“You are under arrest,” Diaz said.“You have the right to remain silent.”
Colby heard her finish the rights, the words familiar and oddly comforting.
“Colby, get off him,” she said when she was done.“Let me have him.”
He pushed to his feet, using a stud for leverage.His ribs burned.His cheek throbbed.His leg complained.He ignored all of it and looked toward the trailer.
Sabrina stood in the open doorway, one hand on the frame, his phone clutched in the other.His T-shirt hung off one shoulder now, ponytail slightly crooked.Even at this distance, he saw her shaking.
Their eyes locked.
“Colby.”
His name this time sounded like a plea, not a warning.
He took a step toward her.
“Careful,” Diaz said quietly, nodding to the dark streak on the ground.“We need that for samples.”
He stepped around the worst of it and kept going.
Sabrina didn't wait for him to reach the trailer.She came down the metal steps fast, feet silent on the dirt, and met him halfway between the frame and the path.
She hit his chest with enough force to rock him.He wrapped his arms around her without thinking, pulling her in tight as she buried her face in his shirt.
Her whole body shook.
“I told you to stay inside,” he murmured into her hair.
“I did,” she said, voice muffled.“Until I saw Diaz’s lights.Then the rules changed.”
He let out a rough laugh.“Hard to argue with that.”
She pulled back just enough to look at his face.Her gaze caught on his cheekbone.
“You're hurt,” she whispered.Her fingers hovered near the swelling, not quite touching.“He hit you.”
“He did,” Colby said.“It looks worse than it feels.”
“You would say that if your arm was hanging off,” she said.
“I wouldn't bleed on your boots on purpose,” he said.“I respect footwear too much.”
A shaky sound escaped her that might have been a laugh.“Don't joke about this.”
“I'm not,” he said.“He came here to finish what he started.He wasn't doing that on my watch.”
Her hands fisted in his shirt.“You ran at him.”
“Someone had to slow him down,” he said.“Diaz is good, but she is not psychic.She needed time.”
Sabrina said.“My hands were shaking so hard I almost dropped the phone.She kept telling me to stay put.I couldn't breathe until I saw the headlights.”
“I heard you,” he breathed.“You yelled my name.That does things to a man’s motivation.”
A genuine laugh snuck out, wet at the edges.“You're ridiculous.”
“You're ridiculous,” he said.
