“It’s okay. I was just going to tell these guys what happened, so I may as well tell you all at once. Did someone let Katy know I am okay?”
Blake is the one to answer this time. “Yeah, we got the news out. Everyone was relieved as fuck to hear it.”
“Everyone?”
“Everyone. The whole of Tempest turned out to look for you.”
“Really?” I whisper, feeling tears prick my eyes.
Blake’s whole face softens. “Yeah, sweetheart. Everyone was really worried about you.”
“Katy is with Olivia. Marcus will bring her over to see you once we’re done here, okay?” Wade says, pulling out a pad and pen. “You ready?”
I blow out a fortifying breath. “I’m ready.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
BANNER
“I was saying goodbye to Alec,” she begins, staring off into space.
I climb onto the bed beside her, careful of her arm, and pull her toward me, anchoring her to me, terrified she’ll slip away if I don’t.
“But when I started talking, I realized mentally I was already done. There was nothing left to say, so I decided to meet Banner at the diner. I was turning to leave when they were just there. I never even heard them approach.”
“Who was there, Sorrow?” Wade prompts softly.
“The rookie, Denny.”
I jolt at that, my eyes flying to Wade’s. Blake and Kellen look as surprised as I do, but Wade doesn’t. He doesn’t look surprised at all.
Before I can call him on it, Sorrow continues. “I knew immediately something wasn’t right. Given my history with the man, I knew he wasn’t there for a friendly chat, but I didn’t understand why he seemed so damn mad.
“I backed up, but he kept coming for me, ranting about how he was gone and it was all my fault. And then he shoved me. I hit my head and blacked out.”
“When I came looking for you, I found your phone near Alec’s gravestone. I looked for you, but I clearly didn’t try hard enough. You were right fucking there,” I snap, trying to hold back my anger.
She wraps her good arm around me and presses her head to my chest. “None of this was your fault. It wasn’t any of our faults. Denny made his own choice, though there is something very wrong with the way that man’s wired. I’m no expert, but I don’t think he has any business being a cop.”
“That’s not going to be an issue,” Wade mutters before turning the page on his pad. “Did he say anything after that?”
I look down at her as her eyes flutter closed for a moment, and the color bleeds from her skin.
“I woke up alone in the dark. It was so dark I couldn’t see a single thing, and it was freezing.”
And the sundress she was wearing would have been no match for the cold. I pull the blankets around her on reflex.
She snuggles into me further and sighs. “My head hurt, and I was freaked out. But I pushed through it and decided to try and figure out where I was. In hindsight, that might not have been the best idea because once I realized I was effectively in a tomb with dead bodies, I had a full-on panic attack,” she admits, her voice dropping lower with embarrassment.
I slide my fingers under her jaw and tilt her head back. “Not a single fucking thing for you to be embarrassed about, Sorrow. What you went through would have terrified anyone.”
“I feel like I let myself down. I promised myself I wouldn’t ever be so vulnerable again. But when faced with yet another fucked-up situation, I folded like a piece of paper. I hate feeling weak, Banner.”
“You are far from weak, Sorrow.”
“He’s right. I don’t like tight spaces. I’d have lost my ever-loving mind in your shoes,” Wade admits, drawing Sorrow’s attention.
“Yeah, turns out I don’t like them either. Not one little bit.” She sighs as I play with a strand of her hair. “I got this when I fell.” She lifts her cast. “I heard it snap, knew it was broken, but the pain took a back seat to how scared I was. In the end, I made my way around the room, looking for a door, and I eventually found it. But I couldn’t get out,” she chokes out. “We really should have emergency pull levers like we do in the trunk of a car because the bruises down the left side of my body are all from me trying and failing at breaking the door down. When Stephenson turned up, I honestly thought he might be there to finish the job.”
