“I don’t want to leave you.” The admission came out small. Scared.
“You’re not. I’m staying right here. I’m not going anywhere.” He sat her down on the couch and nodded to the EMTs. “Check her out. Andbe thorough. She was attacked tonight and last night. I want to make sure there’s no additional injuries we missed.”
While the EMTs worked on Nora—cleaning the cut, checking her vitals, asking questions—Carson stepped away to call Holloway.
The captain answered on the first ring. “Tell me she’s okay.”
“She’s okay. Shaken up, minor cut on her throat, but okay. Dan Morrison is in custody. Gunshot wound to the shoulder. He’ll live to face charges.”
“Thank God.” Holloway’s relief was palpable. “Carson, when you’re done processing the scene, take a few days off. You’ve been running on empty for a week. You need rest.”
“I’m fine.”
“That’s an order, not a suggestion. Take Nora somewhere safe. Somewhere quiet. Let her recover. Let yourself recover.” Holloway paused. “You did good today. You saved her life. Twice. You should be proud.”
Proud. Carson felt anything but proud. He’d let Dan get to Nora. Had been lured away by a fake tip. Had almost been too late.
Again.
“I’ll file my report in the morning,” Carson said instead of voicing any of that.
“See that you do. And, Carson? About the protective detail. About her staying with you.” Holloway’s voice softened. “I’m not going to writeyou up for that. You did what needed to be done. But be careful with your heart, son. Victims and detectives—that road doesn’t usually end well.”
“I know.”
But as Carson hung up and looked at Nora—bruised and scared and brave, sitting on his couch, looking at him like he’d hung the moon—he knew it was already too late for warnings.
He’d already fallen.
Now he just had to figure out what came next.
***
Two hours later, after statements and processing and more questions, Carson finally got Nora alone again.
They’d moved to a new hotel—even more secure, even more anonymous. This time, Carson got a suite with one bedroom. No more separate rooms. No more pretending he wasn’t going to stay within arm’s reach of her until this was truly over.
Nora sat on the couch, wrapped in a hotel robe, her hair still damp from the shower. The cut on her throat had been cleaned and bandaged. The bruises from Eugene’s attack were already fading. But the shadows in her eyes remained.
Carson sat beside her, close but not touching, giving her space.
“Dan said there were others,” Nora said quietly. “People who blame my father. Do you thinkthat’s true?”
“I think Dan was trying to scare you. To make you feel like the danger never ends.” Carson shifted to face her. “But Finn’s doing a deep dive on everyone connected to the embezzlement case. If there are others, we’ll find them. And we’ll make sure they never get near you.”
“What if this never really ends? What if I spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder?”
“You won’t. Because I won’t let that happen.” He reached out slowly, giving her time to pull away, and took her hand. “Nora, I made you a promise. I said I’d catch whoever was doing this. I did. Both of them. It’s over.”
“Is it?” She looked at him with those dark eyes that saw too much. “Because it doesn’t feel over. It feels like I’m still waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
“That’s trauma. That’s your brain trying to protect you by staying in hypervigilance mode.” Carson squeezed her hand gently. “But you’re safe now. Really safe. And I’m going to keep reminding you of that until you believe it.”
They sat in silence for a moment. Then Nora said, “You told me to drop. And I did. Without hesitation. Without thinking. I just...trusted you.”
“You should. I’d never tell you to do something that would put you in more danger.”
“I know. That’s what scares me.”
