Cam curled his fingers into tight fists and sat back in his chair.
“Let’s go,” Hutch said shortly.
Sawyer’s face was set in stone. “She didn’t want Birdie to call us.”
Hutch gave him anI don’t give a fucklook.
Sawyer turned to Cam even as he stood to go. “How long are we going to wait? How long are we going to let her get away with pushing us as far away as she can manage?”
Hutch crossed his arms over his chest, and Cam eyed both him and Sawyer. “We don’t. Not anymore.”
Hutch grinned, and Sawyer nodded in satisfaction.
“Let’s go get our girl, then,” Hutch said.
CHAPTER 2
When Regina opened her eyes, she groaned and slammed them shut again. There wasn’t an inch of her body that wasn’t screaming like a girl. She heard the murmur of voices and cracked open an eyelid to see who was there.
Birdie. Regina smiled then winced. Damn, even smiling hurt. Her gaze skirted over to where Jeremy stood with his wife, Michelle.
“Where’s the kiddo?” she croaked out.
Relief echoed in Jeremy’s expression. “Jake and Ellie have him. How do you feel, Regina?”
He and Michelle moved closer to the bed, and Michelle gave her a sympathetic smile.
“Do I look that bad?” Regina asked.
Before Michelle could answer, a cool hand fluttered across Regina’s forehead.
“Birdie,” Regina whispered. “I’m sorry to have worried you, but I’m so glad you’re here.”
The older woman smiled and bent down to kiss Regina’s cheek. “As if I’d be anywhere else.”
“You’ve been here all night, haven’t you?” Regina frowned. “For that matter, how long have I been here?” She looked up at Jeremy as more of what happened came back. “Did you get him? And damn, why does it sound like I’ve got a horde of frogs in my throat?”
Jeremy grimaced. “One thing at a time, okay, girl? No, I didn’t get him. But we will. And you sound like shit because he tried to choke you after beating the hell out of you.” His eyes glittered with anger.
His wife put a reassuring hand on his arm and squeezed.
Another thought hit her, and panic gripped her throat. “My gun, Jeremy. He knocked it out of my hand.”
“It’s all right. We recovered it on scene. It’s being processed, so you’ll have to do without it for a few days. Not like you’ll be coming back to work tomorrow anyway.”
She grimaced. No, she wouldn’t be back tomorrow, but if she had anything to say about it, she wouldn’t be laid up for very long. She glanced up at Jeremy and his wife. He looked haggard, and he probably had better things to do than sit here and babysit her ass.
“I’m fine now, so you two should go home. I appreciate you coming, though,” Regina said.
“Are you sure you don’t want us to stay?” Michelle asked.
“You two go on,” Birdie interjected. “I’ll be staying with her no matter how much she fusses about it.”
Jeremy nodded then stared hard at Regina. “We’ll get him.”
Regina nodded and regretted moving her head when the room swam in her vision. A few moments later, she heard the door shut, and she slowly turned her head so that Birdie was in her sight.
“How bad is it?” she asked.
