“You’re here,” she whispered.
“Always, Sparkles.” He dropped a kiss to her forehead before he sat down and clutched her hand, careful of her IV. “How are you feeling? Do you need more pain relief?”
“No.” She probably should but she wanted to talk to Brodie. She needed to find out if Finn was okay.
“Finn. Where is he?” Although she had a feeling, she should know this.
“He’s at the ranch with Mitch’s parents. He’s being well looked after.”
“What day is it?”
“Tuesday. You’ve been going in and out of consciousness for the last few days. You hit your head pretty hard when the car crashed.”
Cerise closed her eyes and the memories of the accident and what happened leading up to it, became clearer than they werewhen she’d first woken up with Nadia in the room. “What about Ed? What happened to him.”
“He died from his injuries. He’s not going to hurt you or Finn or Poppy again.” Brodie brushed his thumb across the top of her palm, the touch soothing and comforting. “Can you tell me what happened? At some stage the police will want to come in and talk to you about it as well.”
She let the memories wash over her and started talking. “Finn and I stopped at the tent where you could buy model airplanes, cars and trains. He wanted to make them with you.”
“He still has them, in case you’re wondering, and I can’t wait to build them with him.”
“That’s good. Anyway, we were walking to meet you when Ed stuck a gun into my side and made us follow him. Finn was amazing. He stayed calm and did everything I told him to. Ed took my purse and threw it out the window. I don’t know where it landed.” She took a moment. Talking was tiring her out, but she needed to get the story out to Brodie.
“We’ve got your purse. Someone found it just outside of Hunt. Finn told me you’d thrown your hat out the window as well, so before I took him to the ranch, we went searching for it. I was anxious to get back to you here, but he was adamant that we find your hat.”
“Is he really okay?” The fact he’d demanded that they search for her hat meant the world to her.
“He is. He’s eager to see you but I wouldn’t let him come while you’re hooked up to machines. I didn’t want to worry him unnecessarily.”
“Thank you for that.”
“What happened to cause the accident? The police weren’t sure if another car caused it, but they discarded that theory because they believed the other car would’ve stopped. Did a deer dart out onto the road? Did he swerve to avoid it?”
“No. I made him crash the car.”
“What?” He didn’t say the word excessively loud but, with the way her head was beginning to pound, he may have screeched it from the tallest building.
“I decided I would try and make him crash the car. I did everything I could to make sure Finn was safe. When I saw my chance, I took it and leaned over to the front of the car and yanked the wheel. I made sure that the driver’s side would get the impact of the collision.” Her throat was drying up. She reached out for the small cup full of water, sitting next to the bowl of ice chips Brodie had used earlier, but her muscles protested the movement.
Brodie grabbed it for her and held it against her lips. She took a couple of swallows. “You don’t have to continue. I think I’ve got an idea of what happened.”
As much as she’d love to jump on that and not have to keep going, she needed to for herself. “No, it’s okay. Anyway, Ed slapped me across the head, and I fell back toward where Finn was sitting. But what I’d done was enough and he lost control. He hit the gravel and the last thing I remember is throwing myself on Finn as we slammed into a tree.” A breath shuddered out and she felt the trail of tears down her cheek.
“You’re amazing ... do you know that?” He brushed away her tears gently then kissed her cheek. “You saved both your and Finn’s life. You put yourself at risk and could’ve died, too, but I understand why you did what you did. Ed wanted him to die.”
There was something she was missing. Something that Brodie had said, but she couldn’t quite remember what it was. She closed her eyes and relaxed into the bed. God, she hated being back here. Twice in less than a year and both times had been life threatening. But if she had to do it all again, she would. Saving Finn was all that mattered.
He’s not going to hurt you or Finn or Poppy again.
“Poppy! Ed said that he’d drugged her. He said he was going to marry her.”
Brodie leaned forward and brushed his hand across her forehead. “Poppy was found unconscious in her house. She’s doing better but it was touch and go for a while. She had a bad reaction to the cocktail of pills he’d given her.”
“Oh my God, how did anyone know to check on her? Did Finn say something when we were found?”
“No, it was pure chance. A friend of Gene’s worked with us to try and find you. I mentioned Poppy maybe wanting Finn back and possibly being involved with you and Finn going missing. Sheriff Searle arranged for someone to do a welfare check on her and she was found.”
Now it was her turn to comfort Brodie. “It’s fine and I’m glad she wasn’t involved. Poor girl. She has to be devastated at what Ed did. But I still don’t understand why he wanted Finn. He wasn’t taking him for fun. He truly planned to leave us somewhere to die.”
