Page 103 of Fighting For You

"How did you get here?"

"Wyatt."

"Where is he?"

"Looking for Andy."

I leaned into him and he wrapped his arms around me. He held on tight, his chin on top of my head.

"I've been worried sick about you all day," he said.

"Mhmm."

We stayed like that for a while. The parking lot was still full of cruisers and yellow tape and officers I didn't have the energy to look at.

"Let's go home?" I said.

"Yeah."

We were halfway to the truck when I heard Andy Walsh's voice behind us.

"What are you doing here?"

"Picking you up," Wyatt said.

"I told you not to come."

"You told me not to come while there was an active shooter. There's no active shooter anymore."

Andy stared at him. "You're an idiot."

"I know," Wyatt said. "Get in the truck, Mrs. Brooks."

CHAPTER 27

October Twenty-Eighth

KNOX

Kip went to Josie the next morning. Nora didn't have to say a word. He found her at the charge desk before the shift started and told her everything. Josie pulled him into a room, suspended him on the spot, and referred the case to administration. The last Nora heard, he was facing a licensing board review.

Nora put the lot up for sale in the spring. The house was gone, but the land still had value. A developer made an offer within the month. She signed the paperwork at the kitchen table on a Tuesday while I made coffee. The check went into a savings account she opened that afternoon. It was the first money Nora had ever had that wasn't already owed to someone.

Thompson put my name back on the eligibility list in July. A spot opened in mid-October, and I pinned lieutenant in Thompson's office with the crew behind me.

"Happy birthday, sweetheart." My mother opened the front door before we made it up the steps. She pulled me into a hug, then held me at arm's length and looked at my face. "My lieutenant."

"Hi, Mom."

She turned to Nora and took both of her hands. "There's my girl. Come here." She pulled Nora into a hug before Nora could answer.

My mother had been inviting us over once a month since the spring. Somewhere along the way, she and Nora had built something of their own.

After dinner, my father caught my eye from the hallway. "Knox. A minute?"

I followed him to the library. He closed the door behind us.

The photograph was still on the built-in beside the door. Me, Gage, and Beckett on the back lawn. Everyone was smiling.