Okay, so sleep wasn’t an option in this uncomfortable chair with this interminable wait.He straightened, looked down at his hands.
He had no answers for the questions rolling around in his head.Maybe having answers wasn’t the point.
Maybe surviving was thepoint.There were victims in all this who hadn’t survived, but today… they all had.It felt like a bleak consolation, but when he thought about Landon and Aly—getting married, building a life on the wreckage of Benjamin Bennet, helping the people they loved—he wondered if it didn’thaveto be.
“Hey, all.”
They all looked up as Jake strode in.He’d had the same sleepless night as Cal, driving back from Kalispell then talking to Sam and Nate, but he looked as put together and with it as he always did when he was at work.
He’d found out his father’s accident had been no accident at all, and yet he was handling this case.Cal didn’t know the ethics of that, but he supposed it wasn’t any of his business as a civilian.
And if Hayes needed a good lawyer later on, maybe Cal would offer his services.He might still find the guy abrasive as hell, but… well, he wasn’t the worst.
Maybe.
“I’m going to call you back one at a time and take your statements.Once I’ve talked to you, you’re free to go.If I have follow-up questions, I’ll be in touch.”He walked over to Glenda, offered a hand.“Glenda, you’re first.”
Jill started to stand.
“I’m sorry, Jill,” Hayes said, and he almost sounded gentle.Cal wasn’t sure he’d ever heard that from him.“It’s important I get all your statements one-on-one, just to make sure everything matches up.You’ll have to stay here.”
Cal knew Jill was about to protest, but Glenda shook her head.She let Hayes help her to her feet, and since it looked like Jill might follow even though Glenda had nonverbally told her no, Cal went ahead and took Jill’s hand.
Jill looked down at him, eyebrows drawn together.“She should have someone with her.”
He gave her a little tug, so she sat back down.“She’ll be okay.Once she gives her statement, it gets to be over.”
He wasn’t sure he believed that.Not for Glenda.Not for him.They’d always live with what had happened.
What had been lost.
Butoversounded good, and Jill didn’t argue.She didn’t even pull her hand out of his.She just sat next to him—vibrating with energy and adrenaline, no doubt, but anchored by his hand at least somewhat.
Since Aly was a few seats down talking in low tones with Sam—who looked as pale and out of it as he’d seenher—Cal figured he had to step into the role of friend.“She can handle it, and Hayes will take some care.I think they’re almost going through something similar.”
Jill looked at him—her eyes shiny, but she nodded.“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”She let out a long sigh.“I feel like I must owe you some kind of… something.He would have taken me with her.You took my place.”
Discomfort spread through him, and he wanted to draw his hand away, but he heard his therapist’s voice warning him aboutwithdrawing.So he stayed put even though he wanted to bolt.“Everly was threatening me.Might as well take me along.It wasn’t about you.”
Jill didn’t say anything to that.
After a silence that stretched out, she spoke again.“You protected her.”
He wasn’t sure he saw it like that.He’d gone along with Glenda because it felt like… they were linked somehow.Like they’d been linked in this thing a long time ago.“I think, even if I don’t remember it all, she spent a lot of time protecting me.So it felt like the right thing to do.”
Cal figured the sad curve of her mouth was an attempt at a smile.“That isn’t why you jumped in to protect, Cal.”She squeezed his hand.
He looked at their hands together and didn’t quite understand the unease that rolled through him—because it wasn’t something he felt the need to bolt from.It was just something that didn’t make sense to him.
“That’s just who you are,” she said firmly.
He wasn’t sure that was true, but he was finding that he… wanted it to be.Maybe an old dog couldn’t learn new tricks, but his life wasn’t over.There was a hell of a lot left to do with it.Something he’d really started to believe was a possibility after he’d read the beginning of her book.
He opened his mouth to tell her that, but Hayes returned with Glenda.He led her over to Cal and Jill.“Jill, you’re up.Then Landon and Aly can take you both back and get some rest.”
So Jill and Glenda exchanged seats.He’d tell her about her book… later.
And much like he’d put his hand over Jill’s, Cal put his hand over Glenda’s when she sat, wanting to offer some comfort or connection.Wanting to follow that feeling of… honoring what other people had given him.
