“Well, that’s lovely,” Marissa said, and her mouth twisted into a disgusted smile. “Gerry is quite glad he got to put that asshole down.”
“Thank you guys so much.” Norah’s eyes filled with tears, and Marissa squeezed her hand lightly.
“You are family, Norah. No thanks necessary.” She smiled. “I’m going to go out and get some coffee.” She stood and nudged Gerry.
“What?” he asked.
“Come with me to get coffee.”
Gerry’s eyes focused on Norah, and he smiled. “Hey kiddo.”
“Hey.”
“How you feeling?”
“Like I got shot.” She laughed. “But good.”
Gerry kissed her on the forehead and then kicked Harley’s chair. Harley shot up and searched the room for whatever danger he thought might be lurking.
“Norah’s up, and we’re grabbing coffee.”
Harley looked down at Norah and her eyes brimmed again. She had thought she would never see him again and here he was, standing over her as her protector.
“What is it? Do you hurt?” he asked, and reached for the button to page a nurse.
“No, I’m fine.” She placed her hand gently on his and it stilled. “I just never thought I’d see you again.” Tears spilled from her eyes, and he sat next to her on the bed.
He cupped her face with his hands and rested his forehead against hers.
“I would have never stopped looking for you,” he said, pressing his lips to hers.
“So this is over?”
“Yes, it’s over. What happened to you down there?” he asked as he sat back.
“Clayton wanted me to call you so he could offer a trade.”
“You for the bracelet.”
She nodded. “I refused, so he thought if it was cold then I might give in.”
“So that’s why it was freezing ass cold down there.”
She nodded again. “He had Carl dumping water on me all night.”
“And this?” he asked, and gestured to the burn on her neck.
“Clayton’s coffee.”
Harley’s jaw tightened. “Son of a bitch. I’m so sorry, Norah, I should have come for you sooner.”
“He would have killed you, Harley, you were right to wait.”
“I almost waited too long.”
Norah saw his eyes dart to her arm, and she touched his hand. “Had you come sooner, you would have gotten yourself killed. Along with Gerry and Marissa, because I imagine they would have followed you.”
“They did.”
“What do you mean?”
“We got there about ten minutes before Zach showed up with backup. I got tired of waiting.”
Her eyes widened. “You came after me without knowing whether Zach and his men were going to show up at all?”
“Maybe.”
“What were you going to do if they didn’t?”
“Talk my way out of it?” He laughed, and Norah smiled lightly.
“I knew you would come for me if you were able.”
“You’re damn right.” He pressed his forehead to hers again and she smiled. Love filled her, and she knew she could make it through anything as long as Harley was by her side.
“I love you, Norah McNamara.”
“I love you too, Harley Andrews.”
He kissed her again and sat up. “Want to go on vacation?”
“Vacation?” She laughed.
“Anywhere you want to go. We will leave as soon as you’re able. And when we get back, it’s a fresh start for us both. Hell, I even have a job lined up.”
“Oh yeah? That was fast.”
“Zach offered me his old position. Seems he’s gotten a promotion.”
“That’s great!”
“I haven’t decided if I want to take it yet. Wasn’t sure if you’d want to stay in Seattle after all this.”
“How long of a vacation?” she asked him.
“As long as you want.”
“Then let’s start there. Can we go to a beach?” She wanted to be warm enough that she forgot how cold it was in that basement.
“Absolutely. But on one condition,” he said, and knelt beside her bed.
“What’s that?”
“Marry me when we get there?”
Norah’s eyes filled again, and her jaw dropped. “You want to get married?”
“Right away.” Harley smiled, and Norah noticed dimples on either side of his mouth. How had she never seen them before, she wondered? But she knew the answer: she hadn’t seen Harley truly smile until now, and it was the most amazing thing she had ever seen.
Happiness filled her, and for the first time in as long as she could remember, she felt hope. Hope for a future that she wasn’t sure she would have.
“I will absolutely marry you.” She smiled and he kissed her.
Epilogue
Zach took in the scene before him. Death was never something that went down easy, but this particular one was just about the worst one he had ever seen.
“Any idea who did it?”
“No, sir. Guards that were in this cell block said they didn’t hear or see anything. It wasn’t until this morning that we found him.”
Zach nodded at the guard and knelt to the floor next to where the blood had pooled. If he were a betting man, and at times he was, he would bet that it hadn’t been an inmate who had slit the prisoner from navel to neck. He would be willing to place his last dime on it having been a guard who took him out.
Probably one who hadn’t been employed long.
“He didn’t have a cell mate?”
“No, sir. With him being a high-profile inmate, we had him in here alone. Why do you think someone killed him?”
Zach stood and ignored his question. He rubbed a hand over his stubbled jaw. He hadn’t seen this coming, and that was unusual for him.
The man’s eyes were frozen open and wide with terror. He had known what was coming the second he saw his killer, which meant that he probably knew him.
“I need a list of all of the guards.”
“Why? You don’t think—”
“I think I’m going to cover all of my bases. Now get me that list. Please.”
“I’ll get you the list.” The guard turned and headed towards the administrative office.
Zach had known he wouldn’t be happy; no one wanted to suspect one of their own could have done something so horrendous.
He stepped back to take the entire scene in one last time before they came in to clean it up.
* * *
THE BODY WAS sitting against the back wall of the cell, his entire abdomen open. No other injuries were present, and it didn’t even appear he had tried to defend himself.
Shit. This meant that the bastard had been telling the truth and there were more out there just like his sorry ass. He hadn’t been in here a week and he was already dead.
Now he just had to figure out who exactly would have wanted Clayton Matthews dead, and why.
THANK YOU FOR READING!
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Jessica
Sneak Peak
Turn the page for a brief look at Caid’s story, The Runner’s Daughter coming February 2018!
The Runner’s Daughter
Coming February 2018
Unedited and subject to change