Chapter 29
29
RYLAN
We planned to talk to Lee the next morning, but the day turned to chaos. First, Jen went into labor. Then, Lee’s ex came sniffing around, trying to determine if she still had a chance with him now that Kelly was in his life. Joss had a meeting with him, but between everything going on with Jen, the topic of our marriage didn’t come up.
Before we got a chance, Lee raced from the building with Van on his heels. We found out shortly after that Kelly’d had an accident and was rushed to the hospital to try to save her life.
That night, Joss and I clung to each other a little harder. We savored every touch, every kiss, because what happened to Kelly was a reminder of just how fragile life was. I was more determined than ever to do whatever I could to take care of my wife, and I’d ensure not a day would go by where she wouldn’t know how much I loved her.
Two days after her accident, Lee made an appearance back at work, and when I heard his deep voice, I hobbled back from the bathroom as fast as I could.
I should have run the other way.
“Lee Bridgewater?” a male voice called out, and I pulled my attention from the hallway floor.
Van’s friend , that little FBI agent that had been sniffing around, was standing in front of Lee. The problem wasn’t just her, though. The problem was the five other men coming in the door.
One of them strutted toward me, an evil smile on his lips. “Rylan Dennis? You’re both under arrest for the murder of Donald Baker.” He motioned to his men, and they rushed my way.
I stepped back as one of them pulled out a pair of handcuffs and grabbed my hand. One of my crutches fell and I reached out, trying to steady myself. But the agent’s arm was the only thing I could grasp.
The minute I touched him, the other agents drew their guns. I raised one hand, trying to show I was unarmed, but my other crutch fell, hitting the first agent before he tossed it and me off his arm.
There was no way I could keep my balance. Even if I hadn’t been pushed, standing on one leg was still not something I excelled at right now. I fell. My head smacked the floor before I was tackled by three men. One landed on my leg, and I swore I blacked out. Because when I came to, I was face first on the floor, an unfamiliar female voice yelling, “Get him out of here!” while Joss screamed in the background.
I couldn’t have struggled if I wanted to; the pain was too much. It was so overwhelming, even thoughts of saving Joss couldn’t break through the black fog. Bile crept up my throat and it took everything in me not to throw up as someone yanked me by the arms, trying to pull me off the floor.
“Stop!” Joss screamed, panic making her voice shrill. “He can’t bear weight on his leg!”
Those words came seconds before I did just that. That black fog turned to a curtain, and all the lights went out.
* * *
When I came to, I was seated on the couch. Had it not been for the excruciating pain in my leg and the sweat that spilled off me in waves, it could have been any other day. I blinked open my eyes, hoping to find Joss. Instead, I found Special Agent Hernandez perched on the coffee table, glaring down at me as she chewed on her bottom lip.
A heavy breath left her, and she sat up straight. “He’s awake.”
Suddenly, two men were at her side. Before they could reach for me, she held up her closed fist—a sign I recognized from working with Lee. They stopped in their places, though they didn’t look happy about it.
“We’re going to do this my way,” she commanded.
One of the men scoffed. “You really believe her?”
Hernandez stood and tossed a scowl over her shoulder at him as she gestured toward me. “Does he look like he’s able to run, Anderson?”
Anderson and the other man looked down at me, at the sweat that was starting to cool on my skin. An involuntary shiver raced through me before he answered with a peevish, “No.”
Hernandez looked back at me and put her hands on her hips. “We’re taking you to the station. Do you think you can get to the car with your crutches?”
The mere thought of it had my vision narrowing to pinpricks. I hadn’t taken my pain meds this morning. I was trying to wean myself off, because I hated how they dulled my senses and slowed my reaction time, more so than the occasional beer I drank. But I wasn’t supposed to put weight on my leg yet and what happened earlier was too much.
My voice broke when I croaked out, “I need my medicine.”
“What medicine?” the other man barked.
“My pain medicine!” The loud crack of my voice had both men reaching for the guns on their hips.
Hernandez lifted her hand again, and she pressed her lips into a straight line. “That’s not an option right now. You get yourself into the car and we’ll see what we can do at the station.”
“Carlson won’t approve it,” Anderson sneered. “You’re out of luck.”
She and the other agent shared a look, but neither of them said another word about it. They got me on my crutches and ushered me out to the car. Despite the cool air, the pain of moving had me sweating again.
