“Don’t leave me, Noah. Please.”
He held her tighter and tried not to hurt her arm. It was a fucking nightmare. Staring over at the cop that exited the first vehicle, he waited, tense.
Striking would be next to impossible with Skye in his arms, but he was willing to do it.
Their abusers were dead. Could they finally be free now?
A guy in his later forties who he didn’t recognize approached him.
“Noah King?” he asked.
“Who wants to know?”
“I’m Detective Daniels. You’re fine, son. You’re safe.”
“Yeah, well, right now I’m covered in blood from the last detective who claimed to be here to protect us and keep us safe. Keep your distance.”
Daniels held his hands up. “I know. We’ve been investigating Denison for a long time now. He’s moved from county to county. A wave of couples and young girls disappearing following in his wake.”
Skye whimpered.
“She’s hurt. I don’t care what you are or what you’ve been doing. We need to get to a hospital.”
Within seconds, Skye was taken out of his arms, and as her weight lifted, Noah collapsed on the ground.
****
Back in the hospital within a matter of weeks, Skye stared down at her arm. The white bandage annoyed her. The sterile room did the same. She hated being alone, and leaning back in bed, she stared straight ahead, trying not to think of the coming days and weeks.
Mitch and Denison were gone. Noah had killed them, and much to her surprise, he wasn’t going to get convicted. Detective Daniels had told them everything. Denison had been on their radar for some time, but with no direct evidence, they could only keep investigating until she and Noah escaped, giving them all they needed with the connection to Mitch, and then of course, Noah’s car had a tracking device placed inside.
The moment they took off, and they discovered where they were, he’d followed, and found all the evidence he needed in the office Noah had been trapped in with Mitch.
When she thought about what had happened over the past few months, it all seemed like something out of a movie. One where she was present and yet just an observer at the same time.
“You look really deep in thought.”
She looked toward the door and smiled. “Noah.”
“They’re keeping you in for observation.”
“Yes, a couple of blows to the head bothers them. I’ve had worse.” The smile that was on his face died. “I didn’t mean it like that. I didn’t mean it the way it sounded.”
“It still shouldn’t have happened. We all know that.” Noah took a seat on the edge of her bed. Even though he was close, he seemed further away for some reason.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m shocked that I’m allowed to sit on this bed with you.”
“What’s going on, Noah?” she asked, not deluded one bit.
“Tell me about why I can sit here. Where are your parents?” he asked.
“Life still happens, you know. Work needs to be done. Bills paid. Stuff like that. With the danger gone, they didn’t feel it was necessary to babysit me.”
“So they left you alone.”
“So they left me alone,” she said, agreeing with him.