Chapter 48
Dylan
His heart had nearly stopped when he saw her in Kole’s arms emerging from the house. When they’d heard the gunshot, both he and Abby sprinted for the house but were stopped by SWAT, who held them back from the scene.
The next few minutes of waiting were excruciating. Abby clung to him tightly, her nails carving little crescent moons into his forearms, but he said nothing. The pain grounded him and kept his mind from spiraling too far.
When Kole finally appeared with Kelsi, the sight of her nearly sent him to his knees.
The two of them ducked past the SWAT officers and rushed to Kole.
He looked exhausted. The past hour had taken a large toll on him.
Dylan didn’t spare too long looking his friend over, though.
Instead, his attention was fixed on the traumatized girl in his arms.
Blood was splattered on the side of her face and on her clothes, and one cheek was slightly red and puffy, but she didn’t appear to have any significant wounds.
He couldn’t hold himself back and he stole her from Kole’s arms, being careful not to jostle her in case she had any injuries he couldn’t see, tucking her in close.
His arms banded around her, wanting to hold her close and never let go again.
“Red.” His voice cracked on her nickname.
“Dylan,” she cried, tears slowly trailing down her face as she moved her head back to look at him.
She winced at the movement, though, and he immediately turned toward the ambulance parked in the drive. Kelsi needed to be examined, and not until she was given the all clear would he be able to relax.
“Are you okay?” he asked, holding his breath until she answered.
She merely nodded against his chest, and he realized she was going into shock. Her face was pale and dulled as though her life force had been drained. Her eyes were unfocused, a telltale sign of shock. He’d seen that look on plenty of his green soldiers on tour the first time they saw combat.
Behind them, a couple of SWAT officers escorted Sheridan from the house in handcuffs and shoved him unceremoniously into the back of a patrol car that had pulled up after the ambulance.
His blood boiled as he realized that it was Sheridan all along who’d been stalking Kelsi, eventually helping McGuinness kidnap her.
He had never wanted to harm anyone more than he wanted to beat Sheridan into a bloody pulp at that moment, but he had Kelsi to worry about.
He carried her to the ambulance, where the paramedics had a stretcher set up. Dylan figured they’d been a mere minute away from barging over to them to start her examination.
The paramedics were both women, one around his age and the other maybe two decades his senior.
Dylan was close enough to them now that he could hear the older paramedic ask her partner if she was okay with examining Kelsi alone while she went to check with SWAT to see if there were any others with injuries.
The younger woman waved her off and gestured at Dylan to set Kelsi down.
“I need some more room to fully examine her.” She pulled a pair of rubber gloves on, glanced over Kelsi, and asked, “What’s your name?”
Dylan glanced down at Kelsi, still in his arms, but she didn’t appear to register the paramedic’s question at all.
He cleared his throat. “Her name’s Kelsi. Kelsi Cameron.”
“All right, Kelsi. I’m going to look you over now, okay? Can you sit down for me?”
He tried to put her down on the bumper of the ambulance for the EMT to check her over, but she clenched his dress shirt tightly between her fingers, refusing to let him go. His heart warmed at that, at how he could be her comfort again.
The EMT raised her eyebrows at him, silently asking him to help her out.
“I’m not going to put you down, Red, but I’m gonna sit and hold you, okay?”
She whispered, “Yes,” and he carefully sat down and readjusted her in his arms, so she sat on his lap facing out at the young EMT, who held a no-nonsense air about her that Dylan could appreciate.
Her eyes were sharp as she ran through the concussion tests with Kelsi and examined the rest of her.
She carefully checked over her extremities for any contusions until finally declaring she only had some minor bruising but would need to go to the hospital to have a full exam.
Dylan let out a relieved breath at the news, and his hold on Kelsi loosened, but only slightly. “Thank you.”
She handed him a stress blanket to wrap Kelsi in before walking away, breaking down the gurney to prepare the ambulance for the trip to the hospital.
Kole and Abby walked over, having given them space for the EMT to do her job. Kole spoke first. “The other EMT said they’re going to take Kelsi to the hospital.” He glanced down at his watch. “Looks like you’re going to have to head back to court soon, too.”
Dylan cursed, having forgotten entirely about the case. He was torn, wanting to accompany her to the hospital, but knowing he needed to appear in court and ask Judge Bolton to throw the case out, now that McGuinness was dead.
Abby read the war on his face and stepped closer. “Don’t worry, Dylan. I’ll ride with her. You go take care of the trial, and we’ll see you at the hospital after, okay?”
He nodded at her gratefully. Kelsi moved herself slowly out of his lap and climbed onto the gurney in the back of the ambulance. Abby sat with her, taking the seat at her side and holding her left hand in between her own.
Kole looked at the women and said to Kelsi, “Glad you’re okay.” She gave him a grateful smile. He turned to Abby and smirked, looking her over slowly. “Til next time, Abby.”
