Cold Case Murder Mystery (Hudson Sibling Solutions #7)

Chapter Twenty-One

The detectives let Zeke give her a ride to the hospital, but Brooke wasn’t allowed to see Royal right away. Instead, she had to let a nurse poke and prod at her head, then bandage her up. Once she was done with that, she had to answer what felt like a zillion questions from Laurel in a meeting room at the hospital. About what happened in the cave.

Brooke really hated recounting it. She would no doubt have nightmares about Leon Rogers for some time. And she still had work to do down there. With three murderers spanning three generations . . . no telling what unsolved disappearances she might be able to help solve.

“So how does all of that connect to what happened on the outside?”

Laurel said, turning her attention to Zeke, who held Brooke’s hand under the table they were sitting at.

He hadn’t left her side. Hadn’t gone more than a few seconds without having one of his hands touching her in some way. It gave her the strength to go on when what she really wanted was to curl up somewhere and sleep forever.

Except when she closed her eyes, she still pictured Leon and shivered.

“I don’t actually think there’s a connection,”

Brooke said before Zeke could. “Two separate issues just happened to merge.”

“I agree with that assessment,”

Zeke said. “The problem people I ran into were connected to her brother, his old life. They wanted to use Brooke as a kind of revenge. I think they were following her, waiting for a chance to get to her. When the cave-in happened and we came to try and help, we just happened to run into them trying to get to her.”

Laurel rubbed a hand to her temple. “This is a hell of a case, you guys. That should hold us over for now. I’m sure we’ll have more questions as the case—cases—continue, but if you want to go check on your brother, Brooke, we’re done here.”

They all stood, and Laurel gave her a friendly pat on the back. “Get some rest, Brooke. You did good today.”

Brooke managed a smile. “You too, Detective.”

They all left the meeting room and Brooke couldn’t stop herself from leaning on Zeke. He seemed to be the only thing holding her up. She wanted to be stronger than that, but . . .

Well, for once, it was nice to be so tired she didn’t worry about leaning on someone, didn’t worry about being a burden. Because Zeke was here of his own volition, just like everyone else today, helping because they wanted to. Because they cared.

“Granger texted me where to go,”

Zeke said, leading her down one hallway and then into the next. They finally reached one where Brooke saw a familiar face.

Betty moved forward and enveloped her in a hug. “He’s just fine,”

she reassured. “The doctor will run you through all the aftercare you’ll have to do, but he’s lucky it wasn’t more serious.”

“Thank you for being there.”

Betty pulled back. “Anytime. It’s good to see you, Brooke.”

“You too.”

And Brooke meant that, even if she didn’t know how to convey it. Not when she was so tired. Achy. Hungry. Someone had tried to get her to eat, but she couldn’t stomach the thought.

“You should be able to talk to him now.”

Betty opened the door to Royal’s room. “We’ll catch up more when you’re done.”

Brooke nodded and stepped into Royal’s hospital room.

He watched her get close, smiled wryly. “Hey, Chick.”

“Hey yourself.”

She crossed to his bed.

“I’m fine. Really.”

He pointed to her head with his good arm. “What about that?”

“Just a scratch,”

she said, touching the bandage. “No concussion. I’m good.”

“Best-case scenario all in all, then, huh?”

She couldn’t agree with that because she didn’t like him hurt, but he was okay. He was alive. This was all . . . sorted. No more danger. No more . . . Sons or their father.

But where did that leave them? Her baby brother she didn’t know. She wanted to protect him now, but if he was safe, and an adult . . .

So she just . . . let herself be a burden to him. Because she loved him, he was her brother, her family. Maybe it wasn’t a burden to ask for something. Maybe it was just love.

“I hope you won’t disappear on me, Royal. I hope that we can . . . be each other’s family again.”

She blinked back tears and tried to ignore how horrible it felt to be so . . . vulnerable. To admit she wanted him around. “You don’t have to—”

“Chick.”

A tear escaped, but she blinked back the rest. Royal reached out and took her hand in his. “You’re the only family I got. And it’s not your fault I messed that up. I blamed you all those years because . . . Well, maybe there’s no real reason. I was a dumb kid and it felt like everyone else had it better. Even you. Maybe especially you, because I know you deserved it. And I didn’t.”

“We didn’t deserve any of it, Royal.”

