Page 6 of Heart in Waiting
Carter couldn’t disagree with his assessment. He was the worst of the worst. He’d murdered and tortured several women. Claire would have been one of those unfortunate females if not for Matt and his quick thinking.
“I wish I could say that.” He really did. Carter’s job was to uphold the law, and Nolan had been the one person he’d considered going against that for. He’d hurt his family, and he wanted that man to pay for it. He’d told himself that the court system would see justice done, and it had. Nolan should be rotting in prison for a very long time. “I’m afraid that it’s much worse than you can imagine.”
“I don’t know—I can imagine a lot.” Matt glanced at Claire then back at Carter and asked, “Do we need to be worried?”
“Yes,” Carter answered.
Claire swore and started to pace the room. Her hand shook as she reached up and brushed a curl behind her ear. She halted in the middle of the room. She held her chin high and asked, “What did Nolan do now?”
“It’s complicated, but the short answer is, well, he’s not in prison.”
“Then where the hell is he?” Matt demanded.
“We don’t know.” God, he hated that part. “He could be anywhere.”
“Wow,” Olivia said sarcastically. “How about a round of applause for the genius in the room.” She clapped her hands as she rotated her arms in a circle. “Perhaps you can tell us what you are doing about it?”
Carter started to wonder what it was about her he’d found attractive. The more she spoke, the more he wished she’d keep her mouth shut. Her acerbic wit hit him right in the gut. The sad truth was that he could do nothing other than warn his sisters and hope the state police located Nolan before he hurt someone—or worse. They were all aware of his lack of a conscience, and there was no predicting what he would do. He’d already committed murder and showed the world that he had no problem dirtying his own hands.
“Everyone is on the lookout for him.” He sighed. “A hotline has been set up for people to call with any information on his whereabouts. Other than that, there isn’t much else we can do. The leads dried up, and he’s still at large.”
“So, what about Claire and Reese?” Matt said. “Surely, he’ll come after one of them, maybe even both.”
Claire started to shake and sat in a nearby chair. “I can’t do this again.” Her voice wobbled as she spoke. “I barely survived the last time. How did this happen?”
Carter wanted to take it all back and tell her it was a sick joke. That Nolan hadn’t escaped prison and remained locked inside a cell. He’d give anything to make it all go away. He hated that he hurt his sister in any way. He’d always done his very best to protect her, and he failed. “I promise I won’t rest until he’s found. I won’t let him touch you ever again.”
“You can’t make that promise,” Claire said. “No one can. Maybe I should go away until he’s captured.”
“You can’t live your life like that.” Olivia chewed on her bottom lip. “What if they never catch him? Are you going to run forever? What about your wedding?”
“What about it?” Claire took a deep breath. “I don’t want a big ceremony anyway. We can take a vacation—maybe go to Vegas. While we’re there, we can elope and have a honeymoon. If we’re lucky, Nolan will be in a cage by the time we return.”
“I hate to say this...” Carter blew out a breath. “But that’s not a bad idea. Why don’t you call Mother and have her set up a family dinner? We need to discuss everything first, and then, yes, go out of town for a few days.”
If Claire stayed, he wouldn’t be able to protect her and Reese. Dane would help, but they would all have to stay in one place together. There wasn’t a safe house big enough to make that happen. Logistically, it would be easier if they separated, and removed one of the targets from the general vicinity.
“I’m not sure I like the idea of eloping,” Matt replied. “But I do like the idea of having you as my wife sooner rather than later. I wish we were doing this under better circumstances.”
“That’s true,” Claire agreed. “We can decide later if we want to do the wedding thing. Vacation is on the table either way.” She turned to Olivia and met her gaze. “I’m going to leave it up to you to inform Dani of the situation and have Amy reschedule all of our appointments indefinitely. If something needs to be handled, you will be left in charge—Dani can handle anything else.”
Daniella Sousa was Matt’s partner at the law firm. She didn’t do much since she started her foundation, but still handled some of the case load from time to time. Carter didn’t know much about her other than she was the long lost daughter of the Brady family. Something they didn’t discover until they crossed paths several months ago. She’d married the love of her life recently and seemed happy.
“I’ll see to it all,” Olivia agreed. “Go take care of everything you need to go away. I’ll see Carter out.”
He rolled his eyes and turned to Claire. “Call me after you speak to Mother. I am going to check on Reese and tell her about your plans.”
“Oh God, I didn’t even think of her...” Claire swallowed hard. “What if he goes to her instead of me?”
“She’ll be fine,” Carter reassured her. “Dane is with her, and we will protect her. She’s stubborn and won’t want to leave her patients. You know how she is.”
“I do,” Claire said. “All right. Promise you’ll call me every day while we are gone or I’ll return. I need to know everyone is safe.”
He nodded. “You have my word. Now I must go.” Carter pulled her into a hug and then turned to leave. Olivia hot on his heels to make sure he left. He really wanted to know what her deal was. He stopped at the door and picked up all her papers and put them into a neat pile, then handed them to her. “There. Never say I didn’t do anything for you.” He was somewhat amused she’d left them on the floor to follow him around the office. Maybe she liked him more than she let on.
Her mouth fell open, but no words came out. Maybe there was something good about the day after all. For the first time ever, he’d left Olivia West speechless. Carter smiled as he headed to his car. Perhaps he might be lucky enough to achieve that miracle again. For now though, he had a felon to catch and not a lot of time to do it. Olivia would have to wait, but sometime soon he’d figure her out.
Once he didn’t have to worry about his sisters and a maniacal killer... The job of a police officer was never done, and some days it felt like his job could be too much to bear. He hoped he had the strength to see this through, and at the end, they all survived it.
