Page 95 of Whatever You Want

Those were the last words I heard before everything went black. My final thought was that I never got to tell Logan that I loved him.

I scrubbed a hand along my face and read through each report for the umpteenth time. I’d been sitting around my house going stir crazy for the past two weeks. I thought coming into the office and cleaning out some case files I’d been working on before I got injured would be a good distraction. No matter how much I stared at the evidence in front of me, I still couldn’t concentrate. For the first time in my career, my heart wasn’t in the job.

“Blake, what the fuck are you doing here?” The booming voice of Captain Macholl scared the hell out of me. “You’re still on leave.”

“Well, nice to see you too, Captain,” I said, turning around to greet him in person.

I was just about ready to explain myself when my cell phone vibrated on my desk. “Hold on one second.” I held my hand up and frowned when I saw Marco’s name on the screen. I just talked to him earlier today. “What’s up, Marco. Did you forget something?”

“Logan, it’s Ava.” He paused; something about his tone sent a chill down my spine. “She’s been assaulted. I’m at the hospital right now with Amelia. You need to get here as soon as you can.”

“What the fuck did you just say?” I shot out of my rolling chair, sending it flying across the bullpen. “Assaulted how?”

“Not that. A physical assault.” He rushed out to say, and I felt the tightness in my chest loosen slightly. “I’ll explain when you get here.”

“The hell you will.” Was he crazy? “You’ll tell me now!”

“Look, Logan, we are wasting time. Now get to your truck and get down to HUP as fast as you can. You can call me when you’re here.”

I started flying through my desk drawer in search of my keys. “Captain, I have an emergency. I’ll explain later.” I almost tripped over the rubber mat underneath my feet.

He pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose. “Drive safe, Blake.” He squinted his eyes in concern. “I just got a report that we had two officers involved in a fatal shooting. We don’t need any more tragedies to share with the eleven o’clock news.”

I started running through the office, ignoring all the stares from my fellow officers. I didn’t even bother with the elevator. Instead, I took the stairs two at a time until I reached the lobby of the building. I scrambled through the revolving door and raced through the employee parking lot.

I clicked the remote starter on my key fob as I sprinted toward my truck. By the time I reached the driver’s seat, I was out of breath. The engine roared to life; rain smacked against my windshield as I spun out of the parking lot. My foot wasted no time before slamming down on the accelerator once I hit the street.

I picked up my phone and called Marco back. “Tell me what happened,” I barked out as soon as he picked up.

“She was on the phone with Amelia when her stepfather showed up. He was all boozed up and looking for trouble. Amelia stayed on the line with her the entire time. She could hear them shouting, and when she heard Ava scream out in pain, she hung up and called nine-one-one. Two officers arrived on the scene. The idiot tried to escape and fired on our guys. They returned fire, killing him instantly. By the time I pulled up, Ava was already being loaded into an ambulance.”

Her fucking stepfather. She never liked that son of a bitch. As far as I was concerned, those two officers did us a huge favor. I should have felt relief that he was no longer a threat, but man, I was pissed that I didn’t get a go at him before they took him out.

“What kind of injuries is Ava dealing with?” I held my breath as a burning sensation took over my chest.

“The doctors are still looking her over as we speak. She was black and blue when I saw her. Maybe a few broken bones. That’s all I know as of right now.”

I gripped my phone. “Thanks for calling me.”

“Of course. Drive safe. I’ll see you soon.”

I ended the call and let out a long exhale, feeling a little tension ease from my body. Every conceivable scenario spun through my head, and none of them were any good. I couldn’t let my mind go to the dark places it was trying to go to. All I knew was she was injured, and I had no idea how bad it was. I needed to see her with my own eyes. Touch her with my hands and make sure she was okay. She was alive, and I needed to focus on that.

I weaved through traffic and broke every traffic rule known to mankind with zero fucks to give. I tried my best to remain fixated on the road in front of me while driving as fast as possible. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get there quick enough.

My truck skidded to a stop in a valet parking spot at the front of the emergency room. I threw my keys to the attendant, not even waiting for them to hand me a claim ticket.

My heart rate picked up as I squeezed through the revolving doors to the hospital. Once I made it to her floor, I ran over to the nurse’s station, passing by a few officers I recognized and pulled out my badge.

“Ava Donavon.” My hands shook as I held my shield in my hands.

The middle-aged nurse looked up from her screen. “They are bringing her to imaging now for an MRI.” She clicked a few keys on her computer. “There is a waiting room down the hall. You can wait there, and I’ll have someone let you know when we have a room ready for her.”

I nodded my head and followed her instructions. I walked down the bright hallway that was buzzing with activity. Nurses and doctors passed me by with their rolling carts. I spotted Marco and Amelia as soon as I entered the waiting room. Amelia leaped from her chair as soon as she saw me.

“Oh, God, Logan.” I caught her by the waist as she fell apart against my chest. “Thank God you’re here.” Her voice was shaky and filled with anguish. The last time I saw her so distraught was when Marco got shot. No doubt this was stirring up memories from the last time we were in a tiny little waiting room like this.

I eased her back down carefully into the chair and crouched in front of her. I placed my arms on her shoulders. “I need you to walk me through what happened. Marco said you were on the phone with her when Richard showed up.”

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