Chapter 37
Nate
Ihelp Olive from the back of the ambulance when the paramedic gives her the all-clear.
The cut on her cheek and the bruises will heal without lasting effect.
As the adrenaline that’s been coursing through me since I landed starts to subside, all I can think about is getting Olive home and falling into a deep sleep with her tucked into my side.
Unfortunately, that’ll be hours away. She’s already asked about Benny multiple times. I have no doubt that she’ll be insistent that we stop by the hospital to check on him at some point.
When her feet are on solid ground, I gently smooth her hair away from her face. She smiles up at me, and my stomach dips. I could stand here and stare at her forever, her warmth a reminder that she’s alive and safe.
And I’m never letting her out of my fucking sight again.
Her eyes drop from mine to the commotion behind me. She stiffens before taking a small step closer as my arm slips around her waist to hold her while I twist around to see what caused her reaction. Fury detonates within me.
“You motherfucker,” I spit out at the man who saunters toward us.
His steps falter as he narrows his eyes at me, then his gaze drops to Olive, and he grimaces. He finishes the last few steps to bring him to our side. “I guess I should introduce myself.”
“I don’t give a shit who you are. It’s your fault she was hurt.”
Olive’s hand goes to my bicep, and her grip tightens. “Nate, it wasn’t him. He didn’t know that man was going to hit me.”
I scoff. “He should have done more.”
Olive squeezes my arm one more time and holds out her hand. “Hi, I’m Olive.”
My teeth grind as the man shakes her hand. Holding on a little longer than necessary, but that also could be my anger speaking.
“Crew, it’s nice to meet you. Officially.”
Olive gives him a hesitant smile.
“I, uh, do want to apologize about what happened to you.” He has the decency to at least look ashamed that he was there when she got hurt and didn’t stop it. I can’t decide if I want to hear how it happened.
“I know it wasn’t your fault. You didn’t know I was going to head-butt him. Or what his reaction to that would be.”
Pride flares in my chest that it sounds like she got a hit on the man who hurt her.
Crew gives her a smile that’s pained, despite her forgiveness. “I appreciate you saying that, but your boyfriend is correct.”
Olive stiffens in my arms at what I assume is his use of the word boyfriend. I think it has a very nice ring to it, if I do say so myself.
“I should have done more. And I’m sorry you got caught up in all of this. You and your brother.”
Olive grips the back of my shirt tighter.
He continues. “I knew as soon as Marcus brought Benny around that he shouldn’t be involved in this shit. I tried to stop Tatum from letting him deal, but he didn’t listen.”
My eyes widen at that new bit of information as I glance down at Olive. Her eyes are glassy and filled with anguish.
“Thank you for trying to stop it. I can’t even begin to tell you how much that means to me.” Olive sniffs through her emotional appreciation.
Crew turns and starts to walk away before he pivots back to us. “One more thing, I’ll do everything I can to get every cent you gave Marcus back to you.” And with that, he stalks back into the chaos.
My hands find Olive’s shoulders as I set her back a little from me. “I get the impression there’s a lot you need to fill me in on, regarding what’s been happening.”
She grimaces but relents. “Yeah, maybe a few things.”
I can’t even be frustrated because of how relieved I am that she’s safe and with me.
And that she doesn’t hate me for being an asshole.
She’ll learn in time that she can rely on me to help and care for her.
But tonight, all my focus is on getting her out of here so she can rest and recover.
If I’m already feeling the adrenaline crash, what she’ll feel soon will be much worse.
I’m about to suggest we find Jack so he can give us a ride to one of our places when he appears next to us.
“Hey, Olive, we haven’t met yet, but I’m Jack. How are you feeling?”
Olive’s smile lacks her usual brightness. “I’m okay, considering. Have you heard anything about my brother?”
“I did. He’s stable and resting. They’re going to want to question him tomorrow, though.”
“Is he going to get in trouble for what he did?” She runs her hand aggressively through her hair, trepidation echoing in her words.
Jack shakes his head sadly. “I don’t know. I wish I had a better answer for you.”
