Chapter 24
Twenty-Four
L ark Lake was one of John’s favorite places in Clarence County. The town bordered the west boundary of the county, and was the furthest post to drive to from the Sheriff’s Department, but it was his preferred patrol when he wasn’t assigned to Bell Ridge.
He’d stopped in early to the sandwich shop in town and gotten his dinner figured out. All that was left before digging in was to find a good place to park to finish up a report from an earlier call and take his mind off of trying to call Abby.
Girls’ night. He knew she was excited for it, but his face still felt warm as he thought about her spilling the details on everything that happened up at the cabin. He wasn’t dumb. He knew the girls… alright, Emma, would press Abby to talk about their time together. What he wouldn’t give to be a fly on the wall.
John drove the sleepy streets, past the new bed and breakfast that had been built over the last year. It was beautiful. Maybe he should see about booking an overnight stay for him and Abby.
His phone rang, and John saw his brother was trying to call through. He’d heard the call about the fire at Sal’s and assumed his brother was dispatched to it.
“Jackson, what’s up? You guys get called to the fire at Sal’s?”
“Yeah. We’re here. Where are you right now?”
“Hank has me in Lark Lake tonight. Why?”
“Look, I want you to promise me you’re not going to freak out.”
His breath froze in his chest. “What the fuck happened?”
“That doesn’t sound like you keeping a cool head.”
“Fuck you. Tell me.”
“I need you to come down here.”
“To Sal’s? Why? You need me to get Grace?”
“It’s not me. The girls were here. And Ab?—”
“What about her?” Why wasn’t he just saying all the information at once? His fucking heart was pounding out of his chest.
“She’s been hurt.”
John flipped on his lights and pulled a U-turn in the middle of the road. “What the fuck do you mean, she’s been hurt? And don’t you dare fucking tell me in snippets. Just give me the whole picture… now.”
“Calm down. She’s getting looked over by the paramedics and seems okay. The thing is, she asked me not to call you. She doesn’t want to make a big fuss of it, but Hank and Seb are here now. I figured you’d want to be here for your girl, too.”
“Damn straight I want to be there,” he barked. “You make sure she doesn’t leave without me.”
“Yeah, will do.”
John’s legs felt weak as he pulled into the parking lot for Sal’s Bistro and Bar thirty minutes later. He parked next to the fire engine, his eyes bouncing through the people milling about. Jumping from the driver’s seat, John finally saw Abby sitting on the sidewalk with his brother crouched down in front of her. Emma, Daisy, and Grace were standing with Sebastian and Hank.
His stomach soured as he took her in. Her normally rose-tinted skin was pale. She looked exhausted and there was a white bandage covering part of her hair. Fuck, she’d hurt her head. Would it trigger a migraine for her? It took every ounce of self-control he possessed to not run straight to her, scoop her up, and walk to his house with her still in his arms.
He noticed she was holding an ice pack to her head and had a bulky coat draped across her shoulders, one with BELL RIDGE FIRE DEPARTMENT on the back.
That fucker.
“Abby.” Her eyes snapped up from her hands to meet his. “Jesus, baby. Are you okay? What the hell happened?”
Jackson stood and John knelt down in front of her, taking her face in his hands. She was there. She was alert, and breathing, and every fear of Jackson not telling him the truth faded from his chest.
“John. What are you doing here?”
Jackson answered before he could. “I called him.”
“Jackson! I told you not to bother him. I’m fine.”
“Honey,” Grace bent down and patted her back. “You got a pretty nasty gash on the back of your head. And he would have been even more upset if he’d found out through the grapevine that something happened to you.”
“What the hell did happen?” John reached his hand around to the back of her head as he tried to calm the anger seeping through his veins. Abby had been hurt, and he wanted answers. She winced as his hand brushed over her matted hair. “How are you the only person who got hurt?”
“I’ll tell you later. Honestly, the paramedics already glued the cut shut, so I can go home. Seb and Emma offered to give me a ride. You can go back to work and we can talk tomorrow.”
“No, baby. I’ll take you home. How did you hit your head?”
He didn’t miss how Abby looked nervously at their group of friends. What was the fucking secrecy all about?
“Could you guys give us a minute?” she asked.
“You’re sure you’re okay?” Emma’s face was full of concern as she slid her hand into Sebastian’s.
“I’m fine. Actually, if John’s going to give me a ride to my apartment, you should all go.”
“Will you text us and let us know you’re okay after you get home?” Daisy asked.
“Of course.”
