“I told him it ended now.Then I slit his throat, and I watched him die.And I don’t regret killing him.”She spoke as if it happened to someone else, and she was just repeating what she’d seen.Would it hit her later that she’d taken a life?He hoped to God it didn’t.It was a fucking miracle she was alive when they found her.She’d been through so damn much.How could one person endure so much and not lose their mind?
“You were just defending yourself, Sadie.I’m glad you killed him.”He reached for Bellamy’s conditioner and worked it into her hair.He hoped he didn’t sound callous to her ordeal, but he needed to know.“Do you think the baby’s okay?”
She broke down into great body-racking sobs this time.“I’m so sorry.”
“For what?”
“He stabbed Jed, and he was going to rape and kill me, and I couldn’t take it anymore.I fought back, knowing he might kill me and the, the,” she couldn’t finish.
“The baby,” Darren choked.“God, Sadie.”He pulled her into his chest, hugging her.“You were faced with an untenable situation.Either way, Tinker was going to kill you.I’m just glad you fought back.And if something happened to the baby, I wouldn’t blame you.It would all be on Tinker.Do you hear me?”He pulled her back and made her look him in the eye.“I’m glad you’re okay.I would never want anything to happen to you, and neither would Jed.”
As if hearing his name reminded her that he was in the other room fighting for his life, she collapsed into another fit of sobbing.He’d heard enough.If Tinker wasn’t already dead, he would burn him alive for making Sadie suffer.
Race slipped in and dropped some clothes for her on the counter and backed out, leaving them alone once again.
“Come on, honey.We need you to dry off and get dressed so we can take you to the hospital.Jed’s going to need you.”
She sniffled and nodded her head before pulling her shoulders back and stepping out of the shower to dress.
They returned to the living room just in time to see them loading Jed onto a backboard.“How is he?”He directed his question to Bacon.He was so fucking pale, the white bandage covering the stab wound stood out against his skin.
“Like I was telling Race, he’s stable, but he’s going to need surgery.And blood.He lost a lot.He came to for a minute, asking for Sadie.Is she okay?Do I need to look at her before we go?”
“No.I don’t think so.I’m good.”Sadie’s eyes filled with tears as she focused on Jed, but she didn’t cry again.
Bacon didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t argue with her.That was until Darren told him that she was pregnant.
“Let me do a quick assessment of your vitals before we load Jed up.”He watched the doctor check her blood pressure and pulse, then shine a light in her eyes.“Your blood pressure and pulse are both elevated, but not dangerously so.Your pupils are dilated and you're in shock.You’re good to ride to the hospital, but once we get you there, I want you and the baby checked out.Okay?”
Darren squeezed her hand, silently pleading with her to listen to the doctor.
“Yes.Okay.”She slipped her arms into the flannel jacket Race held out for her.
“Are these your boots?”he asked, pointing to the chair across from where Jed had been.
“Yes.”
He grabbed the boots and guided her to a recliner across the room.“Have a seat.”He helped her into one, and when he started to help with the other, she told him about the phone inside.He pulled it out and smiled."I’m proud of you.That was smart thinking to put this phone in your boot.It allowed Kylie to track you.It led us here.”
A small smile tipped the corner of her mouth.“It was Jed’s idea.”
Darren didn’t care whose idea it was as long as they were able to make it to them in time.
They watched the paramedics load Jed into the back of Bacon’s Suburban after someone put the middle seat down.He told them that because the road up to the cabin had been covered in deep snow, the ambulance couldn’t make the climb.They would transport Jed down the road, then load him into the ambulance.
He escorted her to Tuck’s truck, where he helped her inside before going around and joining her in the backseat.Tuck got behind the wheel, and Race climbed into the front passenger seat.The rest of the crew split up into the remaining vehicles.Lance and Chris would remain behind to dispose of Tinker’s body and to clean up the mess.From the smoke coming out of the chimney of the building they used for interrogations, what they lovingly referred to as Hotel Pain, they’d already fired up the incinerator.
Pulling in behind Bacon’s Suburban, they followed him down the drive.At the bottom, as they discussed, Jed was transferred to the ambulance.Dagger and Maverick climbed into Bacon’s vehicle to drive it back to town.
They weren’t driving long when his gaze swung to Sadie.She was staring out the side window, silent tears streaming unchecked down her cheeks.He reached his hand across the space separating them and squeezed her hand.She turned to face him, giving him a half-hearted smile before turning back to the scenery outside.He held her hand all the way to Redemption, thinking she was one strong fucking woman.
And for her sake, Jed better pull through, or he was afraid losing him could be the one thing that could break her.
20
Jed
Jed slowly came awake to the sound of someone talking.“Okay, baby.I’ll be home in a little while.Yeah.Love you, too.”
