Page 15 of Claws and Feathers

Only… he hadn’t expected to find her alive.

And he certainly hadn’t expected her to cling to him with such unfiltered desperation, her eyes frantic and brimming with raw emotion. No, he hadn’t expected any of that.

He couldn’t seem to forget it either.

James had sat beside him in the waiting room later that day and offered to take charge of the interrogation. Cooper had readily agreed. It wasn’t that he couldn’t do his job. He had more insight into Abby and this case than every cop in Crow’s Peak and Ashland combined. He was more than qualified and prepared.

It was what she’d said to him in that hospital room before he’d stepped out.

Cooper had sat by her bedside per her request. She didn’t want to be alone. Cooper could understand that – the woman had been alone for weeks, unsure of when she’d take her final breath. It must have been petrifying. So, he sat there silently, watching her fall in and out of restless sleep.

When he’d finally stood to leave, Abby had stopped him with words so powerful they had almost made him choke.

“When I was younger, I always had this vision of a fearless knight on a white horse climbing up to my window and whisking me off to some faraway land. My hero.” Abby was gazing up at the ceiling, wringing her hands together over her stomach. She had smiled softly, as childhood reveries washed over her. “It was silly,” she’d said. “But when you lose everything, fairytales are all you have sometimes.” Her eyes had shifted and landed on him from across the room. “Anyway… for a minute, I thought maybe you were him.”

Cooper had felt his breath catch in his throat in an unfamiliar place, lodging somewhere between confoundment and simmering affection. His jaw had tensed and he’d straightened, shuffling his feet to confirm they were still functioning.

Hero.

Somehow, her definition sounded decidedly different than his own.

At a loss for words, Cooper had simply lowered his head and cleared his throat. “We’re going to catch him, Abby. I promise.”

It was likely not the response she was searching for, but it was all he could give her. And he knew in that moment it was imperative he take a step back. Abby was vulnerable. Confused.Traumatized.

And Cooper was the officer on her case. He was not her white knight.

He never could be.

Chapter Five

“Happy anniversary!”

Abby and Ryan shared a mischievous look before throwing handfuls of confetti onto their parents as they sat up in bed looking less than enthused. Abby blew vigorously on a noise maker for added hilarity.

Rodney Stone rubbed his eyes with a yawn while picking confetti pieces out of his hair. “Nice touch.” He made a sour face, but it quickly melted into a smile.

Gina sighed. “You two will never tire of this tradition, will you?”

“Nope,” Abby said, sprinkling more confetti into her mother’s bedhead. “Might as well go to sleep in a bubble once a year.”

“I mean, you can’t ever claim we don’t care,” Ryan piped up with a shrug.

“A clear sign of your undying love for us,” Gina said with a chuckle.

Abby was about to reply when she heard sirens blaring in the distance. They grew louder and louder, pulling her towards the window. She peeked out, then gasped when multiple ambulances swerved onto their front lawn. “What’s going on? Why are there ambulances in our yard?”

“Oh, they’re here for us, honey.”

Abby whirled around, screaming in horror when her eyes landed on her parents, now standing by the bed covered in bloody wounds. A jagged piece of glass was jutting out of her mother’s neck. Abby covered her face with her hands, shaking her head back and forth. “No, no, no. It’s not real. It’s not real.”

“It’s very real, sweetheart,” Rodney said, as blood dripped down his forehead.

Ryan threw more confetti at them. “Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad!”

“No!”

Abby shot up in bed, her hair damp with sweat. She brought a shaking hand to her chest to calm her pounding heart.

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