Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Remi had finally stopped pounding on the lid of the box. It wouldn’t do any good, and the angle was awkward anyway. Even lying on her side with her knees drawn up to her chest, she still barely fit and could get no strength behind her efforts. If she was petite like Marley, she might’ve felt less claustrophobic. But at five-eight and plenty curvy, it was a very tight squeeze.
She had the momentary thought that if she was bigger, she might not have fit inside the damn footlocker at all, and then what would Howler have done? If he couldn’t get the box shut and locked.
A snort-laugh escaped, which turned into another sob. But she forced herself to stop. She’d already had her crying fit. She didn’t want her last moments on earth to be spent bawling.
She held her breath, trying to hear what was happening outside her prison, but she couldn’t pick up anything. After just a few thumps of what she assumed was dirt being thrown on top of the box, they’d stopped. Had they left? Only half buried her so she’d be easier to find?
How long could the human body go without water? Remi thought it was three days. She could do that. But the more pressing problem would be oxygen. As soon as the box was covered in dirt, her air would quickly run out. It was unlikely Vincent and his friends would find her before she suffocated. Even if they got his computer genius friend to track her phone. Howler had expected the police to do just that, so they’d find her before the team was supposed to leave on their mission.
Stupid Howler! What a dick. Asshole. Fucking lunatic!
She wanted to get out of this box to warn Vincent about his unstable teammate. So she could press charges. Face him in a courtroom and tell everyone how he’d tried to kill her.
A sudden loud noise right by her head scared Remi so bad, she jerked and smacked her bruised cheek on the top of the locker. “Shit!” she cried out, before the sound came again. And again.
It sounded like someone was hitting the footlocker as hard as they could. She had no idea why. Maybe Howler wasn’t satisfied with leaving her alive in the box? Maybe he wanted to open it and kill her outright, just in case, before burying her again.
Whatever was happening, it couldn’t be good. As much as she wanted out of this tiny coffin, she didn’t want to come face-to-face with Howler again. Or Blink. Nothing good could come out of the lid opening so soon after she’d been forced into the box.
The loud banging continued—and then suddenly, it stopped. She heard scraping sounds, metal on metal, then the lid was flung open.
Springing to her knees, Remi blinked in the sudden bright light of day after being in the pitch dark for what seemed like hours, but was only minutes. She tried to focus, wanted to run, but she needed to know what she was facing before she tried to fight her way out of the box.
At first, her brain refused to comprehend what she was seeing.
Howler was lying a dozen feet away, on his back, unmoving. His face was covered in blood. There was so much, at any other time the sight would’ve made her sick. But she must’ve been in shock, because the blood barely registered, other than her brain making note that he likely wouldn’t be getting up to hurt her anytime soon.
Then she focused on Blink. He was backing away from her slowly with a faraway look in his eyes. There was a shovel on the ground near the hole, and the broken lock lay in the dirt next to the box.
She looked from the lock, to the shovel, to Blink, then back to the lock.
He’d broken it. Opened the lid. Had clearly beaten the crap out of Howler. And even as she sat there, putting the pieces together, Blink tripped over a log or something and fell to his ass. But he didn’t move to get up.
They were both frozen, staring at each other with wide eyes.
Then Blink rasped, “Run, Remi. He left the keys in the truck. Drive back to town. Get the cops.”
She should do exactly as he ordered. But for some reason, she couldn’t. Instead, she climbed out of the footlocker onto her hands and knees began to crawl toward Blink.
Everything that happened swirled through her brain like a bad B movie. Howler arriving at the apartment by himself. Blink showing up, and how pissed Howler looked when he’d first gotten into the truck. Blink holding her tightly, but not enough to hurt her. Turning when Howler tried to punch her in the face again.
She was probably losing it, having some sort of mental break that happened when people began to trust their kidnappers—but with sudden clarity, she knew that Blink had saved her. Had been trying to save her all along.
He’d hurt—killed?—Howler, and had broken the lock to free her.
He looked scared…of her. Broken.
Remi was shaking so hard, it was difficult to keep moving, but she couldn’t stop crawling toward Blink.
He was shaking his head. “Go, Remi. Get out of here!”
