Page 82 of The Harborer
Neve flapped both hands at them. “Shoo!”
Chuckling, Reece gathered up his EMT gear.
Watching the easy exchange between husband and wife twanged something deep in Shane’s chest. Even before his night with Amy, he’d been experiencing a powerful pull to find someone to share his life with. Whether it was his age or the fact that his closest friends had all paired off, he wasn’t sure. All he knew was that being around them, witnessing the special looks and moments that passed between them, gave him pangs of envy he hadn’t felt before. And now that hehadtaken that next step with her, he knew exactly what he’d been missing.
Shane stole a glance at her. “I’ll be waiting out here for you when the doc says you’re good to go.” He wasn’t about to let her out of his sight. The corners of her mouth curved up, and she gave him a subtle nod that made his heart thump a little harder.
Reece swiped a few waters from a small fridge and handed Shane one as they headed to the dimly lit waiting area. They each grabbed a seat on a bench, and Shane cracked his bottle and chugged. God, that water tasted good!
“You staying with Amy tonight?”
Shane wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Absolutely.”
“Good.” Reece pointed at Shane’s bottle. “Make sure she gets plenty of that.”
“You know I will.” He took another thirst-quenching swig. “So you agree she’s going to be okay?”
Reece took a sip of his own water and nodded. “Yeah. I’d just keep an eye on those toes in case of frostbite. And make sure she keeps applying salve to her ankles and wrists.Especiallyher wrists.”
Shane bristled as he recalled the lacerations on her delicate wrists. What those guys had done to her,triedto do to her—
“You want to punch something right now, don’t you?” Reece prodded.
“I sure as hell do. Can I use your face?”
Reece snorted. Then he tilted his head. “So you and Amy. Are you guys finally together?”
“What do you mean, ‘finally’?”
“Oh, come on! Everybody but you two knew it was inevitable. I think even Micky knew it was going to happen the minute he was out of the picture.”
“Well, he also suspected she was stepping out on him with me when she wasn’t. I don’t think the thought of moving beyond friendship occurred to either of us until we pried her out of Micky’s place the other day.”
Reece nodded. “I can see that. You’re not the type of guy who moves in on someone else’s girl, and she’s too damn loyal to step out. You understand those are observations, not criticisms.” One side of his mouth hitched in a grin. “I’ve got to say you didn’t waste any time, though.”
“Didn’t plan it that way, but I don’t regret it. I’ve wasted too much time already.”
Reece raised his bottle to him. “I hear you, brother.” He drained the water and twirled the bottle between his palms. “What do you think’s going to happen to Micky?”
“He’ll do time, but he’ll probably get a lighter sentence than his buddy Benny since he tried to save Amy. Also because he’s as eager to spill his guts as Dixie is to spread a secret.”
“What the hell happened up there?”
Shane took another sip. “When Holt Gunderson told me about the old Allen cabin, something clicked. I had a hunch they might have been using it, and it made sense that they’d head up there after they put the grab on her and her Explorer.” The report from the other deputy about the two vehicles turning onto County Road 352 had sealed the deal for him. “What I didn’t know was whether she was in on it.”
“Seriously?” Reece scoffed. “You suspected Amy?”
“Yeah, and I’ll have to pay the price for that mistake.” Hopefully, that price wouldn’t be too steep. He shook off the thought.
“Eh, you were doing what you were trained to do, bro.”
“Whatever. Anyway, Gunderson knew where the place was, so we headed up there together. At first, I thought it was a dead end.” A frisson of agitation wended its way through Shane, an echo of the real panic he’d felt when they’d crept up to the cabin’s location and hadn’t detected any sign of life.
“Lucky for us, they were there. I was coming out of the trees when I spotted the vehicles we were looking for. Then I heard someone yell, ‘Run!’ and everything was a blur after that. I was about thirty yards away and saw motion. I raised my rifle. The red dot illuminated one of those lowlifes who turned out to be an ex-con named Dalton Brown. He had Amy by the hair and held a huge-ass KA-BAR fixed blade ready to strike.” Shane paused a beat as bile rose from his stomach and quickly sank back down. “I acquired the target just as he started to bring that sucker down. I reacted. Took the shot. It was a split-second decision, areflex.” He hadn’t called out a warning—there hadn’t been time—but in the end, he’d stopped the guy. That’s what mattered.
“You don’t need to justify it to me. You did the right thing, and it was a damn good shot. A clean one too.”
Shane chuffed. “If I hadn’t taken him out, his own brother would have.”
