Chapter 30
P olly barely felt the nurse putting the stitches into her head.
Her body was riddled with scrapes and bruises, some from the car crash, some from Cox and the river.
She wasn’t in pain though. Part of that was the mild pain reliever she’d been given and the local anesthetic. But the other part was shock.
The night was a blur, even as every single minute was still etched deep into her brain. How that was possible she had no idea.
“Almost done,” the nurse said gently.
Joel inched closer. She sat on the side of the hospital bed, the nurse working behind her.
She’d almost died tonight. Almost…but hadn’t. She was alive, with only some stitches, a hell of a lot of bruises, and a mild concussion for her trouble.
Joel was silent. The stony kind of silent that made the room feel heavy and his body look hard.
Most of his team was in the hall outside the room, while Maggie and Ethan had ducked down to the cafeteria to get everyone coffee. Her best friend had brought her a clean set of clothes, but God, what she wouldn’t do for a shower.
“All done.” The nurse stepped back around the bed to face her. “All three cuts have been stitched. It’s important that you don’t get them wet for a while. They’re dissolvable though, so no need to have them removed. Has the doctor already discussed your concussion with you?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“Good.” The nurse removed her gloves. “I’ll get your discharge paperwork, then you’ll be free to leave when you’re ready.”
The door closed behind her, and Polly looked up at Joel. “How are you doing?”
His jaw clenched. “I’m pissed. Really fucking pissed.”
She tugged him between her thighs. “I’m okay.”
“You were there, Polly. You were there in the cellar while I was in Bloom, and I just let that fucker lead me out of there.”
“You couldn’t have known what he was doing.”
“I should have known.”
“No.” She cupped his cheek. “He set it up so that Jonah looked like the bad guy. He fooled everyone.” And now she owed Jonah one big fat apology. “Do we know what happened to Jonah?”
Suddenly, the door opened and Ward walked in, closely followed by a middle-aged male deputy.
The sheriff cleared his throat. “Evening, Polly. How are you feeling?”
“I’m just glad to be back with Joel.”
“Can you tell us what happened?”
“Give her some time to recover,” Joel growled.
She touched his arm. “It’s okay.”
She started with Jonah’s visit at Bloom. Then the cellar, and all the things that came after with Cox. She relayed everything the deputy had said to her about his faith and believing that he was doing God’s work. How he’d admitted to killing four women.
While Joel just seemed to get tenser and angrier, Ward barely reacted.
It wasn’t until she was finished that the sheriff shook his head. “He always seemed like a great deputy.”
“Maybe you need better screening for the people working for you,” Joel muttered.
Ward visibly stiffened. “You had interactions with him. You didn’t realize he was a serial killer with all your training?”
The muscles in Joel’s arms flexed, and he looked like he was going to hit the guy.
Gently, she touched his arm before looking back at Ward. “Are there any more questions?”
Ward held Joel’s gaze for one more second before looking back at her. “That’s it.”
“Great. Cox will go away for a long time, right? There aren’t any loopholes that’ll allow him to get out?”
“He’s not getting out, Polly.” Ward turned to go.
“What about Jonah?” she called, before he could leave.
Ward looked at her again. “We found his car in an alleyway a street away from Bloom. Someone had tied him up and shoved him in the trunk.”
She gasped. “Cox was really going to let Jonah go down for his crimes.”
“He must have been watching you,” Joel said quietly. “He saw Jonah come out. Followed him. Left him in that alley and went back for you.”
It was sick. All of it. And the worst part was, he still probably thought he was the saint in all of this.
Ward had barely left when the door swung open again and her mother rushed in.
“Polly, honey! You’re okay?” Her mother pulled her into a hug.
“I’ll be in the hall,” Joel said quietly, before slipping out of the room.
Polly hugged her mother. One of those tight, all-encompassing kind of hugs. “I’m sorry about Jonah. I’m sorry I blamed him and that he was hurt.”
Olivia Mack pulled back and wiped tears from her eyes. “Honey, we don’t need to talk about that now. They told me it was Deputy Cox. I can’t believe the abuse of power.”
“I know.” She shifted her gaze between her mother’s eyes. “Have you seen Jonah?”
“He’s just down the hall. I came to see you first.”
Polly nibbled her bottom lip. “Can you pass on to him that I’m glad he’s okay?”
“Of course.” Her mother shifted a lock of hair from Polly’s cheek. “Are you okay?”
“Surprisingly, yes. Compared to the other women he targeted, I came out of this relatively unscathed. But then, I have some really good guys on my side. Raven helped too.”
She hadn’t seen Raven yet. But when she did, that woman was getting the biggest hug of her life.
Polly swallowed. “I’m sorry about?—”
“Nope. Now is not the time.” Her mother cut her off before she could apologize about their last fight. “You focus on your recovery. I love you.”