But she ignored him.
When she got close enough, Remi threw herself at him. Needing human contact. She’d almost died. Been buried alive! She needed to anchor herself to another human being. To know for a fact that she wasn’t dreaming. That Blink had saved her. Yes, he’d said and done some scary things, but he’d been as helpless as she was.
He was her guardian angel.
Letting out a soft grunt, Blink caught her in his arms and somehow stayed upright as she clung to him like a baby monkey holding onto its mother.
She buried her face in the space between his head and shoulder and began to shake violently. “Thank you, Blink! Thank you,” she whispered.
His arms tightened around her, but he didn’t speak.
They sat together on the ground for a long, silent moment before Blink finally said, “You should be pissed at me.”
“I’m not.”
“I let that go too far. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“You did what you had to do, and you stopped him when you got the chance.”
“It wasn’t enough.”
Remi took a deep breath and pulled back. She should be embarrassed at the fact she was straddling this man’s lap. He was practically a stranger, after all. But they’d just been through hell together, and she needed him right now. Needed his warmth. Needed his strength. His safety. “I’m breathing, and not in that box in the ground covered with dirt. It was more than enough.”
Her words seemed to affect him greatly, because he closed his eyes and shuddered in her grip. For the first time, Remi realized that he probably needed human contact as much as, or even more than, she did.
“I thought you’d run away from me screaming,” he told her.
“Thought about it,” Remi admitted. “But when I stopped for two seconds to think, I realized you’d actually been protecting me this entire time.”
He stared at her for a beat before saying, “We need to call Kevlar.”
“My phone!” Remi exclaimed. “Where is it? I can’t believe I forgot Howler had it.”
“Stay here,” Blink ordered in that low, rough tone of his.
But this time, it didn’t scare Remi.
As if he could see that she had no intention of sitting there like a good little girl, he added, “Please? I don’t want you near him.”
“Is he…is he dead?” she asked with a stutter.
“Yeah.”
Remi swallowed hard. She should be more upset that there was a dead body less than ten feet from her. But honestly, what she mostly felt was relief. She nodded solemnly at Blink.
He stared at her for another moment, as if making sure she’d stay put, then gently eased her off his lap to stand and walk over to Howler’s body. He turned him and reached into his back pocket, and when he straightened, her phone was in his hand.
Blink returned to where she was still sitting on the ground and held it out to her.
Remi’s hands shook as she took it from him and unlocked it. Then she looked up at Blink in frustration. “No signal.”
“Let’s get back to the truck. Maybe we’ll have better luck there.”
Nodding, Remi held out a hand so he could help her stand. She wasn’t sure she could do so on her own. The adrenaline dump she’d had the moment that box lid opened was fading, and she still felt shaky as hell.
Blink stared at her hand for a long moment, then clasped it in his own. Once she was on her feet, Remi leaned against him, and his arm went around her shoulders, holding her steady. Other than his hand not being over her mouth, the walk back to the truck felt very similar to the one they’d taken into the trees not so long ago.
But everything had changed. Remi felt like a different person. She’d had a close call, and thanks to the man at her side, she was alive to get the second chance she’d prayed so hard for.
When they got to the truck, Blink opened the back door and helped her sit on the seat with her legs dangling out the side.
“Any luck?” he asked.
Looking down at the phone, Remi smiled. “Yeah. One bar.”
“It’ll have to do.”
“Should we drive back to the city?” she asked.
Blink sighed. “Probably not a good idea. Not with…you know,” he said, looking behind him into the trees. “But you need to get in touch with Kevlar before we do anything else.”
“He might not even know anything happened,” Remi told him.
“Oh, he knows,” Blink told her. “He probably felt a shift in the space time continuum the first time Howler hit you.”
Remi stared at the man in front of her. She couldn’t decide if he was kidding or not.
“Call him, Remi,” he ordered.
Nodding, she clicked on Vincent’s name and brought the phone up to her ear.
Kevlar paced the lobby of the police station. When his phone rang an hour earlier, and he’d seen Remi’s name on his screen, he’d nearly had a heart attack.
But that was nothing compared to how he felt when she’d told him the basics of what had happened, and where she was.
