Page 15 of When He Defends
But when the cops had come swarming with their sirens blaring, the couple had run out.
Trevor would not be hurting anyone else for a while.
“Thank you.” Soft. Hesitant.
Misty.
She’d lingered near him. Had hunched her shoulders at a few of Trevor’s eruptions but had stood firm. Emerson had remained at her side the whole time. Not pushing. Not asking a ton ofquestions. Just being there. Emerson was a steady, reassuring presence. He’d noticed that about her on a few occasions with other vics. She soothed and comforted, and he swore, she almost seemed to do it just by breathing.
She doesn’t soothe me, though. Just the opposite.When he was around Emerson, he felt amped up. Far too out of control.
“I appreciate you coming to my aid, Agent Stone,” Misty said.
He glanced at Misty. Her tears were gone. The hunching in her shoulders had eased. The little boy with her still curled one arm around her right leg.Timothy.That was his name. Gray had learned that Timothy was four years old, and he was deaf.
The kid peered up at Gray. Gray winked at him.
The kid’s eyes just got bigger.
“Guess it was my lucky night, huh?” Misty asked. She sent Gray a weak smile. One that he caught in the swirl of the lights. “Having you here. Had no idea a Fed was staying at the same motel.”
He studied her. Hated those marks on her. She was twenty-one. Her birthday had been last week. Talk about a shit-poor birthday present—being stalked by your ex.But Gray would make sure that things changed for Misty and Timothy. There were strings that he could pull. He’d pull them. Hard. “The more distance you have between you and Trevor, the luckier you are.”
Her lower lip trembled. She looked down at her hands. Twisted them. Then let one hand fall so she could stroke her son’s hair. “You probably think I’m weak, don’t you? Pretty pathetic. Being with someone like him. Someone who hurt me so?—”
“Misty.”
She looked up at him.
He kept his voice gentle, something that was hard because he truly did not have a great deal of gentleness in him. “It takes a whole lot of strength to walk away.” More than most peoplewould ever realize. He wasn’t most people. And he understood her far more than Misty would ever know. “Just because he might have told you that you were weak, don’t you ever believe him, understand?”
Her lip trembled again, but her chin lifted.
Damn. As he stared at her and her son, it was like staring back at another time. Another place. Another freaking rundown motel in the middle of nowhere. He looked down, dropping his gaze behind her, almost expecting to see?—
No, no, it’s not my life. Not my past. I see Timothy.
“You are incredibly strong, Misty,” Emerson told her. “Gray is right. Never doubt that. The weak person is the one who hurt you.”
Damn straight. Gray dropped to his knees before Misty, putting him much closer to Timothy’s height. His hands formed fists with his thumbs on the outside, and then he made an X, bringing those fists over his chest, with his right hand over the left. Then he swung his hands out. He pointed at the kid.Safe.Gray made the motions again.Safe. You. You are safe.
Misty inhaled sharply. “You…you know sign language?”
Yeah, he did. Gray pointed at the kid.You.Gray’s hands moved toward his shoulders, claw shaped. As his hands pulled away from his shoulders, they curled into fists.Brave.He did the sign one more time.You are brave.
Timothy smiled at him.
“H-he’s been working on his signs,” Misty said. “I had him in a preschool for kids who are deaf, and he’s so smart, and he’s been learning so fast. He’sso, sosmart. Timothy just needs a fair chance in life, you know? I was leaving Trevor because of him. Because Timothy deserved more. Because?—”
“You both deserve more,” Gray told her flatly. He pointed at Timothy.You.Gray’s hand raised. His fingers were slightlyparted. His middle finger moved toward his head. He touched his temple. Flicked the hand outward.Smart.
You are smart.
Timothy let go of his mom and tossed his little body at Gray. At first, Gray stiffened, then he slowly patted the little boy’s shoulders.Oh, hell, yes, I’m gonna make sure that you and your mom have that fair chance.They would never be cowering in fear again. Done.
The boy slowly let him go. He smiled at Gray. Went back to his mom.
“Thank you,” Misty whispered.