“Maybe not all. But I made . . . I’m not like you, Brooke. I’ve made some real mistakes. Maybe I didn’t deserve all that jail time, but I’m no saint.”

“You could reform.”

He grimaced then gave a little snort of a laugh. “Reform might be a stretch, but I could probably try out not breaking any laws. And to keep in touch, no matter where we end up.”

“It’d be a start.”

“It’s a promise.”

Another tear escaped and she wiped it away. She leaned over. Brushed a kiss across his forehead like she used to do when she was comforting him in the midst of something terrible when they’d been kids lost in a really awful world.

But this wasn’t terrible anymore. This was the start of something good. She was determined.

A nurse came in with a kind smile. “We need some privacy to run some tests. Visiting hours are coming to an end tonight anyway. But you can come back tomorrow, of course.”

Brooke nodded.

“Go on back to Zeke’s, Chick. I’ll call you in the morning when they let me out. Promise.”

Brooke let out a long, slow breath. She was going to choose to believe that promise. That one, and one for the future. Of her brother back in her life. Family. The blood kind.

And all the ones she’d built out there.

She exited Royal’s room and Betty was still standing there.

Brooke just wanted to go home. But so many people had come to help her. She felt like she had to reach out across that effort, because she’d cut it off.

“Thanks for patching him up, Betty.”

“Anytime.”

“So, do I get to see pictures of your little ones or do I have to beg?”

Betty didn’t hesitate. She pulled out her phone. Scrolled through picture after picture of two adorable toddlers and their handsome father doing all sorts of things—playing in the snow, messily eating spaghetti, just lying on the couch.

An odd ache settled in Brooke’s chest. It was lovely and she was so happy for Betty, who was no doubt an exceptional mother.

Every picture was just so homey. All things . . . well, things Brooke had never had. And now she wanted. She glanced at Zeke, who stood down the hall talking to Granger. They were both serious, but not worried. Not heavy with concern. Likely just going over any last details.

As if Betty could read her thoughts, she nodded toward the two. “You and Zeke again, huh?”

Brooke shouldn’t be making any decisions after such a day. She should get some sleep and just . . . get her head on straight before she dealt with her and Zeke. “I . . . I don’t know.”

“Yes, you do.”

Betty patted her on the shoulder.

Zeke happened to look over, offered her a smile.

Well, she supposed she did.

Zeke’s house was full of North Star people. It had been late by the time they’d gotten done with questioning, and while it wasn’t five-star accommodations, it was better than some of their old missions. Besides, it was one night. Everyone would be off again in the morning, back to the lives they’d built.

When Zeke finally got bed assignments sorted, he returned to the kitchen to find Brooke doing dishes of all things. With that bandage on her face and dark circles under her eyes. Because it was late, and she’d been through hell.

“Well, I ran out of beds. You go on and take mine. I’ll finish here.”

She set the glass she’d been washing aside then looked at him with an expression he couldn’t quite read. “That’s a terrible pickup line.”

He laughed in spite of himself. “I’m going to sleep on the couch, Brooke.”

She shook her head, walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his chest. “No, you’re not.”

He ran a hand over her hair, gave himself a moment to revel in the fact that she was in his arms. “Sweetheart, you need to rest.”

“So do you.”

He let out a long breath. Yeah, it had been a day. He moved his arm around her waist, started leading her toward his bedroom. Everything they had to talk about could wait. There was no rush. Not really. They could sleep in his bed, keep their hands to themselves, and deal with everything tomorrow.

Except so much could have happened today. So much bad, so much loss. If they hadn’t had help. If they hadn’t had each other.

So maybe wasting another second didn’t make any sense.

He stopped, turned her to face him in the dim light of his living room. In a house he’d started renovating, convincing himself it was a just-for-the-hell-of-it project.

But surely it had always been for her.

“I love you, Brooke. I don’t want you to go anywhere.”

She studied him for the longest time. Long enough to start to make him feel . . . nervous. Long enough that he wanted to fidget.

“You really mean that, don’t you?”

she finally said.

He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’d never say it if I didn’t. I never will.”

Her smile eased every last worry inside him. “I love you too, Zeke.”

“So you’ll stay?”

She moved to her toes, pressed her mouth to his. “I’ll stay,”

she murmured against his mouth.

And she did.

Forever.