Page 69 of Waiting for Devon
Jack squeezed her arm and grunted something beneath his breath.
“Yes. Thanks to you, Digger Sharpe will be spending the rest of his life behind bars.”
“How did you find me?” she asked.
“After we saw the security camera footage from the parking garage, we put a tail on Harry and Smitty.” Detective Kennedy pocketed his notepad.
“I feel sorry for them. They weren’t bad men, only misguided.”
“Don’t feel sorry for them,” Jack admonished. “They tried to kidnap you from the clinic the night you delivered Inez’s baby.”
“So, that’s how I got the bruises on my arms.”
“I’ll be in touch, Dr. Brooks, if I need anything else from you.” He looked at the couple. “Take care.”
“I will,” she promised and yawned.
“Get some rest, Dev,” Jack urged. “I’ll be right here. By the way, I never knew you were such a badass.”
Her lips parted in a slight smile. “Don’t mess with the daughter of a military man.”
Much later, Jack allowed Blair a brief visit with Devon but warned her not to upset his ex-wife.
After sharing a hug, Blair commented, “Your ex is a bulldog.”
“Too bad he didn’t care this much when I really needed him.”
“How are you doing?” Blair sank into the seat vacated by Jack.
“Not that well. Don’t tell Jack.”
“Are you still planning to return to San Francisco?”
Pain twisted Devon’s heart. “I don’t have a choice.”
“Dev…”
“No, don’t say his name. I broke his heart and confirmed his worst suspicion about me. I failed him, and he won’t forgive me. You should have seen the look in his eyes earlier today. He loathes me.”
Blair did not deny it. “You’ll keep in touch with me, won’t you?”
“Of course. We’re friends.”
When Devon grew sleepy again, Blair left.
The following morning Dr. Bailey announced Devon could be released from the hospital. Jack brought her fresh clothes from her luggage and her purse. Thankfully, nothing had been taken from it. She changed into jeans and a T-shirt and pulled open the curtain. “I’m ready, Jack.”
He rested his hand on the small of her back and guided her toward a taxi waiting to transport them to the airport. While Devon’s release was being processed, Jack had been able to book the first available flight to San Francisco. When he reminded her on the plane they needed to have a serious discussion, Devon begged him to wait until she was settled at home. He honored her request, and they lapsed into silence during the rest of the flight.
Chapter Eighteen
Devon burst intohysterical tears as soon as Jack pulled into the driveway of her Victorian. Unable to move, she sat frozen until the storm passed and she composed herself. Jack waited for her and murmured soothing words of comfort, which surprised her. He’d never been prone to do so while they were married. When they stepped inside the cool interior, Devon declared all she wanted to do was take a shower and crawl into bed. Jack assured her he wouldn’t leave her alone as she slept.
Disturbing nightmares plagued Devon. She dreamed she’d been sold on the black market to the highest bidder, not by Digger Sharpe but by Reed. He vowed to see her broken and humiliated for trying to bilk money from him and his family. When Inez and Téa lay on the dirty mattress with her in the tin shack as Reed live-streamed their helplessness on the internet, she screamed, “No! No! Please don’t do this to them, Reed! They’re innocent!” Reed’s evil laugh mocked her.
As he held her during the worst of her nightmares, Jack cursed Reed for the hundredth time for being such a cold-hearted bastard. He couldn’t believe Barrington rejected Devon after she’d been rescued. Pity for his ex-wife prompted Jack to administer a mild sedative in order to keep her nightmares at bay. Afterward she slept peacefully for the next fourteen hours.
Something jerked Devon awake out of a sound sleep. Fear seized her heart until she realized she was safe in her own bed in her home in San Francisco. As her heartbeat slowly returned to normal, tantalizing aromas teased her senses and aroused her hunger. She felt faint from it since she hadn’t eaten anything for several days. In the hospital they’d only given her fluids. Foregoing a shower, she slipped into a robe and padded in bare feet toward the kitchen. For a brief, crazy moment, she yearned for the man who whistled to be Reed.
