Closer Than You Think (80 page)

‘In the hospital. She’s okay. She’s worried about you.’

‘I’m okay,’ the child said, still tonelessly.

Oh no, sweetheart
, Faith thought.
You are not okay. None of us are
. ‘Where did you get the knife?’

‘From Corinne, back in the woods.’

‘How did you free yourself?’

‘She gave me the knife,’ Dani said from behind her. ‘I cut her free. She was supposed to free me next, but she stabbed him instead.’

Bracing herself, Faith turned around to look at Deacon and her heart stopped. His face was nearly as white as his hair. But Dani’s hands moved quickly and competently. Dani met her eyes for a split second and gave her a hard nod, and Faith’s heart began to beat a little more normally.

‘Is he gonna die?’ Greg asked, and Faith returned her attention to the boy.

‘No,’ she said firmly. ‘He won’t. He can’t. Dani won’t let him. Neither will we.’

One of the officers ran up to Greg with a first-aid kit. ‘I can take over here, ma’am,’ he said.

Faith nodded, scooting back on her butt to get out of the way. She didn’t have the energy to stand. And then a pair of strong arms lifted her and she found herself face to face with a very pale, very shaken Adam Kimble.

‘You saved his life,’ Adam said hoarsely. ‘Look.’

Faith swallowed back the tears as they both turned to look at Deacon. His amazing eyes were open and they were watching her. His chest rose and fell with shallow but even breaths. His throat no longer spurted blood, Dani’s field dressing holding firm. He lifted his arm an inch off the ground, holding out his hand.

On rubber legs she walked over to him, Kimble keeping her upright until she was at Deacon’s side. She fell to her knees a second time and, grasping his hand, brought it to her lips.

‘Thank you.’ He mouthed the words.

She smiled down at him. ‘I told you that I hit what I aim for,’ she said, and his lips curved. An ambulance pulled into the lot behind the three squad cars. ‘Your ride is here. They’re gonna have to patch you up, but I’ll be there when you open your eyes.’

Cincinnati, Ohio, Tuesday 11 November, 10.00
A.M.

‘You look like little Red Riding Hood,’ Deacon said from the hospital bed, his laugh as rusty as an old gate. ‘Your basket’s almost bigger than you are.’

‘Hardly,’ Faith said, relieved to see him looking so good. He’d lost a lot of blood when Jordan had stabbed him in the throat. Luckily his throat was covered in layers of hard muscle, slowing Jordan’s blade down. A fraction of an inch deeper or to the side and he might have bled out. Still, he’d been intubated and sedated for two whole days. His voice was raspy and might not ever sound the same as it did before, but he could still make her shiver when he said her name.

‘I have lots of people to see, so my basket is full of goodies,’ she told him. ‘But since you’re special, you get first pick. I have books and flowers and toys . . .’

‘I want Red Riding Hood,’ he said, his grin more than a little naughty. He reached out the arm that wasn’t connected to tubes. ‘Everyone else can have what’s in the basket.’

She put the basket on a chair and walked into his arms, the first time she’d been able to do so since everything went down the week before. ‘You scared me,’ she whispered.

His arm tightened around her. ‘You scared me too. Promise me you will never, ever get in a car with a maniacal serial-killing uncle again.’

‘I won’t. I promise.’

‘Thank you.’ He kissed her mouth before letting her go and patting the side of the bed. ‘Tell me what’s happening.’

She settled next to him and took his hand. ‘Well, Jordan is still dead.’

‘That’s good. Zombie maniacal serial-killing uncles are damn hard to kill again.’

She chuckled, then sobered. ‘I never killed anyone before, but I’m not sorry. I feel like I should feel something, but . . . I’m totally okay with what I did.’

‘If you hadn’t shot him, I wouldn’t be here. So I’m okay with it too. What other news?’

‘Bishop found Jordan’s souvenirs. They were in a box in the house where he held Dani and the others. Driver’s licenses, jewelry, phones . . .’ Just like his case in West Virginia.

‘I know,’ he said quietly. ‘Bishop told me. She and Lynda are organizing all the victims’ belongings to give to their families when the case is closed. I have to admit I’m glad I don’t have to do that again. But Scarlett’s looking like I did last year. I hate that.’

Faith patted his hand. ‘But Bishop has a partner who she can talk to when her burden gets too heavy.’ She made her lips curve. ‘Some good news is that Jeremy’s been officially cleared. It turns out that he keeps a very detailed calendar. He was able to account for his whereabouts for all of the seventeen abductions. He offered the information voluntarily. He doesn’t want anyone to wonder if he’s the other half of an unholy duo. He thinks Jordan took him and Keith so that they wouldn’t have an alibi for my death. And Dani’s and Greg’s. Jordan was going to leave us in Jeremy’s Bentley, and then put Jeremy at the wheel and cause another accident. A big fiery one.’

