Page 21 of Deacon

“It’s not alleged. I’m the one he kidnapped and I’m willing to testify,” Lisa spoke up.

“Um,” the officer looked around, “tell me about what happened, miss.” He pulled a notebook and pen as he focused on Lisa.

16

Lisa shook with exhaustion by the time she’d finished answering questions from the police. She also emailed him a copy of the video from her doorbell and had let the EMT’s check her out. There was no blood, just a knot on the back of her head. The EMT’s recommended that she go to the hospital and let them check her out, but she refused. The police had long since hauled Randy out, though she’d answered questions for longer than she’d thought possible. Now, she still sat in the chair where she’d started out while Deke sat on the edge of the bed beside her and held her hand. Cowboy had tried to stay out of the way, but now paced along the side of the bed in front of where she sat.

“I think we should go in,” Cowboy said. “You might have a brain bleed.”

Lisa resisted the urge to roll her eyes at how overprotective he was being, especially after she’d had to almost twist his arm to get him to help her move in. Okay, it hadn’t been that bad, but still. She didn’t want to mess with it and turned to the EMT for back up.

“What are the symptoms for something like that?” she asked.

He listed several things that she didn’t pay much attention to, then she turned to Deke.

“You’ll watch for those right?”

“You bet.”

She turned back to Cowboy. “See, even if I do, we’ve got it covered.”

“That’s something else I want to talk to you about.” His gaze flicked from her, over to Deke and back again.

“Not now.” She didn’t give him a chance to start. “I’m not saying we can’t talk about it, but not today. I want to go home, take a shower and rest. Curl up on my couch or in my own bed and just be for a while without someone asking me the same questions a billion times.”

“Shit, how are we going to get you home? We should have thought about that and brought your car.”

“You’re on the bikes?” she asked. Excitement bubbling in her for the first time since she realized it was them bursting through the door hours ago.

Cowboy nodded. “We were on a ride and didn’t think about switching to cars.”

“I did, but the bike is faster, especially if there was some kind of closure on the interstate, I could take it up the shoulder or cross country if I needed to,” Deke spoke up.

“That’s okay. I don’t mind riding the bike back.”

Cowboy shook his head but didn’t tell her no. She wasn’t surprised he didn’t like it. She’d been begging him to take her for a ride for years, but he’d always refused.

She hadn’t asked Deke since she was a teenager. He’d refused then, but she’d expected him to. This time she didn’t ask, just shot Deke a hopeful look.

“If you’re sure you’re up for it, I’d be happy to take you. But don’t be afraid to speak up if you’re tired. I’ll call one of the prospects to come get my bike and trailer it back and I’ll rent a car to take you home. I can always take you out on the bike another time if you want to go for a ride.” Deke squeezed her hand to let her know he was serious.

She gave Deke a weak smile, grateful he’d added that last part about taking her for a ride. She wanted a ride but right now, she wasn’t sure she could stay on the back of the bike.

“Call the prospect. Do we need to wait for him to get here or can we get started on the way home now?”

“I’ll call the prospect and wait for him, you find a car,” Cowboy said turning for the door and stepping outside as he pulled out his phone.

“Thank you,” Deke whispered before kissing the end of her nose and pulling out his phone.

Content to let them do their thing and not have someone drilling her with questions for a couple minutes, Lisa closed her eyes and let her head fall back to rest on the back of the chair.

“Is there anything about today you want to talk about, to tell me, without your brother or the police grilling you over?”

Deke’s voice pulled her back from where she’d been lost in thought as she stared out the window at the lights speeding past. The car seemed like a bubble where they sat still, and the world moved so fast around them it was a blur.

“What?” she asked as his words processed in her brain, then before he could repeat himself, she answered. “Not really. Well. I feel stupid for answering the door. I thought it was Ava.” She turned to watch him, even though she couldn’t see much more than the outline of his face in the lights from the dash.

“I didn’t know she was going to spend today with you.” Deke glanced her way then turned back to the road.

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