All he’d wanted to do was jump in his car and race into the hills to get her. To see for himself that she was all right. But his commander and team had convinced him it would be faster if he went straight to the police station. Because that’s where the cops would be taking her in order to get her statement.
So now, here he was. Waiting to put his hands on her. To see with his own eyes that she was okay.
Knowing it was Howler, his own teammate, his friend, who’d taken her…tried to kill her…had Kevlar nearly at his breaking point, along with the rest of his team. How could Howler have done this? What the fuck was he thinking?
He needed answers, and he had nothing but questions.
But honestly, all he needed right now was Remi. He could work on getting answers after making sure she was all right.
“Easy, man, she’ll be here soon,” Safe said.
Kevlar nodded, but he barely heard his friend.
His entire team was at his side, and as appreciative as he was, he felt as if he was going to jump out of his skin if he didn’t see Remi in the next few seconds.
“Vincent Hill?” an officer asked. She’d come through a door that led to the bowels of the police station.
“Yes, that’s me,” he said.
“If you’ll follow me.”
“Go,” Smiley said. “We’ll be here.”
“Should we call her parents?” Preacher asked.
“Oh, shit, Marley, what about her?” Flash added.
“I’m sure she’s called them, or will soon,” MacGyver said calmly. “Go, Kevlar. Get to Remi.”
He didn’t need to be told twice. Kevlar followed the officer down a long hallway. She led him to a door and opened it. Looking inside, Kevlar shook his head. “No. Where’s Remi? I need to see her.”
“She’s fine.”
“Not what I asked,” Kevlar growled, refusing to step foot inside the small room. “Please,” he begged. “I need to see her. See for myself that she’s okay.”
The woman smiled slightly, then she got serious again. “You sound as stubborn as she is.”
“What do you mean?”
“She refused to leave the scene in a different car than Nate Davis.”
“Who?” Kevlar asked.
Now it was the officer’s turn to look confused. “Nate Davis? The man she was with?”
It dawned on Kevlar then—Blink. He wasn’t sure he’d ever heard his full given name. Remi had briefly told him that Blink saved her life. He didn’t know the details, knew nothing other than his Remi had been abducted by Howler, and Blink had somehow been there and saved her. But he didn’t care. He owed the man everything.
“Right, Nate. Please, where’s Remi?”
“She’s coming,” the officer told him. “She and the others will be here momentarily. You can wait in this room and we’ll bring her to you.”
But Kevlar didn’t want to go into the room. He wanted to wait in the parking lot. See her as soon as possible.
A noise at the other end of the hall drew their attention, and when Kevlar looked up, he saw the most beautiful sight he’d ever lain eyes on.
Remi. She was standing on her own two feet—thank God—with one of those silver emergency blankets around her shoulders and Blink’s arm around her waist.
Kevlar was moving before he even registered the thought. He was halfway down the hall before Remi noticed him. When she did, she shrugged off the blanket and broke into a run. Okay, it was more like a wobbly jog, and she only got four steps in before he was there.
He gently wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his body. Kevlar realized he was shaking like a leaf. Even without knowing the details, he knew he’d almost lost her.
“Vincent,” she whispered against his neck as she clung to him.
“I’ve got you, you’re okay,” he murmured.
He quickly pulled back, his gaze scanning her from head to toe. He saw bruises on her face and her arms, a busted lip, dirt on her knees and legs and hands. Everything about her appearance made him want to find Howler and kill him all over again. But it also made him so damn grateful that she was here. In his arms. Alive.
“I love you!” he blurted. Not caring that the hallway of a police station probably wasn’t the best place to let her know how he felt. But then again, it was also perfect. “So much,” he told her. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there! That I didn’t keep you safe.”
“I love you too,” she said with a watery smile. “And it’s okay…Blink was there.” She turned her head to look at the man now standing behind her.
Straightening, Kevlar stared at the SEAL, seeing him in an entirely new light. Blink wasn’t smiling. Looked pretty damn grim, in fact. And regret and pain filled his eyes…but then Remi held out her hand.