Her distress compresses my heart. I hate that I can’t just make this all go away for her.
Pressing her fingers to her lips, she stares at a group of police officers to our right, then looks back at us and asks, “Am I going to get in trouble?”
“No,” I insist.
At the same time, Jack says, “I don’t know that either.”
I glare at my friend. While I don’t know exactly what happened, I can guess, and I can’t fathom Olive being in trouble for anything she did.
Olive just nods, and her hands drop to her sides. “So what happens now?”
“They would like to ask you some questions down at the station.”
“Okay, can we go now?”
Jack glances at me, and I frown and say, “I’ll call Chris.”
“He’s going to love this,” Jack mumbles with a laugh.
Chris Rivers is one of our good friends who’s an attorney. He helped Jack’s fiancée a while back, despite not actually practicing criminal law anymore. Hopefully, he doesn’t mind helping us out one more time before he retires from criminal law for good. Again.
Chris, Olive, and I settle into the hard, uncomfortable chairs on one side of the interview table as two detectives sit on the other.
Crew leans against the wall behind them, his arms crossed.
He’s apparently been undercover for two years and was almost ready to wrap up his case and start making arrests before Benny got involved.
I’m sure this isn’t how he saw this case ending.
One of the detectives gives Olive a kind smile. “Miss Moore, can you tell us how you came about being in that house tonight?”
After Chris gives her the okay in the form of a curt nod, Olive spends the next fifteen minutes explaining how she knew Marcus from high school and how he called her about Benny owing Tatum money.
She tells them about the money she gave and the threats that were made, going into detail about Crew and the guy named Tiny being in her apartment and how she got hurt after finding out Benny was taken from rehab.
When she talks about going to Marcus’s house and Tatum, Tiny, and Crew showing up, I think I might have a coronary from the panic I feel at the realization of how close I was to losing her. The thought makes me physically ill.
If Crew hadn’t been there and Marcus didn’t have a history with Olive that gave him some conscience about her well-being, this entire situation could have ended very differently.
When she’s finished retelling her story, she slumps back in her seat. I squeeze her thigh under the table in support, and her skin is warm when her hand slides on top of mine.
“Did you know your brother was attempting to sell drugs?”
I tense and shift my eyes from Olive to the detective.
“Absolutely not. I had no idea until Marcus called me the first time and told me about Benny owing the money.” She takes a shaky breath and leans forward.
Her hand leaves mine to clasp together tightly on the table, her knuckles turning white.
“There have been many times over the years when I thought my brother could die. This was the only time that I actually felt I had any control over possibly preventing that from happening. I don’t know if paying off a debt to a drug dealer is a crime, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. ”
I turn my head to find a shocked yet impressed look on Chris’s face. And since he doesn’t look concerned at Olive’s admission, I won’t be either.
Crew pushes off the wall and takes a few steps toward the table. “I give you my word, Olive. You won’t be in trouble for anything you did.”
She sits up straighter. “And my brother?”
He hesitates, then says, “I’ll do my best.”
Olive huffs out a breath. Defeat has her sagging back in her chair. “I don’t like it, but I understand.”
The two detectives stand and shake our hands, letting us know we’re free to go.
I help Olive from her seat and guide her out of the room and down the hall to the lobby. Before we step outside, I stop and turn to Chris. “Thank you again for coming down here.”
Chris grips my hand more firmly than necessary. “I hope one day you all remember that I don’t do this anymore.” He glances at Olive. “Olive, please don’t give money to any more criminals.”
Nodding, she presses her lips together to suppress a laugh.
Chris smacks his hand into the door and strides out of the building.
I chuckle and shake my head before turning back to Olive. “You ready to go home and go to bed?”
“Whose home are we going to?”
“Whichever one is closer.”
Ella came and picked up Jack, and he left me his vehicle so he didn’t have to wait for us to finish.
I intertwine our hands as we step into the night.
The sky is cloudless, and the moon is bright.
It would be the perfect romantic summer evening if we weren’t walking out of a police station after she was held captive by drug dealers, while her brother is in the hospital recovering from a massive amounts of drugs forcefully given to him.