellshe meant it as a way to be able to accept the inevitable. Then she gave me an order to follow. “Think about it,” she said. “So, I did, challenging every argument I could think of against her pure simple statement without finding any answers. And suddenly it made sense.”
“Your Louise must have been a strong woman.”
“Not so much… until she got a death sentence, but she wasn’t one to fight against God’s choices either. So… just know this. You have another chance to find happiness with Raven. Oh, don’t stare at me like I’m an idiot. I’ve seen the way you look at her and the way she lights up when you’re around. Hell man, when the universe gives you another prospect for a good life, grab it with all your might and hang on with both hands.”
Before Cane could scoff, the phone rang. After listening to what Raven had to say, his heart in his throat, he suddenly understood exactly what Noah had been saying as clear as he’d grasped anything in a very long time. She was in danger, and he could lose her too. Now that couldn’t be borne.
Chapter Thirty-four
Cane and Noah showed up together, both holding their weapons as they approached the jeep. When Raven saw them, she left the safety of the vehicle and flew into Cane’s waiting arms. “I’ve never been so glad to see anyone. Thanks for coming.” As quickly as it started, she ended the hug and turned to Noah. “Who’s looking after the station?”
“Val came in to fill out her statement and agreed to hang in there until we could get back. You okay, did he hurt you?”
“Not as much as I hurt him.”
Cane’s hand gently brushed at her darkened cheek where the scrapes from being forcibly hauled along the ground had begun to show. “He bruised you.”
Once Raven explained how the marks came to be, they started to search the crime scene for the weapons and in minutes found them both exactly where Raven had pointed.
“Carefully lifting Dale’s using a glove, and storing it in the plastic evidence bag, Noah took it to his police truck. While he’dmoved away, Cane came up behind Raven. “I don’t want you out alone from now on, Raven. If the prick didn’t have his sights on you before, he most certainly will now. You know that, right?”
“Of course. Gotta admit he seemed happy to see me out here alone. Thought he had himself a prize, but no one takes anything from me that I don’t want them to have. Remember that.” Having said her piece, Raven stomped away to where Noah was searching around the jeep.
When she approached, he turned. “I have to ask you something that’s been bothering me. You say he stole the jeep earlier using the keys you left on the floor of the vehicle. So how were you able to get in and drive it?”
Grinning, she admitted, “I always hide a spare key under the front fender. Came in handy.”
“No kidding. Thank goodness you did, because it got you free from the lunatic. So, you say you drove into him, right? How bad was he hurt?”
“I’m not sure but he rolled off the hood and was able to stumble into the forest and disappear faster than I could think to go after him. Don’t figure he was anything but bruised.”
Cane approached them and added, “And more pissed off than he was before. In this mood, that man is an even bigger menace for everyone in the vicinity. We need to warn the people who live nearby.”
Hearing his phone ping a message, Noah’s expression lightened. “The road’s being opened to the first responders. Looks like I’ll be getting young Colin, my deputy back. Couldn’t come at a better time. We’ll be able to get rid of Sonny… send him to the city jail where they can hold him for trial. And it’ll also mean having another body to watch the office while we go door to door. We need all the help we can get.”