Chapter 8
Garrett breathed a sigh of relief when the doctor finally came out and informed everyone that Texas Ranger Harvey Black was in recovery. He’d been shot in the leg, and the bullet had just barely missed his femoral artery. The man was lucky to be alive. Thankfully paramedics got to him in time to control the bleeding, and Garrett had been on the scene to help track down the shooter. All in all, it was a good day. Long, but good.
There would be a mountain of paperwork to finish in the morning, but it could definitely wait until then. It had been almost two hours since he’d last heard from Reese, and while they didn’t usually text back and forth regularly, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about how she’d made him a sandwich so he wouldn’t go to bed hungry. He couldn’t remember the last time anyone had gone out of their way to leave him food after a long day at work. And he didn’t think she realized how much her gesture meant to him. He’d thanked her and told her that he wanted her to stay, but there was so much more he needed to tell her that couldn’t be said in a text message. He just hoped she was still awake because the only thing he wanted right now was to see her beautiful face and hear that sweet laughter he couldn’t get enough of.
His work at the hospital done, he started to head out the door when a familiar voice called out to him. “Heading out?” Blake asked.
Local law enforcement and the FBI had been called in to help with the man hunt for the shooter, and after hearing that Garrett was on the scene, Blake and Luke both showed up, eager to lend a hand.
Garrett nodded. “I’ll finish the write up tomorrow.”
“Are you okay?” Blake asked. “I know you and Harvey are pretty tight.”
They weren’t exactly friends, but they had worked on quite a few cases together. “I’ll be fine now that I know he’s out of the woods.”
Blake nodded. “Need a ride home? I don’t mind dropping you off if you want. We could have a beer, shoot the shit if you feel like talking.”
“Thanks,” Garrett said. “I’ll be okay. Go on home to Skyla and take care of that baby of yours.”
Blake smiled. “I still can’t believe I’m going to be a dad.”
Garrett slapped him across the back. “You’ll be great. Remind me to take notes for when it’s my turn.”
Blake raised an eyebrow. “Something you want to share?”
“What’s going on?” Luke asked, coming up beside Blake.
“Nothing,” Garrett said a little too quickly. “I was just heading home.”
“Need a ride? Orly is working tonight so I could hang out for a bit, we could talk if you want.”
Garrett loved his friends. He didn’t doubt that any one of them would be there for him at the drop of a hat. But right now, he really did only crave the company of one person. “I appreciate it, but I’m good. We have the shooter in custody, and Harvey is alive and should make a full recovery. It’s all I could’ve hoped for.”
“She’s growing on you, isn’t she?” Luke asked with no heat.
Garrett knew exactly who he was talking about, but that protective instinct suddenly kicked into high gear. “Not tonight,” he warned.
Luke sighed, and Garrett prepared for the question he knew was coming. “Look, I get she’s innocent in all this, but has she said anything to you that we could use against Russell?”
“No.” The only thing she’d told him about was her ability. But he’d made a promise to keep that information to himself unless he absolutely had to tell his friends about it, and he intended on keeping his word. Besides, her being able to see the moment of someone’s death didn’t seem to have anything to do with their case against Russell.
It still boggled his mind how someone could actually do that. But he knew better than to doubt her. His friends’ women had proven just how incredible an ability could be many times in the past. So, giving Reese the benefit of the doubt was almost as easy as breathing for him at this point.
“I’m on your side,” Luke said, as if Garrett would ever think otherwise. “And hers. I just want this whole Russell Graham shit to be over already so my wife can breathe easy for the first time in over a year.”
“I know,” Garrett sighed. “We’ll get him. Just -” His phone buzzed in his pocket and he had to fight the silly grin from lifting the corners of his mouth because he suspected he knew exactly who was texting him. A quick glance at the screen showed it wasn’t a text message though, but an alert he didn’t recognize.
“What’s up?” Blake asked.
“Everything okay?” Luke asked.
He wasn’t surprised his friends could read his expression like an open book, but he was still unsure about what this alert was telling him. And worse, it was apparently twenty-eight minutes old. Then he hit the blue button labeled ‘track location’ thatopened a map with a blinking cursor stalled on a rural road in a densely wooded area about twenty miles from the hospital.
His heart sank and pulse ratcheted as realization set in. “Reese is in trouble.” The words slipped out as ice coursed through his veins. He’d finally gotten to know her a bit. They’d connected on his dock. He’d promised to keep her safe and asked her to stay. How could he have failed her like this? She had just started to come out of her shell. She’d ventured out of his guest house, gone on a job interview, and was actually looking forward to a fresh start. Now all of that could be ripped away from her unless he found her. “I have to go.” His feet were already moving toward the exit, his thoughts racing with different routes he could take to get to her last known location faster.
“I’ll go with you,” Blake said.
“I’m going too,” Luke said.
