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I ripped the back door of the truck open and finally allowed myself to breathe fully for the first time in hours as those huge wide eyes locked on mine.
“Nick,” she whispered as her eyes filled with tears.
“Hand her to me,” I growled as I reached in for her.
“Just go easy, brother. She’s exhausted and pretty beat up,” Kailan warned as he carefully lifted her into my arms. I pulled her close to my chest and buried my face in her hair, taking in her scent and fighting not to let my eyes fucking tear up at the relief that she was safe.
“I’m okay, Nick,” she assured me as she wrapped her arms around my neck and held me just as tight as I held her. She was trembling hard and as cold as a block of ice, but she was whole.
I forced myself to lift my head, and when I did she buried her hands in my hair and studied my face.
“You’re exhausted,” she told me.
“I’m fine now that I have you safely in my arms,” I promised. “We thought we lost you.”
“You didn’t though. I’m r-right here,” she assured me, her voice trembling. She forced a smile for me, and I leant in to kiss her temple.
“Detective?” I turned and found the two FBI agents I had been working with, at my side. They were working the case of The Number Killer, and Evie was the best lead they’d had so far. “We need to ask Ms. Hastings a few questions.”
“Are you serious?” I hissed. She clearly wasn’t in any state to answer questions.
“Nick, it’s alright,” Evie told me as she wiggled to get free of my hold.
“Fine,” I sighed as I set her on her feet and pulled her into my side, wrapping the coat that had been around her, over her shoulders in an attempt to keep her warmer. “But keep it short. We need to get her out of here. Any formal statements will have to wait,” I added firmly, glaring at the two assholes, and daring them to argue with me.
“Ms. Hastings. We have the descriptions you gave to detective Steel, but can you add any more details to the description you gave of your abductor?” The tall one asked. They were young, not long out of Quantico. Two guys, one tall, one shorter. They were part of a six man team working the case.
“Erm, not really. He didn’t h-have a beard o-or anything distinguishing. I…I’d say he’s definitely in his late thirties. The c-car…it was the blue Camry. Old and rusted. I…I stabbed him so I guess he probably n-needs medical care right now,” she explained.
“Can you tell us what happened?” the shorter one asked.
“He came into the daycare. He w-was dressed like a delivery guy. He h-had a gun and he…he threatened to shoot everyone if I didn’t go with him,” she continued, her voice shaking with each word, but she was trying so hard to stay strong. I was so proud of her. “That’s why I went with him. He made me g-get into the trunk. We were driving for a while. I…I don’t know exactly. I…I pulled the tail light out of the car and broke off a shard of plastic.” She held up her hand and I saw a mess of cuts and dried blood across her palm. “When he opened the trunk I…I attacked him. I cut his throat, but…n-not deep. He was on the ground so I stabbed him…here, in his side.” She pointed to her right side shakily and I pulled her closer in an attempt to reassure her. “He was on the ground…bleeding. I grabbed my cell, which I guess h-he dropped…then I just ran. I found a place…in the woods…t-to hide. I stayed there until just before sunrise, then I st-started walking. We were parked beside an old road. It w-was single lane. I didn’t see any signs. I’d say it was a few miles back, at least,” she shrugged.
“Did he say anything to you?” the tall agent asked.
“He told me I br-broke the rules,” she whimpered.
“The rules he set when he let you go?” the agent asked. Evie nodded as she fought not to cry. “And you still have no idea why he let you go?”
“N-no. I guess be-because I wouldn’t….wouldn’t beg him to k-kill me,” tears streaked down her face and she was shaking even harder against my side.
“Okay, that’s enough.” I cut in. “Evie needs to get home so we can take care of her. You have enough to start searching the woods. Any further questions will need to wait.”
“I’m okay,” she sniffled as she looked up at me, but she was way too pale, her face swollen on one side. She was freezing and far from okay.
“No, you’re not. I’m taking you home,” I told her firmly. I picked her up, cradling her to my chest and climbed into the back of the SUV. It was a squeeze with all of Evie’s brothers in there – or at least I guessed that was who the other three were.
“Everything alright?” Kailan asked.
“Let’s just get her home. The FBI will coordinate the search for that fucker,” I told him. Evie snuggled into my chest and I wrapped the coat tightly around her, then my arms, sighing with relief at the feeling of her tiny weight against me.
“Let’s hope he’s dead,” the huge guy up front sighed, as the other guy started the car.
“I’m assuming you’re Nick?” The guy beside Kailan asked, looking to me with suspicion.
“Yeah,” I nodded. I didn’t miss the way all three of them were glaring at me as I pulled Evie even tighter against me, but I didn’t give a shit. I had almost lost her. I was done fucking around. I cared about her, and I wanted her. If she wanted me too, I was going to find a way to make this work. Her brothers didn’t like that, it was fucking tough luck for them. I may not be good enough, but I would die keeping her safe and always do all I could to make her happy. I would spend the rest of my life just trying to be good enough, if she’d have me.
EVIE