He took it without hesitation, and Remi pulled him forward. “I know we have a lot to talk about, but you need to know. Blink saved me. Without him, I…” Her voice cracked, and she cleared her throat before she continued. “I wouldn’t be standing here right now.”
Kevlar felt his throat close up. He couldn’t speak. The magnitude of what he owed this man was overwhelming. He’d never be able to pay him back. Ever. Reaching out, he grabbed Blink’s shoulder and squeezed. Hard.
Blink didn’t speak, but Kevlar saw a riot of emotions on his face. Disbelief, concern, relief, fear.
“Anything you need,” Kevlar told him, “you’ve got it. It’s probably too early, but if you want back on the teams, I’ll welcome you on mine with open arms. Anyone who goes to the lengths you did to protect an innocent life is someone I want at my back. I’ll talk to whoever it takes to make that happen. I just…thank you, Blink. Thank you.”
“I didn’t do anything anyone else?—”
“Yes, you did,” Remi interrupted.
Both men looked at her to see tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Remi?” Kevlar asked.
“I’m okay,” she told him with a small smile. “I’m just so happy to be alive.”
Dropping his hand from Blink’s shoulder, Kevlar pulled Remi into his embrace once more. He wasn’t sure he was going to be able to let go for a very long time.
“Excuse me,” interrupted one of the officers who’d escorted Remi and Blink into the station. “We need to get official statements.”
“I’m not leaving her,” Kevlar warned.
“You don’t have to. Ms. Stephenson, if you would head into that room on your right. Mr. Davis, we’ll talk to you in this other?—”
“Wait! Why are we being separated? You aren’t going to arrest him, are you? Because he did nothing wrong! He saved me! Yes, he killed Howler, but it was justified! He’d locked me in a box and was trying to bury me alive!”
Kevlar’s entire body stiffened. What the fuck?
The officer didn’t seem surprised in the least by what Remi said. “We just need to get your statements, ma’am.”
But Remi was too panicked to listen. She turned to Kevlar, gripping his shirt. “Do we need lawyers? Should we call Navy NCIS or something?”
“We’ve already gotten in touch with them,” another officer said. “They’re on their way. And this isn’t an interrogation, Ms. Stephenson, we just need to get both your sides on what happened today.”
Remi didn’t look any less concerned. But she finally nodded and turned to Blink. “Don’t worry. I’m gonna take care of this. By the time they’re done hearing my story, they’re going to be giving you a freaking medal.”
Blink’s lips twitched, but he controlled his reaction almost immediately. “Don’t leave anything out, Remi. Tell them everything,” he ordered.
“Of course I will,” she huffed. “Why wouldn’t I?” Then she pulled away from Kevlar and hugged Blink. Hard. She looked up at him and put a hand on his cheek. “Thank you for being observant. For watching me out your window like a creeper.” She smiled at him, letting him know she was joking. “I’m sorry about everything you’ve been through, but I’m a big believer in things happening for a reason. Me breaking up with Douchecanoe, going to Hawaii, meeting Vincent, you sitting in that bar day after day, watching and listening, and you being there when Howler arrived to pick me up. Thank you.”
Blink visibly struggled to control his emotions, but finally nodded at her.
Remi backed up, and Kevlar wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her against him.
“I’m ready,” she declared, nodding to one of the officers.
Two hours later, Kevlar wasn’t sure if he wanted to snatch Remi up and take her to his apartment and never leave again, or hunt down Howler’s body and desecrate it.
It had taken every ounce of control he’d cultivated over the years to sit in that small interrogation room and listen to Remi explain everything that had happened.
He was outraged that Howler had pretended Kevlar was hurt, playing on Remi’s emotions to get her to go with him willingly. But that was nothing compared to how he felt when Remi calmly talked about Howler punching her in the face, shoving her into a footlocker, locking her in.
He trembled when she described what the dirt sounded like, landing on top of the box, and how even though she knew it was futile, she couldn’t stop herself from pounding on the lid to try to get out.
Throughout the retelling, he held onto her hand. Squeezing it in support when she faltered and wrapping an arm around her when she shivered. He’d never been as proud of anyone as he was of his Remi.
