Page 24 of The Murder Between Us
He raced for her, and they met in the hallway, Katie collapsing against Noah as he wrapped his arms around her and dragged her against his chest, as if he could pull her inside him and keep her safe. He kissed her forehead, rubbed his hands over her hair, cradled her skull and pulled her back just far enough to stare down into her eyes. “Are you okay? Jesus,are you okay?”
“I’m okay. I’m okay, Dad,” Katie said. She was trembling. “Trevor was goofing off and accidentally rolled the car. But we were all buckled in—”
“Accidentallyrolled the car!”
“The glass cut me. But I’m okay.” Katie looked like she wanted Noah to tell her she was okay, too. “And so is everyone else. No one was hurt bad, I promise.”
“Jesus Christ…” Noah wrapped her in his arms again, rocking with her in the middle of the hallway as he stroked her hair. His shoulders and back shook. Katie clung to him, her fingers squeezing the fabric of his shirt over his ribs. “That’s the last time you’re driving anywhere with Trevor,” Noah growled.
“Yeah.” Katie nodded, smearing her tear-stained face against his chest. “Yeah, definitely. He was being so stupid.”
“Katie?” A nurse appeared, looking from Katie to Noah and back. “Hello. I’m Rebecca, Katie’s nurse. And you are…”
“Noah Downing, her father,” Noah said, at the same time Katie said, “My dad. You called him.”
Rebecca looked pleasantly surprised. “I didn’t realize you’d be here this quickly, Mr. Downing.”
“Agent Downing.” Katie smiled. “He’s in the FBI.”
Rebecca smiled. “Agent Downing, let’s get you and Katie back to her bed.” She started guiding them down the hall. “The doctor will be back to see Katie as soon as she can. I know Dr. Caulfield wanted to get an X-ray of Katie’s arm to make sure there’s no fracture. We needed to wait for you to sign off before—” The curtain closed around them, and the conversation turned into muffled words and soft murmurs.
Cole stood alone in the hallway, staring at the empty space where Noah and Katie had collided, had wrapped each other up in bear hugs.
Dad.Dad.
Oh.
Sighing, Cole trudged to the corner of the waiting room and threw himself into a plastic chair. He rubbed his eyes, his mind replaying Katie’s shout—Dad!—and Noah’s run for her over and over again.
Oh.
Noah is a father. He has a daughter.
And that meant there was a mother, too.
Cole buried his face in his palms and tried to breathe through the pain.
8
An hour later,Noah appeared, shuffling down the hall with his shoulders slumped and his head hanging. His hands were shoved in the pockets of his rumpled khakis. He wouldn’t meet Cole’s gaze as he neared. He stared at the cracked tile floor as he held out the SUV’s keys. “Here,” he mumbled. “Why don’t you drive yourself back to the hotel? You don’t need to stay.”
“What about you? How will you and Katie get home?”
“Take a taxi or a Lyft. We’ll be fine.”
“I’m not stranding you here, Noah. Not with your injured daughter. I can wait.”
Noah fidgeted. Shifted his weight from foot to foot.
“How is she doing?”
Noah sighed. He pitched forward, almost collapsing into the seat beside Cole. “They took her for an X-ray. They don’t think anything’s broken, but they always want to be sure with kids. Growth plates and all that. Other than that, she’s okay. Some cuts. One needed some superglue.” He scrubbed both hands over his face. “I can’t believe that asshole rolled his car with other kids in it.”
“Trevor?”
“He’s on the football team. Wide receiver. All-state last year.” He rolled his eyes. “Thinks he’s God’s gift to football, that he’s the only high schooler ever to have a winning record.”
Cole smiled.
