Chapter 126
K.J. was going to be hurting for a long while.
After Acardi had carried Madison back to the entrance of the mine to be met by Foster and Naylor and Fields and Price and Mawbry—with the actual Search & Rescue team, of all things—K.J. was sent back down a shaft.
No other choice, really.
Someone had to get Newcomb.
No one on Darrell Mawbry’s team was small enough to fit in the shaft Newcomb had somehow ended up in.
He had been in more of a cavern that had formed when the shaft above where Madison had ended up had folded, creating the two voids just big enough for people their size.
It had proven a bit more difficult to get him out, even though he was at a much more manageable incline.
At least safely, anyway. K.J. had been one of the ones who’d voted to just wrap the rope around that asshole’s legs and yank. As hard as they possibly could, if necessary.
Had to get that bastard cop-killer out somehow, right?
She had been outvoted. They had decided to do things the right way. But…that had been more difficult than anticipated, considering how small the shaft was and how precarious the winze had been. It could have crumbled beneath them at any time.
Newcomb had hit his head. He had not been moving.
And the area was smaller than where Madison was.
She had secured the rope around him as safely as she could.
Then helped guide him up. He’d been breathing.
But the way his neck had been bent…K.J. shuddered.
It had looked…gruesome. No other word for it.
Newcomb had been alive when she’d pulled him out.
K.J. was escorted into FCGH by two of her new teammates. Lake and Jake—as they now insisted on being called, two total pains in the asses that they were—were hailing her as a hero. They were idiots. No denying that.
K.J. just wished the two would shut up.
She was covered in grime. Limestone slime, great for the complexion, Madison had been saying as she was loaded into the ambulance, Acardi holding her hand and looking at her like she was the center of his world.
There was blood everywhere, too. Hers, Newcomb’s, Madison’s. K.J. had it in her hair.
It had been one hell of a shift. That was for sure.
She walked into the ER. She had to be checked out by the ER before she was cleared.
It was standard procedure since there was blood.
She’d popped some stitches out there, and she knew…
germs and bacteria. That would have to be taken care of, and everything.
She also had some serious bruises. Her arms were sore from pulling Madison’s entire weight free, and her knee had slammed the wall of the shaft once or twice.
She’d be hurting for a few days, no denying that.
It was so worth it. Madison was safe now. That was all that mattered.
K.J. walked toward the reception desk when movement near the doors caught her attention. She looked up. Of course, it was Naylor. And he was arguing…with…Trace.
Naylor had a real problem. K.J. was going to solve it for him.
With a cave-gunk covered boot up his ass.
She almost snarled as she went up to the two men.
Trace was a total pain-in-the-ass, no denying that, but he was her partner for now.
She wouldn’t let him face Naylor alone. They had to have each other’s backs here. “Naylor, what’s your problem now?”
Both men turned toward her. Both men just gawked at her. Trace was the first to speak. “It’s a K.J.-shaped bog beast, I think. The hair is all that gives it away. What in the hell happened out there?”
Naylor was just staring. K.J. ignored him for a moment. “Lila? Miriam? Where are they?”
“Lila Dodson is in recovery,” Trace said, turning serious. “She lost a lot of blood, but that asshole Creevey didn’t hit anything major. Thankfully. She wasn’t the true target of his rage. Small caliber, at least.”
“It was Newcomb. He is the one who shot her. Madison confirmed that. Not that other man. That other man was after Miriam, wasn’t he?”
“Creevey had been stalking her for weeks. Since she transferred here to help out,” Naylor said. “She just didn’t tell anyone, apparently.”
“How is she?” Miriam was young. She always seemed so innocent. “Is she going to be okay?”
Trace nodded. “As far as we’ve been told. But…he got her pretty bad. I…didn’t get help to her in time to really stop it.”
And there was guilt in his beautiful blue eyes. It wasn’t his fault, any of this. It was just the luck of the draw.
Life happened that way sometimes. That had been a lesson K.J. had learned a long time ago.
“What were you supposed to do? We found Lila first. I didn’t even see Miriam. I heard the reports after…we were finished rescuing Madison. We couldn’t be everywhere at once.”
“I know. But…hell, she’s just a kid.”
And far too many people had been hurt. But…she didn’t trust the other man next to him one bit. “Newcomb in yet?”
“No clue. Just Madison was taken back already. Can you tell me what they are saying so far?” Trace asked. “I didn’t see her when they wheeled her in. Saw Acardi almost snarling and growling in the ER waiting room.”
“He really loves her. She should be okay. Broken ribs, sprains, strains, cuts, bruises. We got her back.”
“Heard that was mostly your doing. You good?” Trace asked. They were both ignoring Naylor. They were united in their dislike of him, apparently.
“Bit more battered than I was this morning, that’s for sure. On my way back to get cleared. And find a shower. In spite of what Mads was saying, this is not great for the complexion. I’ll be washing this out of my hair for a week.”
“Hell, what did they do to you, Miller?” Naylor asked.
“Acardi and Rodriguez lowered me down a few mineshafts—one of them headfirst, actually. Just a normal day in Major Crimes. You should try it some time, Naylor.” It was a dig and she knew it.
Brett had told her before—Bryant wanted Major Crimes, he just hadn’t gotten it yet.
It was his dream position—and she’d gotten it first. He was the road patrol supervisor now.
Major Crimes had more prestige than road patrol.
Not that she felt prestigious right now. Mostly, she just felt covered in cave slime. “What happened to Newcomb’s thug?”
“Took off, kid. Creevey got away. Rumor has it, he had help,” Trace said. He shot Naylor a suspicious look. “By one of our own.”
“Well, we found the head of the snake, boys. Now…we’re going to finish killing it. But in the meantime…if you’ll excuse me…a shower. I have cave-slime in so many places.”
They watched her walk away.
She’d spoken the truth. She suspected Bryant was as dirty as that mine had been tonight. She was going to prove it.
If he had anything to do with what had happened tonight, she was going to see that he paid. A thousand times over.
Good people had been hurt tonight.
She was going to find the ones responsible.