45. Travis
45
TRAVIS
T ravis leaned against the wall in Bella’s hospital room. He hadn’t slept in over twenty-four hours, and the whole room was beginning to blur.
“Travis?”
He shook his head to clear the brain fog at Matt Benson’s words. “Sorry. What did you say?”
Matt’s strained smile faltered. Maybe Travis wasn’t putting on a good front. “I asked if you need me to bring you anything from home.”
“Gage is bringing a bag for both of us. He’s on his way with Hadley right now. I think we’ll be here a few more days, so I might take you up on that offer before this is over.”
Tammy sat in a chair beside the bed, holding up her phone so Bella could see the things she’d found for the baby. Bella was actually smiling. He’d have to get Tammy something amazing when all this was over.
In fact, he owed every single one of their friends. At least one person they knew had been here since the moment Bella arrived by ambulance.
“What is the latest news?” Matt asked.
“They’re both stable. They’ve given her steroid shots to speed up the baby’s lung development just in case this causes early labor. As of right now, the contractions have stopped, and everything looks good on the ultrasounds.”
Bella glanced up from whatever Tammy was showing her and gave him a wink. She was so strong, but that wasn’t anything new. She’d been through a lot since they met almost five months ago, and none of it had been easy.
“They said Bella is great. She’ll be bruised, and she has a knot on the back of her head that’s bothering her.”
Bella’s hands rubbed over her baby bump. She hadn’t taken her hands off it since they arrived.
“It’ll help that Gage and Hadley are stopping to pick up a home fetal heart monitor on their way. Ava Ford said it might help ease Bella’s worries.”
Matt crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall beside Travis to watch the two women talking. “I know you haven’t had time to process things yet, but I’ll be here if you ever want to talk.”
Travis nodded, but he couldn’t look away from Bella. “I’m sure that day will come.”
He’d taken two lives today, but he’d also saved two. It helped to remember that he hadn’t killed maliciously, even though they’d done terrible things to Bella.
“So, she didn’t kill him,” Matt said.
It wasn’t a question. Apparently, the man who’d attacked Bella was Gunner. She hadn’t killed him after all.
But Travis had.
“Yep. At least Bella isn’t being blamed for it.”
Matt rubbed a hand over his short beard. “Is it going to be self-defense?”
Wasn’t that the question that had been gnawing at Travis’s brain for a few hours. He’d been protecting himself from Switch, sure. But Gunner? He’d been protecting Bella and the baby. To Travis, that meant a whole lot more than protecting himself. “I’m not sure yet. Camille is on her way. I wonder if the lack of witnesses is going to be an issue.”
“What about Bella? Doesn’t she count?” Matt asked.
“I guess, but I think she was unconscious when I killed Gunner, and she didn’t see me kill Switch.”
Just talking about it made Travis’s stomach roll, but he needed to get used to it. He had hundreds of questions to answer. Police, lawyers, detectives, investigators, jurors–he’d have to tell the story over and over.
Matt slapped a hand on Travis’s shoulder and squeezed. “You’re going to need each other more than ever now.”
Travis huffed. “I needed her before all this. She thinks she needs me, but it’s been the other way around. Loving her is easy and terrifying.”
Matt chuckled. “Terrifying?”
“No one has ever loved me unconditionally,” Travis said low.
“Oh, but Bella does,” Matt confirmed. “Don’t worry. That woman isn’t going anywhere.”
As if she could hear Travis and Matt talking about her, Bella looked up, locking gazes with Travis.
“I think it’s safe to say she’s–”
“The one,” Travis whispered so Bella wouldn’t hear. “She’s it for me.”
“If I only give you one piece of advice, let it be this one: don’t let her get away. I made that mistake with Tammy, and I missed out on thirty years with her.”
Travis glanced at Matt. “I didn’t know that. I kind of assumed the two of you had been married for decades.”
Matt shook his head. “Actually, I had this same talk with Gage after what happened at the bluff last year.”
Travis had been there when Hadley was taken. Rome Wilson hadn’t been happy that Gage left the family business and gave up running firearms and moonshine. Rome’s livelihood, and Gage’s up until then, had been a careful partnership of theft, trade, and sale of contraband.
Travis had been the one to pronounce Rome dead after Gage pushed him off a cliff. He’d been defending himself, and he hadn’t had a choice.
The conversations Travis and Gage had after that happened could be reversed now. Travis was in the same shoes his friend had been in less than a year ago.
Matt exhaled a long breath. “I know what you’re going through too, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”
Travis looked at Matt. “You killed someone?”
“Accidentally. So I guess that isn’t quite the same, but I still felt all the guilt, even though I didn’t do it on purpose and I couldn’t have prevented it.” Matt lifted his chin to look at Travis. “You did what you had to do to keep her safe, and that’s one thing you’ll never regret. Remember what you still have.”
A second later, there was a knock on the door, and Asa Scott peeked into the room.
“Come in,” Bella said, slowly craning her neck to see who was coming in.
The bruises that circled her neck were going to be a hot topic in Travis’s nightmares for a while.
Asa stood at the foot of Bella’s bed and propped his hands on the rail. “Boy, am I happy to see you.”
Bella’s eyes pinged in all directions, assessing Asa for danger. “Am I going to be happy to see you?” she asked.
Asa laughed. “You sure are. Once we found out the VP and enforcer of the Iron Fist were here, Omaha law enforcement took the opportunity to raid the club. They arrested almost everyone and found enough evidence to back up Bella’s testimonies as well as rack up a ton of other charges.”
Travis stepped up beside Asa. “What do you mean by almost everyone?”
“There were other women being held there. Last I heard, there were fifteen who were being questioned.”
“What’s going to happen to them?” Bella asked.
“Your identity will be kept confidential. You don’t have to worry about that for now.”
“No, I mean the women,” Bella said.
Of course she would be thinking of the survivors. She’d told Travis a little bit about the other women at the club. She hadn’t been friends with most of them because they’d each been looking out for themselves.
No wonder Bella hadn’t understood friendship when everyone in Blackwater tried to help her.
“They’ll be directed to safe houses or women's shelters. Unfortunately, this kind of thing happens more than we like.”
Bella’s gaze locked with Travis, and he moved to her side. Her hand shook as he grasped it in his. “So, it’s over?” she asked.
“Getting close,” Asa said.
Bella sniffed, and Travis lowered to the bed beside her. As soon as she was in his arms, her quiet sobs began. She still had so much hanging over her, but to hear that she was finally free was a huge weight lifted off all of them.
“It hurts to cry,” she whispered to him.
Travis gently tucked her body to his side. “I love you. You’re safe now.”
She still had a long recovery ahead, but there was a town filled with people who cared about her to help her along the way.