But more than that, he realized just how big of a debt he owed Blink. He itched to hear his side of the story, to find out how he knew Howler was up to no good and what happened after Remi had been locked in that box. But there was no denying that regardless of how Blink came to be involved, Remi owed her life to the man.
The officers had asked her to repeat various parts of the story several times, most likely to see if her details changed at all. He had no doubt they were comparing what she said to what Blink was saying in the next room.
“So he said he wanted to be the leader of a SEAL team?” the detective asked for the second time.
“Yes. He was jealous of Vincent. Said if I was dead,” she shuddered in Kevlar’s grip, and he wanted to kill Howler all over again for being a fucking idiot and a psychopath, “that Vincent wouldn’t be able to cope, and he’d be able to take over the team when they went on their next mission in a couple of days. That Vincent would be too broken from his grief over what happened to me. He wanted the police and the team to find me, which was why he left my phone on.”
“And he had Mr. Davis bring both their phones into his apartment, so he’d have an alibi?”
“Yes,” Remi said a little impatiently. “I already told you that. If you go to Howler’s apartment I’m sure you’ll see them in there, just like I told you. Oh! And you can also check my phone. You’ll see that he called me this morning. And my fingerprints are in the truck too.”
“Talk to me more about Mr. Davis holding you hostage in the vehicle and carrying you to the hole Mr. Starrett had dug in the woods.”
Kevlar hadn’t been thrilled hearing that part of Remi’s story. He was almost overwhelmed with anger at Blink when she’d described how he’d kept his hand over her mouth and basically helped Howler kidnap her. But Remi’s defense of him had been so absolute, so firm, he was able to think a little clearer about everything when she described the details a second time.
“This again?” Remi asked with a sigh. “Right, fine. Yes, Blink pulled me out of the front seat and into the back with him. Yes, he held me against him so I couldn’t move, couldn’t try to open the door and jump out, and yes, he had his hand over my mouth. But he was doing it to keep me safe from Howler. He got me out of range of Howler’s fists after the jerk punched me in the face twice, and he kept me quiet so I wouldn’t say anything else to antagonize him. Trust me, if it had just been me and Howler, I have no doubt he would’ve beaten me unconscious to keep me compliant.
“Blink didn’t hurt me,” she insisted. “Even though he held me, he didn’t hurt me while he was doing so. I didn’t know it at the time, but now I realize he was figuratively and literally standing between me and Howler. Keeping him from hurting me as best he could. When he carried me into the woods, he even twisted his body when Howler tried to punch me again, so he’d miss my face.”
The detective made another note on the pad in front of him.
Remi sighed again. “Is that enough? I’ve told you several times what happened. I want to go home.”
The last five words were almost a whine, and Kevlar realized how exhausted she was at that moment. He was about to insist the detective let her leave, even if he had to make Remi exercise her Fifth Amendment rights, when the man closed his notebook and nodded.
“Yeah, I think we’ve got enough here.”
“And Blink? He’s done too?” she insisted.
Kevlar was as proud of her as he could be. Even after all she’d been through, she was still worried about the other man.
“Because I’m not leaving until he does,” Remi added firmly.
“I’ll check in with the detective talking to him,” the officer told her.
“You do that. I’ll be waiting right here,” she said, crossing her arms in front of her.
The detective grinned. “Can I get you anything? Another water? A snack? We have a vending machine down the hall.”
“No. Thank you, though.”
Kevlar wanted to laugh. His Remi, so polite and kind, even when she was exhausted, probably hurting, and worried about others.
The officer nodded at them and left the room. As soon as he was gone, Kevlar tugged on Remi’s hand. “Come here,” he said.
“What? Where?” she asked, but stood at his urging. Kevlar took her hips and pulled her down onto his lap. She sat across his legs and leaned into him, putting her head on his shoulder.
“I love you,” he said, repeating his earlier words. “When I couldn’t find you, didn’t know where you were…” He shuddered.
“I know. I knew you’d be worried.”
“Worried doesn’t even begin to cover how I felt,” he said, exhaling a huff of breath.
Remi picked up her head and stared at him. “I didn’t even think twice about going with him,” she said, her voice quiet. “He was your teammate. I trusted him. I thought you were hurt and all I could think about was getting to you.”
