“Look, we just want to go to the hospital to see how our friend is doing,” Mitch said to the officers. “You can escort us there and interrogate us until you get the information you need, but you heard Detective Harmon. We’re not the dangerous ones. Hammer suffered two bad stab wounds and we need to know if he’s going to be alright.” I noticed that Mitch didn’t use his authoritative CEO voice, which was probably a good thing.
“Okay,” Lang agreed. “We’ll escort you to the hospital and will stay there until Detective Harmon shows up. In the meantime, I’ll make a call to the station and get all the background info we need and arrange for guard duty for Timothy Nicholson.”
“Thank you, Officer,” Mitch said in relief. “Can you please remove these handcuffs? I need to call my driver to come pick us up.” All four tires were slashed on Vic’s car and it wasn’t going anywhere. Mitch looked at me and I could see the adrenaline, caused by the shock, was wearing off. “I’m so glad you had Richard stay at a separate location. He could’ve been hurt or killed too.”
Mitch called Richard as soon as he got his cellphone back from the officers. “Make sure you sweep the car for bombs first,” he reminded Richard. “We can’t be sure your location wasn’t compromised and steps were taken in case we survived. Just…be careful, Richard.”
Mitch was starting to sound like one of Vic’s team and I didn’t like it. In fact, I hated what he had to witness that night – Hammer lying unresponsive on the ground, Vic getting shot in front of him, and having him see me shoot Timothy. Not only did it put a damper on our romantic surprise weekend, I worried that it might change the way Mitch saw me. Would the fact that I could aim a gun and shoot a man without a lot of thought turn him off of me? The thought of losing him after coming so far made me sick inside.
All of us were winding down from our adrenaline high and were silent as we waited with the officers for Richard to pick us up. I could feel Mitch’s relief in the air when his driver pulled in safe and sound. Lang and Daniels said they’d give us an escort so we could arrive faster and without hassle. I was thrilled when Mitch entwined his fingers with mine when I reached for his hand.
Once inside the back of his car, I pulled him to my side and held him close. “I won’t stop until I find out who’s behind this, babe.” Mitch rested his head against my chest and I ran my fingers through his hair in an attempt to help relax him.
A soft sigh left his mouth and I was pretty sure I heard the words, “I love you,” slip through his lips before he fell asleep. It could’ve been wishful think on my part, but my heart told me otherwise. I wanted to hear him say those words to me while looking into my eyes so I could see the love and not just hear it. After Mitch’s confession, I was starting to feel a little bit more energetic and less like a droopy flower.
Vic turned around and gave me a crooked grin. Apparently, he’d overheard Mitch’s little confession too. “You deserve this, Deacon. Hold onto it and don’t let go,” he said.
“Oorah,” was my soft reply.