* * *
The room they stuck me in was stale and bleak, and for some reason it smelled like coffee and cigarettes. I wasn’t sure how long I sat there, writhing in pain, when the door cracked open, and Special Agent Hernandez peaked inside. Her attention darted around the room, landing on the camera near the ceiling before falling on me.
With her shoulders squared, she slipped inside, and I braced myself for whatever new hell she’d bring.
What she brought caught me off guard. She pulled a pill bottle from her jacket pocket and set it on the table in front of me with the cup of coffee in her hand.
“What’s this?” I asked, not willing to touch either item.
She snatched the bottle and held it in front of my face. “A peace offering.”
It was my pills. Relief hit me like I was a junkie about to get a fix. I snatched the bottle from her hand, but my own hands fumbled with the childproof lid.
“Let me help.” She came around the table and took the bottle back. I wanted to protest, but she had it open and a handful in her palm before I opened my mouth. “How many?”
“One,” I bit out.
She narrowed her eyes at me, then poured all but two back into the bottle, then handed them to me. I didn’t object. I tossed them in my mouth and sucked them down with a mouthful of coffee—or rather, cold water, as it turned out.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.” She glanced at the camera before returning her attention to me. “You doing okay?”
“No.” I grimaced and rubbed my aching leg.
“I’m sorry about that.” She shifted uncomfortably. “I told Carlson you can’t stand without your crutches, but he wouldn’t listen. He ordered them to take you in no matter what.”
Narrowing my eyes, I tilted my head to one side and looked her over. Her arms were crossed in front of her, and her posture was stiff even though she was leaning against the table with her ankles crossed.
“How’d you know I can’t stand on my own?”
Her eyes flared and she lifted her chin. Her pursed lips came apart slowly before she bit her bottom one. “It’s obvious.” She stood and stepped around the table before gesturing to my leg. “Anyone with eyes can see you’re not faking this.”
“Anyone with eyes?” I shook my head. “Then why didn’t the other five recognize it?”
She didn’t answer, only looked back at the camera near the ceiling before glancing at her watch. She moved to the door, saying, “I’ve gotta go,” as she went.
“You’re Van’s friend, right?”
Hernandez spun on her heel, her eyes flashing with something like hatred. She came back to the table and grabbed the pill bottle from my hand. “We’re not friends.” She scowled when a grin tugged at one corner of my lips, then added, “He’s a pain in my ass.”
My grin widened. “He said the same thing about you.”
With her lips pressed flat, she tucked the bottle into her pocket and walked away. She grabbed the door handle but peered back at me. The hard edge on her face that was there earlier was gone. “You’ll be out of here soon.”
* * *
She wasn’t lying. About an hour after my pills finally dulled my pain to a bearable level, Hernandez was back at the door. This time, she brought my crutches and keys to my handcuffs with her.
“You’re free to go,” she said as she unlocked my cuffs.
I rubbed my wrists, then accepted my crutches as she shoved them my way. “Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.” The way she pinned me with her glare made me think she said it because she meant it—that she didn’t want me to mention what she’d done for me—rather than issuing it as a platitude.
Of course, that only made me want to tell everyone I knew.
“You know,” I said after I’d stuffed my belongings back into my pockets, “I really don’t feel like I got to know you that well. I mean, you dropped me in here and never once came in to ask questions or anything.”
She glared at me as I struggled to get to my feet—and she didn’t offer to help.
“I was thinking, maybe we could go out sometime.”
She scowled. “You’re married.”
A laugh huffed out of me. “I didn’t mean you and me. I meant a double date. Me and my wife. You and your boyfriend. Have a feeling we’d all get along real well. You know, seeing as he’s the only one who knows Joss and I are married.”
Her eyes flashed wide as she sucked in a sharp breath.
“Don’t worry.” I shook my bottle of pills and winked. “Your secret’s safe with me.” I shoved the bottle in my pocket and settled myself over my crutches.
With her lips pressed into a thin line, Hernandez stepped out of my way. I hobbled through the police station as fast as I could, especially when I caught sight of the most gorgeous woman in the world.
If I hadn’t been on crutches, I was pretty sure Joss would have knocked me off my feet. She lunged at me when I got close enough, wrapping me up in her arms and holding me steady as I melted into her. Our lips crashed together, and I swore nothing had ever felt so good.
“You’re here,” I breathed, clinging to her as she held me tight.
“We came to spring you,” she whispered before her mouth was on mine again.
