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We ran behind their cruisers and they drew out their guns, aiming straight for the small garage on the other side of the barn.
Jake!
My thoughts jumped from imagining Jake shot through the chest to my mother on the ground bleeding. I couldn’t catch my breath as my heart hammered against my ribcage as though it would soon break through.
Please, God. Let them both be okay.
Jager shouted something to the officers, but I couldn’t hear it over the whooshing in my ears. The world tilted on its axis while I waited for something—anything to happen. What might have been minutes felt like hours as we waited for Jake or Will to respond.
That was when I saw him.
He carried my mother in his arms like a dark warrior. Her fuchsia suit pressed against his black T-shirt.
I didn’t hesitate. I ran toward them, my arms pumping at my sides as I crossed the gravel road and raced through the tall grass field.
Jake’s face was covered in dirt and there was blood seeping from a cut on his arm, but he didn’t stagger or flinch as he carried her.
“She’s all right,” he said when I reached them.
My chest heaved from the exertion and the stress. I wiped my hair from my face and turned to my mother. Half her face was buried in his chest, but her eyes were open.
“Mom, it’s me. I’m here.”
She nodded. “I’m glad, baby. I’m glad.”
I exhaled. Hearing her voice released a flood of emotions in me that nearly made me stumble. “Whoa,” Jake called, reaching for me with my mother still in his arms.
Jager came up behind us and took my mother from Jake. Upon seeing his arms free, I launched myself into them.
I slammed my body against him, wrapping my arms around his neck as he held me tightly. His strong arms held me and the world stopped spinning. “Thank you,” I whispered. “Thank you.”
He lifted me by the waist and I hooked my legs over his hips, raining kisses all along his face.
He grabbed my face and stared at me. “You came back,” I said and smiled at this brave, stubborn man.
“I came back to you,” he said with a grin. I knew what he was waiting for and I was ready to say it. “I love you Jacob Devereux; you infuriating, reckless, courageous man.”
He laughed and I bent my head, pressing my lips to his. He kissed me back playfully at first, and then more fervently, as though all the fear and emotion we’d both held back came flooding through that kiss.
I loved this man. Although I’d been angry with him at first, I loved him now. I didn’t know exactly when it happened. But I couldn’t deny it any longer.
I felt warm and safe in Jake’s arms as the wind whipped my hair back and forth between us. He set me down on the ground, but his mouth didn’t stop kissing me. I giggled when he walked and kissed me, nearly carrying me backward toward the car.
“Devereux,” a deep voice shouted and he turned.
“Good work, Jake,” said the commissioner.
A pause. Jake’s heart beat steadily against my ear. “Thank you, sir. I appreciate that.”
Jake raised his arm and shook hands with Commissioner Rodriguez. The handshake lasted about a second or two longer than necessary, but it felt like an unspoken apology between them. I would have to ask Jake about that later.
Right then, I needed to find my mother.
Jager had brought her inside Jake’s truck. She sat in the backseat with Maxine next to her, holding her hand. I wasn’t sure if my mother would be angry with Maxine for the role she played in this, but for now, she hadn’t taken her hand away.
I sat on the other side of my mom in the backseat, and she squeezed my knee. Covering my hand over hers, we stayed like that the whole ride back to her apartment.
“Will can walk you upstairs while I drive Maxine back home.”