“We need a fucking code word,” Kevlar growled. “To make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
“Yeah, I think we do. Vincent?”
“Yeah, sweetheart?”
“I’m sorry about Howler.”
“What do you mean?” Kevlar asked in confusion.
“He was your friend. You guys have been through so much together. You have to feel a little sad that he’s gone.”
But Kevlar shook his head. “I don’t. Not one ounce. He clearly wasn’t the man I thought I knew. He wanted to be team leader? All he had to do was talk to the commander about it. He could’ve been transferred to another team, gone to a Navy school, taken the initiative to get what he wanted. Instead, he stewed about it, let his resentment build up, then came up with a completely insane, unforgivable plan. He was a coward. A jealous asshole. I’m not sorry he’s gone. Not at all. What I’m sorry about is that I wasn’t there when you needed me most.”
But Remi shook her head. “You kind of were. If you weren’t the man you are, if Blink didn’t respect you so much, didn’t think you were a great leader, a great person, he wouldn’t have done what he did. So, in a small way, you were there. Because of his respect for you, Blink went out of his way to protect me when he didn’t have to get involved.
“Besides…you’re always with me, Vincent. Here.” She tapped her chest over her heart. “I tried to be strong, for you.”
“I don’t deserve you,” Kevlar told her, lowering his forehead to hers.
“And I don’t deserve you. So two negatives make a positive…or something like that. I wasn’t that good at math growing up. I was always doodling in my textbook, making pictures that corresponded with the word problems we were supposed to be solving.”
“I really do love you, you know,” Kevlar told Remi. “I was waiting to say it because I didn’t want to freak you out.”
“I was waiting for the same reason,” she admitted.
Kevlar kissed her. Soft and gentle. The feel of the scab forming on her lip from where Howler had punched her making his fury rise all over again. But he kept his emotions to himself. She needed his care right now. Not his anger.
“I need to call Marley. And my parents. They’ve got to be freaking out after those texts I sent them.”
She wasn’t wrong. She’d had time to send the most important people in her life a short note, letting them know she was all right and that she’d talk to them later. But she was exhausted. Dead on her feet. And probably hungry to boot. Kevlar needed to get her home and taken care of. While she was sleeping, he’d call her family and Marley and tell them what happened.
“And, Vincent?”
“Yeah?”
“Can we…is it okay if, maybe…we went back to my place? Just for tonight? I know I’ve been staying at your apartment, but I keep reliving what happened and?—”
“Of course,” Kevlar said, interrupting her. Of course the place where she was kidnapped would make her uneasy. He had no problem staying at her condo for as long as she wanted. Forever if needed. Her place was nicer than his anyway.
The door to the room opened once more and the detective stuck his head in. “Mr. Davis is ready to go.”
Remi practically leapt off Kevlar’s lap, promptly swaying when she was on her feet. Steadying her, Kevlar had the fleeting thought that some men would definitely be threatened by their woman’s sudden interest in another man, but he couldn’t find it in him. As far as he was concerned, Blink was his new blood brother.
They walked out of the room, and Blink was waiting in the hallway. He looked as wiped out as Remi.
“You’re coming home with us,” she declared when she saw him, obviously realizing the man was at the end of his rope, just as she was.
“I’m not?—”
“You’re coming back to my condo,” she said sternly, interrupting his refusal. “If you think I’m letting you go home to your empty apartment, just so you can torture yourself all night by thinking about what happened, you don’t know me that well.”
“I don’t know you that well,” Blink countered with a small smile.
“Well, hold on, bub, because that’s about to change,” Remi told him.
“You’re really bossy,” he said.
“Actually, I’m not. I’m meek and mild. Ask anybody. I’m a cartoonist who sits at home with her head stuck in her sketchbook. But right now, I’m not about to let you be by yourself…and with you and Vincent with me, I feel safe.”
The last bit was said in a soft tone, and Kevlar tightened his arm around her. His Remi was strong, but she’d also been through a horrific, scary experience. If she needed him and Blink with her to feel safe, that’s exactly what she’d get. Even if he had to hog-tie Blink and force him into her condo.
