Page 84 of Keeping Collette

“No.” Collette shook her head. “I just want to get away from here. You can fix me up then.”

He studied her for half a second, spying the determined glint in her eye. “Okay.” He stood with her in his arms in one smooth motion. “Let’s go.”

They followed behind Jag, and Irish hauled Jim, none too carefully, through the bush. It was rough going, and he could tell the jostling wasn’t helping Collette’s ankle. “We’re almost there,” he murmured soothingly.

She snuggled, and he tightened his grip on her. “I knew you’d find me. I knew I had to hang on for as long as possible. I trusted you wouldn’t give up.”

“Never, babe. I’m so proud of you. You did everything right. I love you, so much.”

“I love you too,” she said on a sigh, before her body became heavy in his arms. If he didn’t feel the hot puffs of air, he’d be worried that something bad had happened.

“I’m never letting you go,” he whispered, meaning every single word.

Deal stroked his thumb across the top of Collette’s hand while she slept. Her arm was bandaged, and beneath the stark white cloth were twenty stitches from the cut Jim had given her. The one on her neck wasn’t as deep, so didn’t require any stitches, but both would leave scars. Constant reminders of what she’d been through.

If only they’d gotten here a few minutes earlier, things might have been different.

As quickly as the thought formed, Deal shut it down. There was never any point in wondering about ‘what ifs.’ Life worked out the way it was supposed to.

He would help Collette through the aftermath of what she’d gone through at the hands of Jim. The man was sitting behind bars, he hadn’t confessed to the killings, but the police were combing his house and the surrounding area to try and find any evidence they could.

Although it didn’t matter what they found, Mal was singing like a soprano giving them the details they needed. While Mal hadn’t killed anyone, he’d played a role in pointing the victims out to Jim, as well as knowing information about some of the players in the area in terms of the traffickers. He also confirmed that the Red Meridan Cartel were heavily active in the area and supplied Jim with the drugs. He didn’t know if there was a connection between that cartel and Viktor Kosnovič, but if there was, they’d find it.

Julian and his FBI team were also going to be asking Mal many questions. Whether they would be able to bring down some of the big players in people smuggling would be another story, but they’d try, and Alliez would do whatever was necessary to help them as well. Mal mentioned the kickback they received to turn a blind eye to the trafficking activity. An amount appeared each month in their bank accounts. He didn’t know who it came from, he said Jim handled all that.

They would have to break Jim, and it would be only a matter of time before that happened. They wouldn’t give up.

“Hey.” Collette’s whisper had him lifting his head, his heart thudding loudly at seeing her sleepy smile.

“Hey yourself, how are you feeling?” He noticed that the purplish bruises under her eyes had faded a little from the nap she’d taken after her wounds had been attended to, but she still looked exhausted.

“Tired. Sore. But happy and relieved to be alive. I know…” She swallowed, and her brown eyes glittered with tears. “I’m luckier than some.”

Fuck hospital rules, Collette needed him, and he was going to comfort her. He got up and climbed onto the bed next to her. It was a tight fit, but she curled into his embrace, and he finally, fully relaxed himself.

He shut his eyes and brushed his lips across her hair. “Don’t feel guilty for surviving. By doing what you did, escaping and hiding, you helped us get to you in time to save you and to put Jim away. He’s not going to see the light of day because of you.”

“Not only me, you guys came at the right time. I couldn’t have gotten away from him again even if I tried. My ankle was too sore.”

“Luckily it’s a slight sprain, and you’ll be walking like normal in no time.”

She held up her arms, one bandaged and one with a new cast. The ordeal hadn’t done any more damage to it, but the cast was cracked so they replaced it. “I’m matching now.”

He chuckled lightly. “Yeah, I guess you are.”

They lay together with their thoughts. If he had his way, they’d stay like this forever, but it was impossible as they were in the hospital and they both had jobs.

“How’s Hound?” Collette eventually asked.

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen him since he walked away from us. I think Jag has spoken to him, but I’ve been focused on you and making sure you’re okay.”

She cupped his cheek. “I’m glad that you’re here, but he’s your friend. He’s going to need all of you to get through this. It’s not going to be easy for him.”

“I know. We all do. He also knows he has us, and when he’s ready, he’ll come to us.” At least Deal hoped Hound would. His friend had to know that none of them judged him for what his brother did. It wasn’t as if Hound made him into the person he was, his brother had done that all by himself.

Did Collette feel the same way though?

“Do you blame Hound for what happened to you? What happened to Courtney?” He hadn’t given it much thought in the last couple of hours, but maybe he should’ve.