“I love you, Mom.” She really did. There’d been moments in the last twenty-four hours that she’d been scared her last fight with her mother was going to be the last thing she ever said to her.
Thank God it wasn’t.
Joel stepped into the hospital hallway to see Ryan, Connor, and Zac.
The guys all looked up at him, their expressions as grim as he felt.
They were probably all thinking the same thing—that tonight had been a close call.
That the Deep River killer had been right there under their noses the entire time and none of them had seen it.
Ryan pushed off the wall. “How is she?”
“Physically, she’s fine. A concussion and some stitches.”
Connor squeezed his shoulder. “And how are you?”
“Angry.” So fucking angry he could barely see straight.
“I can’t stop thinking about the fact that she was there.
She was at Bloom at the same time as me, in the fucking cellar.
And I let him convince me she was gone. I let him lead me away so he could return and take her. And he almost killed her.”
Zac shook his head. “Your head was a mess. You weren’t thinking because she was gone.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m trained to know.”
Ryan inched closer. “I was there too. I didn’t see through his bullshit either. You’re right. We should have done better. But we made up for it. We got to her in time. And Eli Cox will never be a free man again.”
Joel nodded, because yeah, that was what he should be focusing on.
“You know what’s really messed up?” Joel scoffed. “He was the only person in that damn sheriff’s station I liked. Who I actually thought was doing his job.”
“I’m right there with you,” Connor agreed. “It makes you wonder who else we trust but shouldn’t.”
Ethan rounded the corner, Maggie by his side, coffees in hand.
“Everyone I can trust is right here in this hall,” Zac said quietly.
That was the fucking truth.
Ethan handed everyone a cup while Maggie joined Polly and her mother.
Joel remained with the guys until Olivia Mack stepped out of the room. Instead of heading away, though, she walked right up to Joel and pulled him into a hug.
“Thank you for saving my baby,” she whispered.
“I didn’t.”
“You did.” When she pulled back, tears brimmed her eyes. “You’re family now. I hope you realize that.”
“Thank you, Liv.”
She squeezed his arms before heading down the hall.
When he entered Polly’s hospital room, Maggie was perched on the edge of the bed, and the two women were laughing.
Seeing Polly smile felt like a gut punch, but the good kind. The kind that knocked the breath out of him, allowing in some fresh air.
He closed the distance between them, and Polly leaned sideways into his chest.
“Ready to go home?” he asked.
“Definitely. And ready to see Saint. She’s probably hungry.”
He groaned. “And angry.”
She chuckled.
Yeah, another gut punch.
Twenty minutes later, they were in the car.
The entire drive home, Joel had to force his gaze to remain on the road when all he really wanted to do was look at her.
There’d been moments when he’d wondered if he’d see her again.
Now he just wanted to stare at her. Memorize every part of her.
Remind himself that she was here, alive and safe.
When they reached his house, he climbed out of the truck and reached her side before she’d even opened the door. He helped her out.
Inside, Saint appeared out of seemingly nowhere and rubbed against his leg.
Polly lowered. “Sorry, girl, we’re very late, aren’t we?”
The cat purred.
“I probably stink.” Polly kissed her head. “I really need a shower.”
He gave the cat’s head a rub before helping Polly straighten and leading her into the bedroom. But before he could step into the bathroom, she turned and pressed a hand to his chest. “You need to feed Saint.”
“No. I need to help you shower.”
“I’m okay. Your cat is not. She’s hungry.”
“Polly—”
“Go.”
He growled. “Fine. But I’ll be right back.”
In the kitchen, he grabbed the cat food and put it into the bowl on the floor. Saint made that thank-God-because-I-was-starving purr. “Yeah, yeah, you were hungry. I know.”
He hadn’t eaten, but he wasn’t hungry. He wouldn’t be able to stomach food right now.
When he returned to the bathroom, he stripped and opened the shower door.
Polly turned, and he growled at the scratches and bruises on her skin. They were scattered across her fair shoulders, chest, and arms, covering her.
“I wish I’d killed him.” He stepped into the stall and closed the glass door behind him. “I wish he was dead.”
“Trust me, rotting in a jail cell for the rest of his life will be just as bad, if not worse.” She leaned her head against his chest. “And he’ll hate that I’m alive and living my best life with you.”
He tightened his arms around her before kissing the top of her head. “Thank God you’re okay. I don’t know what I’d do if I’d been too late.” He didn’t even want to think about it.
“Thank God,” she whispered.
Then they just stood there. He wasn’t sure for how long. Steam began to billow in the room and his fingers wrinkled. But he still couldn’t move.
Polly was alive and she was his, and he was going to spend the rest of his life making sure it stayed that way.