But to his relief, Blink gave a brief nod. “If that’s what you need.”
“It is,” Remi insisted.
“Come on, sweetheart. Let’s get you home.”
The trio was escorted by an officer to the door that led into the lobby, and when they entered it, Kevlar was surprised by what he saw.
The lobby was completely full. Not only was his team still there, but Wolf and his team had arrived, along with their wives.
“Remi!” a woman cried out, and before he knew it, Remi was pulled out of his arms and into Marley’s.
The two women cried against each other as they hugged.
“I can’t believe that asshole took you!” Marley exclaimed when she’d gotten a semblance of control over herself.
“I know, right? Who would’ve thunk it?”
“Left in the ocean and kidnapped. No more! You hear me?” Marley barked, shaking her finger in Remi’s face.
She smiled at her best friend and nodded. “I hear you,” she said softly.
Then the two women hugged once more.
“My turn,” an older man said gruffly, and when Kevlar turned, he knew with one glance that he was Fernando Stephenson, Remi’s father. The mogul who’d started Crown Condoms, turning it into the powerhouse brand it was today. He didn’t look anything like the reserved businessman he portrayed to the world. He looked like a father who was devastated to learn his little girl had been hurt and almost killed.
Remi’s tears started up again as she turned to her dad. Mr. Stephenson was a big man. Remi looked tiny against him, but the way he held her, as if she was the most cherished thing in his world, nearly brought Kevlar to tears himself.
He then passed her over to a woman, who Kevlar could see was her mother; they had the same nose and eyes.
Kevlar was overwhelmed by everyone showing up to show their support. He kept his gaze on Remi as she was basically passed from one person to the next. Everyone wanted to hug her, tell her how relieved they were that she was all right.
And he didn’t miss how his team closed ranks around Blink. Even with only knowing the bare-bone details of what happened, his team was treating the SEAL like the hero he was.
“So, you’re Vincent,” Mr. Stephenson said.
Kevlar turned to look at the man and nodded. This wasn’t how he’d planned to meet Remi’s parents, but now was as good a time as any. The older man held out his hand, and Kevlar shook it firmly.
Remi’s dad didn’t let go for a long moment, studying him intently as he stood there. Then he nodded. “I expect this to be the last time you and I are standing in a police station together because of Remi,” he said firmly.
“Absolutely. And for the record, I love your daughter. She’s too good for me, but I’ll spend the rest of my life making sure she doesn’t regret choosing me anyway.”
“See that she doesn’t.”
“Fernando! You’re being rude,” Remi’s mom scolded.
And suddenly, Kevlar had a flash of what things would be like years from now with him and Remi. She’d call him out when he was being less than congenial with others. But she’d also look up at him the way Mrs. Stephenson was looking at her husband. With love and affection. It was clear where Remi got her kindness; she’d learned it from her mom.
“Ma’am,” Kevlar said, nodding to her. “It’s good to meet you, but I wish it wasn’t under these circumstances.”
“Remi’s talked about you a lot,” she said graciously. “While I’m not happy this happened to her, I’m so relieved she’s all right. It looks like she’s found a group of friends who appreciate her exactly how she is. And who will keep her safe.”
“She has,” Kevlar said as he looked across the room and saw Wolf hugging Remi tightly. Her eyes were closed, and she was listening to something Wolf was murmuring into her ear as they embraced. Again, Kevlar wasn’t jealous, not in the least. He was happy she had people to look after her when he couldn’t. And it sucked that there would definitely be times when he couldn’t be at her side, like earlier today. But she’d be looked after by his Navy family, and he couldn’t ask for anything more.
“If you’ll excuse me, I need to get Remi home. She’s had a hard day and I need to feed her and get her to bed.”
Mr. Stephenson nodded in agreement. “Two days.”
“Excuse me?” Kevlar asked, itching to head across the room to claim Remi and get her out of there.
“Two days. Then her mom and I will be by to check on her.”
Kevlar smiled. “She’ll be happy to spend some time with you,” he said with a nod.
Then he turned toward Remi. Today had been one of the scariest in his life, and he never, ever wanted to go through anything like it again. He needed to get Remi home, hold her tight, and try to forget what happened.