‘They weren’t my fault,’ he whispered into the quiet. Goddammit. All the faces that haunted his dreams at night . . . He hadn’t failed them. He’d done his job. He’d done everything he could. Every single time.
He closed his eyes, too exhausted to keep them open. Except for believing in Wyatt Hanson. That was my mistake.
‘Lots of people did.’
Adam blinked drowsily, frowning at the small whisper that seemed like a dream. But then he felt two gentle fingers in his hair and looked up to see Meredith squinting at him. He exhaled in a quiet rush of relief. He took her hand in his and kissed the inside of her wrist, feeling her pulse, so blessedly normal. ‘Lots of people did what?’ he asked.
She touched his face with her unbroken fingers, caressing his stubbled cheek and dabbing at the corners of his eyes, still damp from the deluge. ‘Believed Wyatt Hanson.’
He stared down at her, emptied of anything but sweet gratitude. ‘I said that out loud?’
Her nod was slow and shallow. ‘You said lots of things out loud. All were true.’ One side of her mouth lifted. ‘But none of the things were what I was listening for.’
He kissed her hand, then leaned over the rail to kiss her mouth, just a chaste brush of his lips against hers. ‘I love you.’
She closed her eyes on a happy little sigh. ‘That was the thing.’
He laughed softly. ‘You slept a while.’
‘I was a little sleep deprived. Can I have some water?’ He reached for the cup of ice he’d been smoothing against her lips and she grimaced. ‘Ah, the dreaded ice chips,’ she grumbled, but sagged back against her pillow when he placed one on her tongue. ‘How long before I can go home?’
‘Impatient much?’
‘Yes. What is today?’
‘Tuesday,’ he said, and her eyes widened in dismay.
‘But Christmas is in three days. I wasn’t done shopping yet.’
He couldn’t have stopped his grin if he’d tried. ‘I’m still stuck on the fact that you’re alive. We can do a replay of Christmas once you’re able to enjoy it.’
She frowned again. ‘This still sucks. But I guess being alive is pretty good under the circumstances.’ She studied his face. ‘You haven’t slept, have you?’
He shrugged. ‘A little.’
Her eyes narrowed. ‘Full disclosure.’
‘Fine. Less than a little.’
‘Which means none.’
‘I think I should go get your nurse. They need to know you’re awake.’
She started to pull on his hand, then winced. ‘Stay, please. Another minute.’ She glanced down at her bound arm. ‘That doesn’t look good.’
‘It won’t be for a while, but eventually you’ll regain full use. It’ll hurt like a bitch until then, though.’
‘It hurts like a bitch right now. You killed him, didn’t you?’
‘Yes.’
‘Good. Asshole.’ She frowned again. ‘Wait. Was Papa here? Did he call someone an asshole? Did he call you an asshole?’
‘Yes, yes, and no. He called my father one.’
‘Well, okay. I guess if he’s up and about and swearing, then he’s feeling better.’
‘He’ll be better when he knows you’re awake.’
‘And you’ll tell him in a minute. I just . . . I need you a little longer, okay?’
He leaned down to kiss her again. ‘Yes. That is more than okay.’
She smiled at him. ‘How is Kate? Oh, and Nash? He was hurt too? Wasn’t he?’
‘Kate is good. Her vision seems to be back to normal. Nash was hurt, yes. Hanson hit him hard, but he was in such a hurry that he didn’t knock Nash out completely, luckily for Nash. Stone and Marcus O’Bannion stopped to help him after Hanson drove away with you. Stone did first aid and slowed Nash’s bleeding. He’ll have a cool scar, but he’ll be okay.’
‘Oh, good. I was so worried about him. He was so worried about protecting me. Because you’d trusted him again.’
‘I know. I’ve talked about it with him. He and I are good.’
‘What about the person he stopped to help?’