“I’ll let dispatch know you’re off duty for tonight. Just take care of Abby and relay any information through James and Marc, okay?” Hank rested his hand on John’s shoulder. He’d completely missed the fact that Sunny was strapped to his chest in a little baby carrier just like he’d used when Katy was her age.
“Appreciate it, Hank.”
“It’s no problem.” Hank turned towards Seb and Emma. “You gotta stop planning these girls’ nights, Em. Something crazy always happens.”
“Excuse me… your wife is just as responsible for these nights, and I’m pretty sure the only person getting wild and crazy is usually Grace…”
Their bickering faded into the background as they walked to their vehicles. John focused again on Abby.
“Tell me what happened.”
“I’m fi?—”
“I’m barely holding it together here, Abby. So could you not be stubborn at this moment and just tell me what happened?”
“Take me home first,” she whispered.
John shrugged out of his deputy’s jacket, holding it in one hand while he removed his brother’s jacket from Abby’s shoulders.
“Here. My girlfriend doesn’t need to be wearing your shit. Wrap your jacket around your wife.” John shoved the jacket back at Jackson, who laughed as he took it back. “Let’s go, beautiful.”
“Help me up?” she asked, holding her hand out towards him. Like hell was he going to have her walk when she’d had an injury to her head. He bent over and scooped her up into his arms.
“John! I’m perfectly fine to walk.”
“No, you’re not. You’re pale and wincing, which I assume is from the pain in your head. I’m fucking holding on to you right now and there’s nothing you can say that would make me let you go.”
“I’m starting to think your need to carry me is getting out of control.”
He huffed as he looked down at her, a bit of the panic in his chest easing up at her teasing smile.
“Do you have everything you need for tonight? Your phone? Purse?”
“I’m all set. But my car is over there.” She pointed in the opposite direction from his truck. “I don’t want to have to walk over here to get it in the morning.”
A rumble started deep in his chest.
“You aren’t walking anywhere. I’ll bring you back tomorrow to pick it up.”
She didn’t argue after his outburst, instead pulling herself close enough that he could smell her perfume mixed with the antiseptic the paramedics must have used to clean her cut. Jesus. She’d been hurt and he hadn’t been there to keep her safe.
John got the door to his truck opened and safely deposited Abby into the seat. He watched as she clicked her buckle into place.
“I’m okay, John. You don’t have to baby me.”
“You might be okay, but I’m not. I never want to get a call like that again, Abby. Everything flashed in my mind, and the thought of never getting…” He swallowed roughly. “Well, it just about killed me.”
“Never getting what, exactly?”
“Forever.” He didn’t care one bit that he could feel his brother still watching him. John leaned into his truck and pressed his lips to Abby’s.
It was a quick drive to her apartment from Sal’s, but he watched Abby wince with every bump in the road. Reaching over into the chest pocket of his jacket, he smiled when he heard Abby’s breath intake sharply at the touch.
“Are you trying to feel me up so I don’t go into shock?” she giggled.
“I’m not opposed to doing that if you think it will help,” he said as he finally wrapped his fingers around what he’d been searching for. “But I wanted to give this to you.”
John held the small bottle out to Abby.
“What is it?”
“Peppermint. For you to hold under your nose and breathe. I remembered you said it was the only smell that didn’t bother you when you had a migraine and I looked it up online. I guess it really can help with headaches and nausea.”
“So you bought some to carry in your jacket pocket?”
He shrugged. “I bought enough to have some for my jacket, my desk, my house. If we were together and you started feeling one coming on, I wanted to be able to help.”
“First the groceries, now this. I feel spoiled. Thank you.”
“Abby,” he sighed. “You don’t have to thank me for taking care of you. I’ve obviously not been doing a very good job of showing you how much you mean to me if a little peppermint oil and some groceries make you feel spoiled.”
“Do you want me to grab you some medicine?” John asked as he handed her a glass of water.
“No. I’m fine. Thanks for staying while I got settled. You can go.” Her voice wavered and she knew she was done for. Her strength crumbled and the tears she didn’t want to cry overwhelmed her.
“You’re not getting rid of me.” He sat on the couch next to her, lifting her onto his lap.
“I really am okay. I think it’s just a delayed reaction. It was scary and I didn’t want to admit that I needed you there. I saw the girls with their guys, and I didn’t want to burden you with what happened. But I needed you to come for me. And you did.”
“I would have been there the minute I heard about the fire if I’d known that was where you ended up. I thought you were all going to The Broken Spoke.”
