Page 110 of Locked In Ice

He looked at her.

“I…love you.”

It would only take seconds to slice the jugular.Just seconds.

“I’ve got him.”Shay was shaken but determined.“You can back away now.”

He didn’t want to back away.He wanted to end Benedict.The bastard had put Ophelia in a body bag.

“I love you,” Ophelia said once more.

Shay was calling for backup.More blood poured from Benedict.His skin had gone waxy.His breathing ragged.“You’re dead,” Lane promised him.

Blood trickled from Benedict’s nose and mouth.

He lifted the scalpel from Benedict’s throat.With it clutched in his hand, Lane went to Ophelia as she staggered back to her feet.

“He…drugged me,” she mumbled.“So I…bashed his head in.”Her long lashes fluttered.“You…with me?”

“Always.”

The doors flew open.Footsteps thundered into the room.The gunshots—and maybe all the yelling, too—had attracted attention.He looked over.Uniformed cops were swarming.Two other people in white lab coats crouched next to Benedict.They were trying to stop the blood flow.

Good luck with that.

He finally let the scalpel fall, and he scooped Ophelia into his arms.

Her head pressed against his shoulder.“Just for the record.”Her words still slurred a little and that worried the hell out of him.“You’re the best partner…I’ve ever had.”

He swallowed.His head dipped, and he pressed a kiss to her temple.“I’m going to be the only partner, from here on out.”He carried her toward the doors.Shouldered through them.

“My dad likes you.”

They were in the hallway.More people were running by them.His bloody hands held Ophelia so carefully.He wanted to get her out of there.Hospital.That was where she needed to be.“I think you might be delirious.”

“My cat does, too.”

Her body was seemingly boneless in his arms.

“But you know who loves you the most?”she asked with a sigh.

He looked down at her.

“I do,” Ophelia whispered.

His hold tightened on her.

“Thanks for pulling me out of the dark,” Ophelia told him.“I didn’t like it in there.”

He had to swallow again.Twice.Then he finally managed to say… “Same.”Another kiss to her temple as he thought about what his life had been like.Before Ophelia.“Same.”

Epilogue

The doorbell rang.A loud peal that echoed through the house.

“Son, can you get that?”Ophelia’s father called out from the kitchen.“Almost done in here!”

Lane hopped off the last stair and hurried for the door.But right before he could open it, Velma sprang into his path.He picked her up automatically, and her head rubbed lovingly beneath his chin.Lane swung the front door open.

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