Page 57 of Her Silver Fox Firefighters
“When I realized you were still alive, it dawned on me to check the local news in Ember Ridge. I didn’t see any mention of you getting arrested, so I figured I’d come see for myself. I arrived here yesterday. I’m sorry for not showing up sooner, I just… I wasn’t sure if Marcus was around. I didn’t know anything.”
“Well, I got lucky,” I reply. “We’re friends with Carlos, one of the deputies here. A straight arrow, great guy. He told Devon PD that they hadn’t seen me anywhere around. It’s a short-term fix, but it’s given us the time and space we need to put an investigation together.”
Chloe gives me a startled look. “An investigation?”
“Yes. Carlos is—” I’m interrupted by another knock on the door. “That’s him, I presume?” I ask Beck.
He nods once. “Yes, ma’am. I had to bring him in. We need Chloe now more than ever.”
Chloe goes into a full panic at Beck’s words, jumping off the sofa and ready to bolt through the window. I manage to stay close to her, to keep her as calm as possible while Beck cautiously opens the front door to let Carlos in.
“No, you shouldn’t have done that,” Chloe says. “I can’t be anywhere near cops. Marcus probably has eyes everywhere. He’s gonna find us. He’s gonna kill us!”
“Chloe, I promise you, we’re safe here,” I tell her. “Carlos is good people.”
“I understand your fear,” Carlos replies as he enters the room, remarkably cool about her swelling hysteria. “Deep breath, Chloe. I’m not here to hurt you.”
“The fuck you’re not!” she snaps.
“Deep breath,” Carlos says again, keeping calm, but I don’t think Chloe is in the right mindset for him just yet.
And I get it. I was there myself not too long ago. The fear and dread can be overwhelming—especially, in her case, after seeing her parents murdered. Survivor’s guilt, despair… it all plays tricks on the mind. It makes us act irrationally. All I can think of is to give her a tight hug.
The kind of hug that keeps her from fleeing.
I throw my arms around her and pull her close. I tighten my grip while she cusses and tries to break free. “You’re okay,” I tell her. “You’re going to be okay.”
“Let me go, Olivia.”
“You’re okay. You’re safe now.”
“Nowhere is safe, Marcus will?—”
“I’m with you,” I say. “You’re safe, I promise.”
I keep saying it over and over, until she whispers it back, gradually relaxing in my embrace while the guys watch us. There’s nothing else they can do, not until Chloe calms down, not until she can be reasoned with.
“I’m okay,” she finally mumbles. “I’m okay.”
“You are,” I reassure her, then give Carlos a nod. “Now come on. Let’s sit down, have some more tea, and talk about what happened. Our friend here needs every detail, as painful as it might be.”
“What’s the point?” Chloe says, tearing up, no longer able to hold back the agony. “Marcus gets to do whatever he wants. He kills people with impunity and hides behind that fucking badge. The folks in Devon think he’s some kind of saint. Everyone I talked to damn near ran me out of town for calling him out.”
“Nobody is invincible,” Carlos politely interjects. “And when someone abuses the power of their badge, I can’t sit back and do nothing. We’re taking that bastard down, Chloe. But I need you and Olivia to give me all the ammunition that you can give me. Because if I go to war with this guy, I can’t afford a single miss.”
“You’re really serious about this?” she looks at him, genuinely bewildered.
“Dead serious.”
I believe him. He saw the grief and the fear in her eyes. He understands what Chloe is going through, what she survived, the fight-or-flight responses, the nightmares she’s more than likely experiencing, the PTSD.
Marcus is capable of awful deeds.
We owe it to ourselves and the people we lost to make sure he can’t hurt anybody else ever again.
18
OLIVIA