“We were, but Emma thought that maybe I wouldn’t feel comfortable there after what happened.” She shrugged her shoulders and closed her eyes. “Little good it did us.”
John slid her off his lap and she nodded. “Don’t feel like you have to stay. I know you probably want to finish your shift and get Katy.”
He moved to the end of the couch and lifted her feet off the cushion. Then he sat down, placing her feet on his lap.
“I meant what I said. I’m not going anywhere. You heard Hank. He’ll get my spot covered. Being with you is what’s important right now.” His fingers dug expertly into the arch of her foot and she couldn’t help the moan that slipped from her lips as she let her head roll back onto the sofa.
“God, that feels amazing.”
“Good. Now, are you feeling up to telling me what happened tonight?”
“I already told the deputies there what happened when the paramedics were helping me.”
“I don’t want to read it in a report, Abby. I want you to tell me.”
She lifted her head and saw the worry still so brightly etched across his face.
“We were having such a nice time. Honestly, nothing was out of the ordinary. I had a few drinks, danced with Grace, chatted with Emma and Daisy. It was so much fun. We were getting ready to all leave, and I needed to use the bathroom. I told the girls I’d meet them outside if they wanted, but they said they’d wait for me. So I went to the restroom, but when I was washing my hands, the fire alarm started going off.”
She winced at the memory of what she had to say next.
“Keep going.”
“I turned to leave when someone came in.”
John’s hands stopped moving, their grip steadily getting firmer on her foot.
“Someone? Who was it?”
“I don’t know. It was honestly like something out of a movie. They were dressed all in black and had a mask covering their face.”
“What the fuck?”
“I tried to get back to the stall. I thought that if I could get in there, at least they might give up, or I’d waste enough time that they’d leave if the fire got bad enough. But I didn’t make it.”
“They fucking hurt you.”
It wasn’t a question. He knew.
She nodded. “They grabbed my hair and pulled me off balance. I smashed my head off the floor.”
“Jesus, baby. You didn’t black out, did you? Did you tell the paramedics? You could have a concussion.”
“I’m fine. I told them, and they checked me over. I’m okay.”
“You should have gone to the hospital.”
“No. I don’t want to ever go back there.”
John opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off.
“Stop. Just because I don’t ever want to go there again doesn’t mean I wouldn’t if I needed to.”
“I’m not sure that you would.”
She turned her body so that she was curled against him, sinking further into his chest as his arm wrapped around her back.
“Anyway, I closed my eyes and they must have thought I passed out, because they left the bathroom. That’s when I heard voices calling out, and Jackson found me. I didn’t know there wasn’t actually a fire until we were walking out.”
“What did the person look like?”
“They were taller than me, but I’m not sure that’s really helpful.”
“Man? Woman?”
“I couldn’t tell. They were wearing baggy clothes and combat boots. Their face was covered and I didn’t see their hair or anything.”
“Shit.”
“I can’t imagine it was anything more than a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I mean, they were probably the one who triggered the fire alarm in the first place. They just needed an escape route and I got in their way.”
“Maybe.”
He didn’t sound convinced. All Abby knew was that exhaustion had finally settled into her body, and her bed was calling her name. She stood, stretching slightly as a yawn rolled through her.
“You should get home.” Did she want him to stay? One-thousand percent yes. But she also needed to give him one more out.
“How many times do I need to say it, Abby. I’m staying.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yep.”
“Okay…”
“Okay.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Man of many words tonight.”
He stilled, pulling her to a stop.
“I’m barely hanging on here. You were hurt. I just… I just need to hold you tonight, baby. I need to feel you safe in my arms.”
She sighed, tugging him into the bedroom with her. She walked into the closet and pulled off her outfit, slipping into the shirt she’d been sleeping in for weeks. The one that he changed her into the night he saved her from her awful date. By the time she walked back into the bedroom, John was sitting down on the edge of the bed, stripped down to his white undershirt and his boxers.
Abby pressed her way between his legs, wrapping her arms around his neck as she kissed him.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” he said, holding her hand as she moved and finally crawled under her comforter.
“I should have known telling Jackson not to call you wouldn’t work.”
“I might have to put you over my knee once you’re healed for thinking of keeping something like this away from me.”
“Mm, that’s not as much of a punishment as you think it would be.”
“I’m not trying to punish you, baby.”
“John…”
“Sleep, Abby. I have to be up early to get Katy. So just let me hold you for a few hours while you sleep.”