Slenderman by CeeRee Fields (good novels to read TXT) 📗

“No!” He shouted earning a scowl from the nurse’s station at the end of the hall. He lowered his voice as he continued, “You are not quitting over this. I refuse to entertain the idea at all.”

His callused fingers tucked under her chin, lifting it until she met his eyes. “Do you know what I’ve been thinking about while standing there with Evan and Rian?”

She shook her head.

“If you hadn’t been the one spearheading this investigation, Kyle wouldn’t have been involved. Rian and Evan would have eventually been questioned and probably would have come up with this harebrained idea with none of us understanding the magnitude of the situation. The security would have been child’s play for anyone to have gotten in and Lucy would have killed them in that pool house.”

She hadn’t thought of that. “So because Kyle called me and I reacted by racing toward Rian and Evan angry and terrified, you think it saved all their lives?”

“I know it did because the second Rian saw you, he was screaming at you to hurry. Which sent Lucy into a blind panic and made her flee.”

“I didn’t hear him.” She clutched Rhys’s shirt. “The blood was pounding in my ears, and I knew I needed to get to them before anything bad happened.”

“And you did.” Rhys’s sigh was so strong as to part Jo’s hair. “Well, I’m not leaving you. You’re definitely not leaving me. We’re getting married in a few months. And we both agree Rian and Evan are grounded for the foreseeable future.”

She found her first smile of the night. “Sounds like a deal I’d sign.”

“Good.” His hands wrapped her waist and lifted her to her feet, and then stood. “Now I need to find a phone and call Evan’s parents.”

“I already did that.” Jo brushed the seat of her pants and swiped at the few tears that had slipped down her cheeks as they talked.

“You did?”

“Well, yeah. You were busy talking doctor-ness which I could not do, and I’ve had to convey bad news a lot throughout my job as a detective.” She hated being the bearer of bad news, but it came with the badge. It wasn’t pleasant, nor easy. At least in this case, she could let them know even though Evan was hurt it was minor, and he was in good hands while he recovered.

“How soon are they coming home?”

“They aren’t.” Jo wrapped her arm around his waist and moved them toward Evan’s room. “I told them their house had been trashed and why. I told them Evan had been attacked but only needed eight stitches and if it were just the stitches, he’d be going home tonight. But he had a concussion, and the doctors wanted to keep him overnight.”

“And they aren’t coming home?”

“Heck no. It’s the first trip they’ve ever had alone. As long as their son is fine and we are taking care of him, then they wanted to stay.” It made her feel good to be trusted with their son, and they’d still wanted to get on a plane until Jo had them talk to the nurse and doctor. “Are you ready to head home?”

Rhys shook his head. “Evan’s scared.”

“Jesus, you didn’t tell the kid she got away, did you?”

“No. But you remember what Rian was like after the kidnapping?”

“Yeah.” Jo saw many therapy appointments as well as new boundaries with her work. “We’ll get them into therapy.”

Evan’s quiet snores filled his room as they stepped in. “Are you staying the night?”

“Yes,” Rhys said, pointing to a cot set up on the far side of the room.”

“Okay. To be safe, Maker is going to hang out with you two tonight too. I want to help Redden hunt down Lucy since I know her friends, and I need to give a statement.” She pointed to each of them. “You all will need to give statements too, but it can wait until tomorrow.”

“Can I stay?” Rian asked, still subdued.

“Yeah. We’ll deal with yours and Evan’s punishment when he gets home. Because this cannot happen again.” Rhys turned a fierce frown on Rian.

“I know.”

Jo hugged Rian and then returned to Rhys for a kiss. “Makeup sex when you get home?” she whispered.

“Heck yeah,” Rhys said, his moist breath ghosting over her ear made her shiver.

She never wanted to lose him. If it came down to her job or this man, Rhys would win every time.

Chapter 13

Jo opened the door into the kitchen and punched in the alarm code. Resetting the alarm, she headed for the master suite, hoping Rhys hadn’t gone to sleep yet. It was after ten. Rhys would be in bed since his new residency started at seven in the morning. Though the doctors’ offices he’d eventually become a part of didn’t open until half past seven, they met early to go through the day’s schedule.

“You’re back,” his voice reached out to her from the deepest shadows of the room.

“I’ll be glad when Vice is done with this operation. These all days, late nights, and middle of the nights are killing me. At least with them in the mix we can split the hours better.” She undressed and tossed her dirty clothes into the bathroom hamper. In no time she was back and slipping next to Rhys under the warm sheets that smelled of them.

He wrapped his arms around her and drew her against him. Tension knotted her shoulders and neck. Instead of peace, she wanted to cling to him.

“What’s wrong, hon?”

“Nothing.” She turned and snuggled closer to him, her finger lacing with his as they lay across her stomach.

“Something.” His warm lips touched the back of her neck.

Her mind swirled with doubt. It happened more and more the closer the wedding date came.

“You’re still worried I’ll leave.” The rough stubble of his jaw scraped across the skin of her shoulder as he whispered in her ear. “Not happening. I have no idea how to prove it to you or get you to trust in me.