Chapter Thirty-four
Cane and Noah showed up together, both holding their weapons as they approached the jeep.
When Raven saw them, she left the safety of the vehicle and flew into Cane’s waiting arms. “I’ve never been so glad to see anyone.
Thanks for coming.” As quickly as it started, she ended the hug and turned to Noah. “Who’s looking after the station?”
“Val came in to fill out her statement and agreed to hang in there until we could get back. You okay, did he hurt you?”
“Not as much as I hurt him.”
Cane’s hand gently brushed at her darkened cheek where the scrapes from being forcibly hauled along the ground had begun to show. “He bruised you.”
Once Raven explained how the marks came to be, they started to search the crime scene for the weapons and in minutes found them both exactly where Raven had pointed.
“Carefully lifting Dale’s using a glove, and storing it in the plastic evidence bag, Noah took it to his police truck.
While he’d moved away, Cane came up behind Raven.
“I don’t want you out alone from now on, Raven.
If the prick didn’t have his sights on you before, he most certainly will now. You know that, right?”
“Of course. Gotta admit he seemed happy to see me out here alone. Thought he had himself a prize, but no one takes anything from me that I don’t want them to have. Remember that.” Having said her piece, Raven stomped away to where Noah was searching around the jeep.
When she approached, he turned. “I have to ask you something that’s been bothering me. You say he stole the jeep earlier using the keys you left on the floor of the vehicle. So how were you able to get in and drive it?”
Grinning, she admitted, “I always hide a spare key under the front fender. Came in handy.”
“No kidding. Thank goodness you did, because it got you free from the lunatic. So, you say you drove into him, right? How bad was he hurt?”
“I’m not sure but he rolled off the hood and was able to stumble into the forest and disappear faster than I could think to go after him. Don’t figure he was anything but bruised.”
Cane approached them and added, “And more pissed off than he was before. In this mood, that man is an even bigger menace for everyone in the vicinity. We need to warn the people who live nearby.”
Hearing his phone ping a message, Noah’s expression lightened.
“The road’s being opened to the first responders.
Looks like I’ll be getting young Colin, my deputy back.
Couldn’t come at a better time. We’ll be able to get rid of Sonny…
send him to the city jail where they can hold him for trial.
And it’ll also mean having another body to watch the office while we go door to door. We need all the help we can get.”
Raven nodded, but Noah spoke first. “Knowing that Dale is on foot might give us a better chance to catch him. I’ll get hold of the dispatch control center, send around his picture, and put a BOLO out on the son of a bitch.
Then in case he slips past us, the other communities are notified he’s on the loose and dangerous. ”
***
On the way back to the station, Cane revisited his and Raven’s earlier conversation, understanding the feisty lady’s message about her not allowing anyone to touch her that wasn’t welcome.
In her own way, she was letting him know that he’d been stupid in his handling of their situation.
Honest as the day is long, she expected the same from him, and he’d basically ghosted their night together, pretending nothing had happened.
Though at first, he’d truthfully been unsure if they’d actually been together, the instant he’d seen her face to face, he’d known in his heart what had happened.
He’d read the sweet gentleness in her eyes…
a woman well loved who expected some sign of acknowledgement from her lover.
And idiot that he was, he’d ignored it, playing silly games to protect his own weakness.
For cryin’ out loud, how stupid could a man be? He felt lower than scum, and knew he’d have to explain his backstory for her to understand why he’d acted like a horse’s ass. And from what he could understand of their immediate mission, he wasn’t going to get that opportunity anytime soon.