She nodded, then looked back at Luke.
“You can stay right there, Maggie, I just need to take your statement.”
She swallowed, turning to face him while leaning her back against Luke. He wrapped his arms around her loosely, as if to say, “I’m not going anywhere.”
The story spilled out of her, through the broken glass lining her sore throat, and the dryness in her mouth. From when she’d discovered her ransacked room to Sean hitting her outside the Haven, and waking up in this cabin.
“He… he wanted to lure Luke here, kill us both, and make it look like a double suicide.” Luke’s arms tightened around her.
She described the fight between Luke and Sean, and how she’d freed herself and grabbed Sean’s gun.
“Did you fire it?”
“No, sir. I didn’t have to.”
Gabe nodded and kept writing. “Thanks, Maggie. Do you need me to call an ambulance?”
“I’ll take her to the hospital.”
Maggie shook her head. “They’ll think this was you.”
“I’ll text you the report number,” Gabe said to Luke. “They won’t give you any trouble.” To Maggie, he said, “I want all these injuries cataloged, Maggie, so I can throw the book at him.”
She snorted. “I’ll give you my attorney’s number; she has all the evidence from before I filed for divorce.”
Gabe raised an eyebrow. Maggie pointed at her face. “This isn’t the first time he’s hit me.”
“Noted.” He wrote something else on his pad, then tucked it away. “Take care, you two. I’ll be in touch.”
“Come on, sweetheart. Let’s get you to the hospital.”
Another deputy joined Gabe to take photos and collected the gun in an evidence bag. Luke led Maggie out to his car, holding on to her so she didn’t trip. Neither of them spared a look for Sean in the back of Gabe’s SUV.
She fell into the passenger seat like a marionette whose strings had all been cut. Luke leaned over and buckled her seatbelt.
“Luke…”
“Yeah, sweetheart?” He turned his head to look at her.
Her voice came out so soft she wasn’t sure he’d hear her. “Kiss me.”
But he did hear her, smiling as he cupped her face in one tender hand. He leaned forward to press his lips chastely to hers. “I’m so fucking proud of you, Mags. You were incredible.”
“Thank you for coming for me.”
“Wild horses couldn’t keep me away.”
“Even if it was a trap?”
Luke stroked his thumb over her cheek with a barely-there touch. “If the Devil himself came for you, I’d chase him into Hell.”
Tears sprang to her eyes again, though how her ducts had anything left Maggie had no idea. “I love you, too.”
He kissed her again, longer this time, then pulled away. “Let’s get you checked out, then I’ll get you home.”
Maggie sighed. Home sounded amazing. Luke rounded the car to get behind the wheel, and she breathed out, “I could sleep for a week.”
“Sounds like a plan.” He turned the motor over and his headlights lit up the woods. “I’ll take it slow, but it’s probably going to be bumpy until I get us back to the main roads.”
