Page 62 of Storm

He trails off, then changes his wording to make his question more palatable. “Would you consider making a move to be closer to us? I’ve got my practice, which I can’t move. Kevin obviously can’t move either, since he’s running the police station there. Tatum, I’m sure, wouldn’t have difficulty transferring, but you never know if the medical field is hiring or overstaffed. Ezra, well, I’m sure he’d drop everything to move here, but you don’t have national forests within driving distance. I checked on that too.”

The longer he talks, the more my anxiety rises. I haven’t had a chance to even breathe, let alone consider logistics of any kind. There’s nothing I can say at this very moment because my mind is whirling.Fuck. I just fucking told them about the baby. This entire time, I’ve been making mental plans to do this on my own up until now.

We slow our walking as we approach my bus stop, so I check my watch and softly curse when I see I have another ten minutes until it arrives.

“What do you think, Miriam?”

I lift my head, tired and overwhelmed by the info dump he just dropped on my shoulders. “What part in particular? The one where you want me to drop a bunch of cash and buy a car? Or the part where it’s my responsibility to leave everything I’ve been working toward behind to move closer to my baby daddy?”

“That’s not what I’m saying.”

“That’sexactlywhat you’re saying.” I’m not trying to be aggressive, but I’m firm. “Richard, I need to consider all of my options before any decisions are made. I hear what you’re saying, so I will take your ideas as options, but it’s not as easy as just sayingokay.”

Shifting around so he’s standing right inches away from me, I crane my neck to watch him. “It’s a lot of information, but it’s not a tough decision. Not if you really think about it. We’re here, you’re there.” Pointing at my stomach, his words are harsh. “That baby has to be a priority over your stubbornness and pride.”

I’m seething now, wanting nothing more than to take him down a peg. “At some point, Richard, you’re going to realize that I’m not unable to survive on my own, whether it’s financially or emotionally. I’m a very smart woman and I only told all of you about this baby out of courtesy. Do me the same and stop assuming I need you.Wedon’t.”

He seems affronted by my accusation, his head jerking back as if I’ve slapped him. “I don’t think you’re incapable of providing.”

“But you do, Richard. You’re standing here telling meIneed to make changes inmylife for your convenience and for the sake of this baby.” Moving away from him, I put space between us so I can breathe without his aura suffocating me. “I think you need to take some time to wrap your head around this entire situation, read a book on all the great things hardworking women have done for this world, then try to put yourself in my shoes and experience what I have from the moment you first greeted me until this very moment.”

I turn my back on him to step near the curb when I see the bus arriving a few minutes early.Thank the good Lord for my luck.

“Get back to me when you realize you’ve been a monstrous dick and want to apologize. Maybe then I’ll be open to relocation discussions.”

The brakes on the bus screech as it slows to a stop, and I step inside without looking at Richard or hearing another word from him. It’s not until we’re pulling away that I crane my neck to look at him.

He’s standing on the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets, staring at the ground. At least I’ve given him something to think about. I don’t need him or his help to make my life better. He’s the one who should feel luckyifI let him stay in my and my child’s life.

CHAPTER 29

KEVIN

A knock on my office door pulls me away from the few minutes I was able to respond to emails building up in my inbox.

“Captain Cooper, Officer Mercer would like to see you,” Sandra says, peeking her head inside. Ever since I reprimanded her, it’s like she’s doubled down to be everywhere I could need her.

I’m getting coffee refills which I keep pouring out every hour, updates on personnel that are unnecessary, and poor excuses for coming into my office unannounced with a, “Oh, I didn’t know you were in here. I was just checking to see if I set a file on your desk.”

“Mercer!” I call out, not responding to her. She pushes the door open further, then steps back to let him in. Vincent rushes in with a thick file in hand and drops it on my desk. Sandra is still filling the doorway and I wait a full minute before snapping, “Miss Burns. Was there something else?”

“Did you need anything, sir? I could grab?—”

“Go!”

It comes out as a snarl, and I make a mental note to call HR again to get her out of here. I don’t want to deal with heranymore. Vincent, thankfully, doesn’t comment about Sandra. He’s excited and starts rambling as soon as the door shuts.

“We found the kayaker. You can call in the search and rescue teams and the boats. This asshole is fuckingalive,Coop! I got a call not even fifteen minutes ago from the Canadian Border Services and they processed his fucking passport the dayafterwe got the call he was missing.”

Patrick Lane’s family reported him missing seventeen days ago after a long day he was supposedly out on the lake kayaking. The sheriff’s office called us and we assembled a team to start searching. We found his kayak overturned, floating in the middle of the lake, and we’ve had divers and boats dredging the bottom twenty-four seven ever since.

“Are you kidding me?”

Vincent starts shaking his head immediately. “Nope. I had them email everything over and we’ve got him hours later, on camera, walking into an international airport. He took a flight to the UK, then another to Poland. I’ve already got hits on his passport at both airports. Nothing after that. This fucker ran.”

Now, I’m fucking pissed. We’ve spent so much money to search for this guy, only to find out he faked his death. I’ve been taking calls from his sobbing wife twice a day, unable to give her any updates or news that her husband is deceased. Lane left her with two kids under the age of ten, all thinking he was dead.

“I need everything you’ve got. Miss Burns!” I shout, and it’s as if she was standing just outside my door because she bursts in not even seconds later.

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