Chapter 24
Twenty-Four
Patrick
Poppy sat in the shower on a blanket with Travis at her side while I stood by the door with my phone against my ear and gun drawn.
“What the fuck was that sound?” Gage demanded after I answered on the first ring.
“Gunshot.”
“Are you guys—”
“We’re fine,” I answered quickly. “I’ll explain later. Get Julie and Daisy to safety now.”
“On it.”
We hung up, and I looked behind me at Poppy, who was paler than I had seen before.
“Baby, I need you to use my phone and call 911,” I said, stepping back and handing it to her. “You need to call and tell them what happened.”
“The storm... They won’t... She was a victim too... So much blood...”
I looked down, and my heart shattered as I saw Poppy shaking as tears flooded down her face.
“I know, baby. It’s going to be okay. I need you to call 911 for me, okay?”
She nodded and then looked down at the phone before moving her fingers over the screen to place the call. She held it in front of her and put it on speakerphone.
“911, what’s your emergency?” a woman answered.
“They killed her,” Poppy said with a sniffle.
“Who killed whom?”
I reached down and gently took the phone, giving Poppy a reassuring smile as I took it off speakerphone and pressed it to my ear.
I quickly realized, in hindsight, that it was a bad idea to ask her to make the call while she was in shock.
I gave all of the information I had to the woman on the phone, who assured me they would send help immediately.
We both knew that Officer Kearton was already dead; we just didn’t know who killed her.
Once she had what she needed from me, we disconnected the call, and I put my phone away as I sat by the bathroom door and waited for someone to try their luck with me. I had already let my guard down once when I opened the door to Officer Kearton; I wouldn’t make that mistake again.
I grabbed a few pillows from the bed and made a makeshift bed for Poppy in the shower.
It wasn’t the best place, but it was the safest option I had.
Thankfully, it was large enough for her to lie down with Travis cuddled up beside her as she fell asleep.
The bathroom was the only room in the cabin that didn’t have any windows, so the only way they could get to Poppy now was to go through me, and there was no way in hell I would allow that to happen.