Chapter 34
“I have so many questions,” Berkley murmured from where she leaned against the back of the ambulance.
She was a combination of exhaustion and kind of like she wanted to puke all at once. Maybe—probably—she was in shock.
Now in the small parking lot at the start of the Sanctuary Falls hiking trail, there were four cop cars, two ambulances, and a bunch of FBI agents all moving at once. It was chaos for her eyes and brain.
Four different men had been handcuffed and placed in the back of shiny black SUVs and taken away. Apparently they’d worked with—or for, she still wasn’t sure—Kendall.
“We’re going to get answers.” Krystal looked more worried than Berkley had ever seen her.
She’d barely blinked since she’d arrived and hadn’t moved more than two feet away from her.
“And you really need to go to the hospital. The Feds are going to want to talk to you, but I think you should get officially checked out first.”
The EMT who was loading up some supplies cleared her throat. Loudly. “That’s what I said.”
Because Berkley had refused to get on one of the stretchers.
But she was wrapped up in one of the mylar blankets in a change of clean—and more importantly, dry—clothes.
And the rain had finally stopped, so talk about a small miracle.
She was probably going to go to the hospital but only because it was clear Silvia was going to have to and she wasn’t letting her friend go alone.
One of the EMTs was putting a bandage on Silvia’s forehead while she sat against the back of the other ambulance, looking more pissed than hurt.
The Feds on scene had instructed them to separate and had taken Nick away to question him. She guessed it was so they couldn’t “get their stories straight” or whatever, but they’d been alone for about fifteen minutes before the cavalry had arrived so that ship had sailed.
Not that it mattered. They didn’t have anything to get straight.
They were all just going to tell the truth.
Kendall had kidnapped Silvia, lured Berkley here, and Nick had followed.
She understood that the FBI had to question all of them, but she hated that she couldn’t be with Nick right now. He kept throwing her looks from where he stood twenty feet away with two FBI agents and she could see the annoyance on that handsome face. Yeah, he was about done with them.
And she just wanted to bury her face against his chest. He’d come for her, had saved her life. If he hadn’t arrived when he had, that lunatic would have taken her over the edge and she wouldn’t be standing here right now.
“Hey, why is Apollo here?” She nudged Krystal, who’d been texting on her phone. She knew that Nick had told Micah—who’d disappeared five minutes ago—but he hadn’t called Apollo.
Her sister looked up and they both watched as he talked to one of the officers standing by the crime scene tape.
To her surprise, the guy lifted the tape and Apollo stalked across the parking lot toward them like a man on a mission. “Did you call him? I mean, it’s kind of sweet that he’s here…” Instead of heading their way, Apollo veered off and…oh. “Um, oh my god, are you seeing what I’m seeing?”
“If you’re asking if Apollo is currently kissing Silvia like they’re the last two people on earth, then yes, I’m seeing it too.” Krystal looked just as surprised as Berkley felt.
As she stared, Micah appeared out of nowhere, carrying a steaming to-go cup of something. “Figured hot chocolate would warm you up even faster. And they’ve been trying to hide things for months. Apparently they’re out in the open now. I called him because I knew he’d want to be here,” he added.
“You knew about this?” Berkley and Krystal asked at the same time as the three of them stood and stared like weirdos at her best friend and her older brother just full-on making out.
“Yeah. I helped him pick out her Christmas gift.”
“I will kill you later for not sharing,” Berkley murmured as she took a sip. “Or maybe just hurt you a little because this is good.” And she was pretty sure she was still in shock.
It was impossible to wrap her mind around the fact that her friend was a killer and drug dealer who had tried to set her up for murder.
According to Silvia, Kendall had planned to kill Silvia, make it look like Berkley had done it, then make Berkley’s death look like a suicide from jumping off the waterfall.
And she’d had men watching out for Berkley’s arrival—men from her drug running operation.
Something else that Berkley was having a hard time wrapping her mind around.
She didn’t think she would ever understand Kendall’s motivation, or what had been wrong with her. Or how she’d missed the signs for all these years.
But as Nick stepped up to her, wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her against him, she realized she didn’t have to understand or know everything at that moment.
Because she was in his arms and that was the only place she wanted to be.