Page 72 of Dangerous Secrets
“Fetterly and Neil Graftonhave both been arrested.”His voice roughened.“Fetterly will neverhurt you again, and Grafton admitted to putting my name on theDNA.”
Delaney felt the tension she’d beencarrying inside unwind.She gripped his hand tighter.“Oh my god,Walker.Then it really is over.You’re free.”
“I liked ‘Oh my god,Walker’ better when you said it before.”
“This isn’t ajoke.”
“Believe me, it’sdefinitely not a joke.”When she yawned, he kissed her briefly onthe lips.“You need to sleep.”
She gripped his hand tighter.Afterall she’d been through, she felt like a wimp, but said the wordsanyway.“Don’t leave.”
“I won’t.You’re safe,sweetheart.”
True to his word, Walkerstayed.
Delaney opened her eyes hours later tofind the room washed in morning light.Her head felt significantlyclearer, and the wound above her hip had settled to a low-leveldiscomfort.
She turned her head to study Walker,sleeping in the chair beside her bed.He’d moved another chair toprop up his feet, and slouched with his head at an angle.Thatcouldn’t be comfortable.
Even sleeping he looked dangerous.Like a whisper of alarm could have the latent strength in his toughbody springing into action.Instead of a hospital gown, he woreloose athletic pants and a zip-up hoodie, one side draped over hisarm held in a sling, his shoulder heavily bandaged.
His chest was bare and she wished theywere in his bed where she could burrow into his warm body andassure herself they were both truly safe.
A nurse bustled in, her tagidentifying her as Viola Perdue, RN.She raised an arched brow whenshe saw Walker.“Night shift nurse said we’d find him in here.Notsurprised given what I heard about his stubbornness lastnight.”
“What did hedo?”
“He wanted to comedownstairs to visit you.”She eyed Walker, who was beginning tostir.“He was quite insistent about it.When we couldn’t make thathappen for him, he checked himself out, against doctor’s advice, Imight add.Very polite about it, thanked us all for his care, andcould hardly wait to get the discharge papers before he was headingout.”
Walker shifted to sit up.“I needed tosee Laney.”His voice was morning gruff.
“And now that you’ve seenyour girl, I’m kicking you out.”
He opened his mouth, Delaney was sureto protest, but Nurse Viola held up a finger.“Before you get yourdander up, let me tell you something.Delaney here needs to becleaned up, and she needs some medical care.This room’s not bigenough to do what I need to be doing without tripping over thoselong legs of yours.If everything checks out, she’ll be releasedaround eleven.You’ll last without seeing her for that long, bigboy.”
Not many people could order Walkeraround, but Nurse Viola was apparently one who could.He rose tohis feet, stooped to brush his lips over Delaney’s, then exited theroom.
***
By early evening, Walker was ready topunch someone.Laney had been released from the hospital, but hehadn’t been able to pick her up.A police detective wanted toquestion him over his knife being found at the scene of the attackin Pine Cove.
Okay, he got that the guy needed tocover all his bases, but he didn’t need to be a dick about it.He’dbrought Walker into an interrogation room—bad memories there—andwhen Walker had said Jerod Fetterly had stolen it from his truck,the detective had been an even bigger dick.He’d suggested it wasmighty convenient the man Walker was blaming had been badly injuredin the mine and was now hospitalized in critical condition andmight not survive.Since Walker wasn’t an idiot, he’d refused tosay anything more until he had a lawyer.Then—no surprise—theinterview was over and he was free to go.
He walked out to the parking lot ofthe sheriff’s office to find Sawyer leaning against Walker’s trucksipping from a go-cup, the sky to the west purple withdusk.
Walker was bone tired, hadn’t eatensince the egg sandwich he’d grabbed at the hospital cafeteria thatmorning, and would cheerfully commit murder for a cup of freshcoffee.
He eyed his brother.“What are youdrinking?”
“Coffee.”
“Give me some ofthat.”
“Get your own.”
“You want to live to seethe sun come up again?”
Sawyer didn’t look worried.“Thatbad?”