“The hell?” Lee’s voice boomed through the room, and Joss nearly jumped out of my arms. Thankfully, she held on, or I would have been on my face again.
“Hey boss!” Her voice was pitched high, and her cheeks flushed pink. I loved it when she looked like that.
“Someone wanna tell me what the fuck is going on here?”
I grinned at Joss—there was no turning back now—and shifted on my crutches to face my boss. He was kneeling before Kelly, who was sitting in a wheelchair, looking like she’d been to hell and back. I shrugged and hugged Joss to my side. “We’re married.”
“Married.” Lee licked his lips and blinked hard. “When’d that happen?”
“Oh,” Joss said with a sigh, “a few years ago.”
“A few…” Lee stuttered as he clung to Kelly’s hand like it could change reality. “But you’re—I thought?—”
Over Joss’s shoulder, Van laughed. “Never seen Lee speechless before.”
“You’ll get used to it,” I told him. “Just hang around with me some more.”
Lee groaned and pointed at me and my wife. “We will be talking about this,” he said before he turned his attention back to Kelly.
“Is that my wheelchair?” I asked, only for Joss to kiss me again. I was lost to her. So damn grateful she was here. That I could hold her and touch her. That this whole thing was over, and we no longer had to hide our marriage or our love from anyone.
“Let’s go home,” Joss whispered against my lips.
Edging back, I asked, “What about work?”
She smoothed her hand down my shirt before turning toward the door. “Van and I made the executive decision to shut the office down for the day.”
“You did, huh?”
She nodded, reaching out to touch my cheek as I followed after. “Lee needs to be with Kelly, and I need to be with you.”
“And Van needs to be with his girlfriend?”
Joss’s wide eyes found mine. “He told you?”
I shook my head, taking a moment to find my friend. He was near the front door, ushering Kelly’s parents out. “No, he didn’t. I guessed, and she slipped up.”
Joss pulled away, giving me an exasperated look. “What’d you do?”
My shoulders climbed toward my ears. “I just suggested a double date.”
“Rylan!”
“What? She seems like a nice gal. Figured the two of them would never tell anyone and you and I both know how draining it is to keep something like that a secret.”
“Oh my God.” She shook her head, lowering her voice as we neared the door. “You can’t tell anyone.”
“Don’t worry.” I winked. “We’ve got our own secrets to keep.”
I filled her in on my time with Drea Hernandez, and Joss told me how she and Van had sprung Kelly from the hospital to bring her to the station in order to spring me and Lee. Joss held my hand as she drove back to work so we could get my truck, even though it was the exact kind of thing she was always against.
Back at our parking lot, Joss helped me from the passenger seat of her car and handed me her keys. “Drive safe?”
“Of course, I will, gorgeous.” She kissed me again, then started toward my truck. “Wait!”
Joss turned back, her gaze darting over me like she was looking for a way to help. It warmed my heart; even more so when she rushed back to my side and kissed me again.
“Here.” I unhooked the safety hammer from her keys and placed it in her hand. “Drive safe.”
Her smile could have lit up the entire earth. “I love you.”
“Love you too, baby.”
With another kiss, we parted, climbing into the driver’s seats and pulling out of the parking lot. Traffic was heavier than I expected for this time of day, and I kept my eyes on the back of my truck, worried about how Joss was handling it.
She was known to come to work early and stay late, not because she wanted to be there longer, but because it meant missing the rush hour traffic.
As we turned south on State Street, my worries about her ramped up. My thoughts turned to her recent confession of one of her greatest fears. She’d told me she had a recurring nightmare that she was stuck on one of the bridges when the roadway went up, sending her crashing into the river below.
That’s why I’d bought her the safety hammer. That’s why I made sure she had it on our way home. And that knowledge calmed some of my worries as I followed her onto the State Street Bridge.
Traffic had opened up, and I gunned my engine to keep up with Joss. But something hit the back end of the car, sending me speeding ahead. I grabbed hold of the wheel, trying to control the vehicle as I was hit again. My front end clipped the vehicle beside me, sending me crashing into another, and with one more hard hit, the car tilted. One final blow and my body jarred as the undercarriage smashed into the guardrail.
I was airborne before I realized what was going on, sailing over screaming pedestrians and crashing hood-first into the Chicago River.
As the water started to rise and trickle in through the engine, the bright afternoon sun went out, leaving me to my murky green grave.