She scowled at him, and Dylan chuckled under his breath. That was something he would be asking Kole about later.
The EMT closed the doors on the back, climbed in with the girls, and drove off.
Dylan turned to Kole. “Where’s McGuinness? What happened in there?”
Kole sighed, looking troubled. “He’s dead. Held a gun up to Kelsi’s head when we found them in an upstairs room.” He shook his head. “Suicide by cop, the fucking coward. I put the bullet between his eyes.”
Dylan understood Kole’s expression now. He’d never been comfortable taking lives, even when it was a choice between himself and another person. As the golden retriever of their unit, he played it off well, but he took things harder than others expected of him.
Dylan clasped his shoulder tightly. “Thank you,” he breathed out. “If you hadn’t, there’s no telling what might have happened. You saved my girl’s life, and I’ll never be able to repay you for that.”
Kole met his eyes. “You don’t have to thank me, Dylan.
It’s my honor to have done this for you.
You gave so much to me in Afghanistan.” A nod at Dylan’s leg, which he had blocked out until now, the twinge of pain sneaking back in now that the adrenaline high of the raid was receding.
Kole somehow believed that Dylan being injured when Kole escaped unscathed meant that Kole owed him for something.
Completely untrue, but survivor’s guilt manifested itself in weird ways.
“Let’s call it even, man.”
“Deal.”
* * *
Dylan walked into the courtroom and barely registered Tom and Ms. Dina sitting in the back row on the commonwealth’s side.
Judge Bolton was already seated at the bench, Dylan having barely made it in time.
The only other people in the room were Mr. Carver, who looked drawn and pale sitting at the defense’s table, the court reporter, and the courtroom deputy hovering beside the judge.
Judge Bolton eyed him coolly and commented, “Cutting it close, are we, Mr. Holloway?”
“My apologies, Your Honor, it has been a rather hectic morning.”
She gracefully inclined her head. “The court reporter has been sworn in already,” she informed Dylan, and he registered the older woman seated behind her stenotype machine, typing as the judge spoke. “I understand you are bringing a motion to dismiss this case?”
“That’s correct, Your Honor.” Dylan had called Mr. Carver and the court on his drive so they were aware of what was happening, but the transcript had to reflect the motion. All he’d wanted to do was go to the hospital with Kelsi, but the case needed to be wrapped up first.
He straightened, speaking directly to the judge.
“I was detained this morning because my cocounsel was abducted this morning. She was recovered safely and the kidnapper, Mr. McGuinness, was shot and killed during the rescue. The commonwealth would move to dismiss this case, as the defendant is deceased.” He turned to stare at Mr. Carver and added, “And since this is being transcribed for this court’s record, I would like it to state that if the commonwealth finds out Mr. Carver had any knowledge of his client’s intentions or participated in the obstruction of justice in any way, he will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. ”
Mr. Carver’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he gulped nervously, but he said nothing.
“Motion granted. Commonwealth v. McGuinness is dismissed.” The gavel cracked sharply against the wood block in front of Judge Bolton on the bench. “A word, please, Mr. Holloway?”
Mr. Carver fled the courtroom, barely pausing to grab his briefcase from the counsel’s table as he did so.
Dylan approached the judge, who asked softly, “How is she doing?”
“She’ll be okay. She has a concussion, and some bruising, but she’ll be okay.”
“She’s a fighter. She’ll get through this.” Her grin turned impish. “Especially if you’re there to help her.”
In spite of himself, Dylan could feel a flush rise to his cheeks. “I won’t leave her side again.”
Her smile was genuine when she rose from the bench to head back to her chambers.
Dylan wanted to head to the hospital immediately, but he was flagged down by Tom and Dina as he tried to escape.
Both were, understandably, very concerned for Kelsi and bombarded him with questions about her condition.
He waved his hands at them to slow down the questions. “She’s okay. She’s going to be okay.”
Both exhaled shuddering breaths at that, and Tom fought back tears. Dylan did the man a favor and pretended not to notice. Dina, on the other hand, didn’t try to hold hers back. She fell into Dylan, sobbing, and he awkwardly wrapped his arms around her, patting her back.
Tom clapped Dylan’s shoulder as he passed him to return to his office. “Take good care of her,” he called over his shoulder.
Dylan looked down at the crying woman and gently pried her away. “I gotta go see my girl, Dina.”
She nodded, tears still streaming down her face, but her shoulders heaved less than they had a minute earlier. “You give her a hug from me, okay?” She fixed him with a stern expression, somehow made more intimidating by the tears soaking her face and the mascara tracks underneath her eyes.
“I will.”
She smiled and stepped away, giving him room to walk to the escalators. “Go get your girl.”
“I intend to.” He returned her smile and ran to the exit.