Page 49 of Justice for JoElla

Minutes later, they were curled up together under the sheet, his arms wrapped around her, holding her close as she pressed her cheek against his chest. He was already sound asleep, and JoElla took in his scent, a clean, crisp thing that smelled mildly antiseptic, of course. That didn’t matter. What mattered was that she’d treated him like shit and he’d hung in there. She’d never thought there was a chance for her to ever have a relationship. Maybe she’d been wrong.

Brain fog left her wondering how long she’d been asleep when her phone rang, and she took a look at the screen, then rose straight up in the bed. “Hey!”

“You busy?”

She chuckled at Mick’s question. “Does it matter?”

“This time, no. Got a hit. Convenience store in Newport. They called as soon as the clerk started telling them what he’d seen. We need to go. Now.”

“I’m expecting Axton to show up. Can we wait until he can join us?”

“Send him a text with the address and tell him to meet us there. He’ll just be an hour away if he’s coming into Louisville.”

“Wish I’d known this was happening. He could’ve come into the airport in Florence and saved himself a drive.”

“You riding with me?”

“Yeah. Axton can bring me back, I suppose, if you can’t. See you in twenty?”

“Meet you at the station.” And the phone went silent.

“Whaaaa??? What’s going on?”

JoElla was already on her feet, pulling on clothes and looking for her shoes. “I’ve gotta go. We got a hit in Newport and I’m meeting Mick at the station. He’s driving.”

“What about your incoming officer?”

“I’m sending him info to meet us there.”

“Want me to drive you to the station?”

JoElla stopped for a second and took a good look at him. He hadn’t had a lot of sleep, and yet he wanted to spend every minute he could with her. “Yeah, sure. I’d like that.”

“Okay. I’ll just gather up my stuff and go on home, since I’ve gotta be at work in a bit.”

“Sounds good.” JoElla was hopeful. This would be the first thing they’d actually heard in far too long. She wanted it to amount to something. Otherwise, she was starting to lose hope.

Chapter 8

“You be careful,okay? Did you get in touch with your visitor?”

“Yes. Quint. He’s going to meet us there. Wish you could come,” she told him, and he could tell she meant it.

“I wish I could too. But he’s coming back here, right? So I’ll get to meet him. Maybe tomorrow or Tuesday. Oh, shit.”

JoElla flicked one eyebrow upward. “What?”

“I forgot to give you my schedule. Tell you what. I’ll write it down and give it to you tomorrow. How’s that?”

“That’s good, but it changes every week, right?”

“Yeah, but it’s a repeat shift, so you’ll figure it out pretty quickly. You’d better get going, but…” He hesitated a second and wondered if he should say it. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too. I’ll call you when we’re on our way back.”

“Sounds good. Be careful, please.”

“We will.” He stood and watched as she climbed into the car with Mick and in seconds, she was gone.

---