Sophie met his gaze, eyes wide, and nodded once. “You were right.”
“Yes.” It wasn’t an I-told-you-so. It was just the state of things. His suspicions were confirmed. “Thank you for believing in me long enough to be sure this didn’t go as badly as it could’ve.”
She paled again, and he cursed himself. He was going to win the Asshole of the Year award for his conversational skills.
“The point is, it didn’t happen. They didn’t get you.” He tried to put every ounce of reassurance he could manage into his words. “And I’m going to be with you until we make sure whoever it is can’t come close to you ever again.”
“Promise.” The word came out in a whisper so low he almost didn’t hear her.
“I promise, Sophie. I’ll be with you.”
Sirens came into hearing range, slowly getting louder as they approached. Good. If the hostile had remained in the vicinity, he might leave the area completely. As much as Forte wanted to chase him down, Sophie was his first priority, and he wasn’t leaving her until the police arrived. He’d just promised her.
“I wanted it to be an accident. Random. Some insane mistake.” Sophie was cuddling her new cat, and the little beast didn’t look like it planned to go anywhere.
No time like the present to test the cat to see if it could handle proximity.
Forte left the door open, but closed the distance between him and Sophie. The cat watched him with bright blue eyes and hissed when he approached. But then it held on to Sophie’s shoulder for dear life as Sophie rushed Forte, wrapping her arms around his torso.
Her slight form was nothing to take into his arms, but the impact of her trust in him rocked him back on his heels. His chest expanded painfully as he held her to him, indescribably grateful she was okay.
Every what if and what could have been flashed through his brain in a split second. None of them were fit for civilized people. But then, he couldn’t be considered civilized. Not really. Not anymore. Sophie, warm and alive in his arms, was his final reminder of the good things in this world.
“Shh. It’s okay. I’m here.” He hoped those were the right words to say. Mostly, he hoped he was giving her the comfort she needed because he could not tell her she was safe yet. Instead, he settled his arms around her, cat and all.
Sophie continued to hug him, her hands taking up handfuls of his shirt. She buried her face in his chest and shuddered. “What was he going to do with me if I’d come home alone?”
“Don’t know.” And he’d already thought of any number of things. Every one of those possibilities burned a new whole in his chest as his rage built. “But this isn’t good. We’re going to have to take steps.”
The sirens had come to a stop. Footsteps approached.
When Ky hit the landing at a run, Forte acknowledged him with a lift of his chin. Ky took in the open door and Sophie clinging to Forte, then turned to signal to his partner.
“Anyone hurt?” Ky asked as he approached, scanning the interior of the apartment.
“Not to my knowledge.” Forte hadn’t tracked where the one bullet had landed. He only knew it hadn’t hit any of them. “Two shots fired. I did not discharge my weapon.”
After retiring from active duty, he hadn’t given up old habits. He did carry concealed, and he had a license to carry firearms in the state of Pennsylvania to do it legally. All the trainers at Hope’s Crossing Kennels did.
Ky nodded in response. “You want to call in your dog?”
Forte complied. Haydn returned to his side readily.
Ky and his partner followed their own procedure, clearing the apartment and assessing the situation. Finally, Ky let Forte move Sophie farther into the apartment. Once he had Sophie settled on the couch with her foot elevated and a mug of tea in her hands, Forte stepped outside to have a chat with Ky.
“We’ve got questions for the both of you.” Ky’s expression was somber, his tone brisk.
Forte nodded. “First the explosion, then this. I’m not leaving her vulnerable to a third hostile act.”
“We’re continuing this police investigation. I’d prefer to have your cooperation.” There was a warning note in those words.
“You’ve had it.” Forte bit out the words. “Two shots fired and neither of them was meant for me. Sophie was the target, and she was supposed to end up dead. This isn’t enough to keep her safe.”
An investigation only went into what had happened and maybe who had done it.
“We can’t have you or your colleagues interfering.” Ky was all police officer at the moment, their friendship taking a second position to doing the right thing from his perspective. “We can’t have you taking things into your own hands.”
Forte held up his hands spread wide, palms out. “Go ahead with your investigation. None of us will get in the way. But we’ll take steps to establish better security for Sophie.”
Ky narrowed his eyes. “What did you have in mind?”
At least the officer was willing to listen.