‘I’m so glad you killed that sonofabitch,’ Deacon said mildly, but his eyes were hard.

‘Physically Jeremy’s fine, but Keith’s in bad shape. The ortho guys are working on his knees and talking about steel plates. Marcus is out of ICU and Stone’s been released. Mickey’s funeral is tomorrow and of course I’ll go.’ She drew a deep breath. ‘On a happy note, Arianna and Corinne have a Facebook page and currently have twenty-five thousand likes.’

‘Wow.’

‘Meredith is worried that all the publicity may make it harder for Arianna to cope with the sexual assault, but Arianna says she’s not hiding from life and I say good for her. Both Meredith and I will be here if she decides she needs us.’ She tapped her lip. ‘Greg is uncomfortable but okay. He likes that the girls from school come and fuss over him. That he got shot in the leg saving Roza’s life has earned him major hero points.’

‘What about me? Do I get hero points?’

She threaded their fingers together. ‘You were already a superhero. How do you get better than that?’

‘I don’t have an answer for that,’ he murmured.

She leaned forward and kissed him gently. ‘You looked so good coming across that field, screaming like a crazy man, your coat flowing out behind you. If I hadn’t been terrified for my life, I would have jumped your bones right there.’

He snorted a laugh. ‘Right there?’

‘Well, I would have pitched a tent or something. Privacy and public nudity concerns.’

He chuckled. ‘I’m so glad you’re here.’

‘Me too. Literally. We have to thank Roza most of all.’

‘How is she?’

‘Well . . . fine and totally not fine, depending on the moment. Meredith is working with her, too. Jade’s not being charged with anything and the Kendricks are here from Vancouver. They want to take both Roza and Jade, but Roza is super-attached to Corinne. Poor Corinne can barely take a bathroom break, but she doesn’t seem to mind. It’ll be years before Roza even approaches normal. Her father is here. He is so happy to have her in his life that he might transfer here so she can stay near Corinne.’

‘He came by, actually. Roza’s father. He was so grateful that he cried.’ Deacon cleared his throat. ‘And then Bishop came by. She’s pissed that she missed all the excitement.’

‘That’s what she claimed when you were in surgery. But I think she was a little worried about you. Let’s see . . . The bellman is going to make a full recovery and the woman from the grocery store is conscious. She’ll have a more difficult recovery, but that she survived at all was a miracle. Turns out she runs a no-kill shelter for dogs. She’s got friends that are caring for the dogs until she’s able to go back to work. Dani and I thought we’d go out there to get a dog once you and Greg are out of the hospital.’

He smiled at her. ‘I like that idea. Dani’s always wanted a dog. Greg has, too. But it needs to be a big dog. A manly dog. No little frou-frou dogs with ribbons in their hair.’

‘We’ll make sure it’s a manly dog,’ she promised. ‘Oh, we figured out how Jordan got to Miami and back that weekend. The FBI was checking commercial aircraft. I got to thinking about how he got to Miami so fast when I was injured by Combs.’

‘You said he was there even before your dad and Lily.’

‘Because he chartered a flight. I asked Crandall to check with the charter services that fly out of Lunken. Jordan used his Edward Saugh ID to charter a flight to Miami that weekend and he rented a white van. What else? Oh, yeah. Henson’s grandson and daughter-in-law broke down and admitted to fraud but not murder. They didn’t know that Jordan had planned the car accident that hospitalized Henson Junior. Both Henson Senior and Mrs Lowell are retiring, but I think I’d be hiring new lawyers anyway.’

‘And your job? Did you get your job back from the bank?’

‘No, I don’t want to work for them.’ She lifted her brows. ‘I got an offer from CPD.’

His mouth fell open. ‘You’re kidding. Really?’

‘Really. Isenberg wants me as a department psychologist. I also got one from a counseling center. I’d be working with Meredith Fallon. I’m probably going to pick door number two.’

‘Damn,’ Deacon said mildly. ‘I had fantasies about you with a billy club.’

She grinned at him. ‘Me too.’

He traced a pattern on her arm. ‘What about your mother?’

Her grin faded. ‘I asked Carrie Washington not to exhume her. Jordan told me what I needed to know. I still have to tell my dad about the murder.’

‘I’ll go with you as soon as they clear me to travel.’

‘Thank you. Hopefully they’ll clear you soon. Isenberg’s kept the murder of my mother undisclosed for now, but I’m afraid somebody’s going to run with the story. I don’t want Dad to hear about it on the news.’

‘I’ll get better as fast as I can,’ Deacon promised. ‘I want him to hear the story about how his daughter saved my life.’

Faith smiled at him. ‘You saved mine. In more ways than one.’ She leaned in to kiss his mouth, then slid from the bed. ‘I’ve got goodies to deliver. But if you’re good, I’ll let you play wolf later.’

His eyes sparkled. ‘Then I promise to be very, very good.’