‘That was Hanson’s neighbor, Mr Wainwright. He’ll live, although he had a bad head injury. He’s been awake enough to tell us that Hanson called him, said his SUV was giving him trouble. Wainwright drove his truck to help him and the next thing he knew, he was waking up in the back of Hanson’s SUV with a bloody head and a killer headache. It was his bloody handprints on the SUV’s window that got Nash’s attention. Hanson had taken Wainwright’s truck and drove it into the man’s garage, thinking he’d fooled the cops sitting watch outside.’
‘Why did he go to Wainwright’s house?’
‘So that he could cross over their shared fence to get to his own house. Trip found footprints in the snow in their backyards and a safe in Hanson’s study. He and Quincy are working on getting it open. Hopefully we’ll find out why Hanson felt getting into his house was worth the risk.’
‘How did he get from Wainwright’s house all the way to where Nash got hurt?’
‘He cut through a lot of backyards, left a lot of footprints in the snow.’ He stroked her two uninjured fingers. ‘On the upside, Mallory is well, as is Agent Troy.’
‘Oh, good. Does Troy have someone to take care of him? Kate was going to, but she got hurt too.’
‘He does. Faith’s stepfather invited Troy to stay with them. Troy and Dr O’Bannion both have ulcers and Dr O’Bannion’s husband cooks food for him all the time, so Troy can recover and not starve. The two Feds who were driving your van that night at the hospital were upgraded to stable condition and both look like they’ll pull through.’
‘Oh good. I was so worried about them.’
‘I know, but they’ll be fine.’ There was more that had been discovered in the last two days, but he didn’t think she was ready for any of that.
Her eyes narrowed. ‘You’re holding out on me.’
He sighed. ‘Quincy tracked the past route taken by the SUV left at the hospital’s scene.’
‘The one that belonged to Wyatt’s uncle Mike. And?’
‘The SUV went out east, off Nine Mile Road, down by the river. Trip and Deacon checked it out and found six young women buried there. One of them was Jolee.’
Meredith’s expression darkened. ‘The woman who offered Penny Voss drugs.’
‘Yes. Also, Linnie told Scarlett that she was taken to that same area. That’s where she stabbed Wyatt in the arm – it was how she got away from him Saturday afternoon. He’d planned to kill her there. We’re searching the area for more bodies because a lot of past prostitutes have gone missing. That may have been their burial ground. The ones Wyatt had something to do with, that is.’
Pain flickered in her eyes. ‘How is Linnie?’ she asked.
‘I don’t really know. Dani’s been with her since she was taken from Wyatt’s house. There was no harm done to Mikey and I don’t think Linnie will be charged. Scarlett says that Linnie, Shane, and Mallory have hit it off. The three of them went ice skating down at Fountain Square last night. Not far from Buon Cibo.’
Her lips curved. ‘Making good memories to cover the bad. I approve.’
‘Thought you might. Kyle and his parents left for Chicago as soon as we gave them the all-clear. Shane’s planning to return soon, probably after Christmas, after they bury Andy. The university said they’d work with Shane to make up his missed tests. He wants Linnie to go with him. I’ve been emailing with the CPD homicide detectives we worked with on this case to see if there’s a place for Linnie. They’re looking into it.’
‘That’s wonderful. I hope I’ll get to say goodbye to Shane and meet Linnie.’
‘You should. Shane’s been here a few times, hoping you’ve woken up.’
‘He’s a good guy. What about Hanson’s wife and kids?’
‘Rita Hanson’s being held in custody until they make sure she really wasn’t involved, but at this point it doesn’t seem like she was.’
‘Who has the children?’
‘Social services. Wyatt’s dad is their only living relative, but he won’t get those kids ever. I’ll do whatever I have to do to make sure that doesn’t happen.’ His jaw clenched just thinking about those beautiful children in the hands of a morally bankrupt man like Dale Hanson. ‘Rita doesn’t have any job skills, but the folks in her church have already set up a fund to help her and the kids.’