Monique was entirely too calm about this. Sam shouldn’t have to go through this over and over again. She’d talked to the ATF already. She didn’t need to keep reliving the attack again and again.
“I should be in there with her,” Logan insisted. His eyes flashed to Samantha’s and his heart clenched at the stoic expression on her face.
“Not going to happen, my friend,” Monique said.
Sam stepped forward and put her hand on his forearm, squeezing gently. He felt the fight go out of him as he looked down at the determination in her face.
“I got this, Logan. If you’ll be out here when I finish, I’ll be fine.”
He nodded. “I’ll be right here. The whole time.”
“If it gets too rough, Sam, we can ask them to continue tomorrow,” Monique said. “Like I said, I don’t think the detectives are all that happy to be putting you through this. I think it’s all Westbrook. They’re just wanting to cross their Ts and dot their Is and all that. Let’s hope at the end of this, he realizes he won’t have a case.”
Monique had explained there were a few things Westbrook would have to show a jury. Some facts weren’t in question here. For example, there was no question Logan acted with force he should reasonably have known would end in death. Fatal force wasn’t a question when you snapped a man’s neck.
The big issue here was whether it was reasonable for him to think that level of force was necessary under the circumstances. If Westbrook thought he could convince a jury it wasn’t, and if he continued to think he could somehow win an election based on putting one over on the federal government, he might go forward with charges.
Logan nodded and stood in the hallway watching Sam walk down to the interview room with one of the detectives and Monique.
Kelly and Jack had come down to the station as well and Kelly came up to Logan now, putting a hand on his arm.
“Come on, big guy,” Kelly said, tugging him the opposite way. “Let’s go have a seat and wait. Jack ran out for coffee and sandwiches. We all ate earlier but you haven’t had anything in hours. You need to take care of yourself if you’re going to have strength for Sam when this is over.”
Logan smiled down at Kelly. He could go for days with very little food or rest, when needed. He’d done it before plenty of times and would do it again in a heartbeat for Sam, but he let Kelly lead him away, anyway. He knew the chairs were just down at the end of the hall, so he’d still be able to see Sam the minute they let her go.
With Kelly pregnant, he’d feel bad not letting her call the shots. Shoot, she shouldn’t even be here.
“You should go home and get some rest, Kelly,” he said when they reached the chairs and she lowered herself into one, leaning on his arm as she did so.
“I’ve tried telling her that, but she won’t budge,” came Jack’s voice behind them. Logan turned to take a tray of coffees and an orange juice from Jack. He handed the juice to Kelly and sat, taking the bag Jack offered.
“I’m pregnant, not helpless and useless, you two,” Kelly said with a bite to her tone.
Jack raised his hands. “I know, I know. All the same, I think as soon as Chad and Jennie get here, we should get you home. These chairs have to be brutal on your back, honey.”
Logan wondered why Jack didn’t just lift Kelly up and carry her to the car and take her home. What the hell was wrong with the man? If that was Sam, he’d never let her sit there in these stiff plastic chairs like that. He’d haul her ass—
What was he thinking? Logan sat frozen over the sandwich he’d been unwrapping and realized he’d been happily picturing Sam pregnant with his child. Quite happily.
“You okay, Logan?” Jack asked.
Logan looked up at his friend. He wanted what Jack and Kelly had so bad he could taste it. He wanted a family with Sam. He wanted a future with her. One filled with laughter and love and boat tons of kids. Twelve or thirteen of them, for sure. If she was up to that.
He tossed the sandwich aside.
“Get Kelly home, Jack,” he said over his shoulder as he headed down the hall toward Sam. “I’m getting Sam out of here. She’s had enough.”
He’d had enough. He wanted to go home and tell Sam all he wanted for them. All he hoped for, for them. He wanted to see if she loved him as much as he loved her. If she believed in them as much as he did. If she believed they could get through this. That he could get well enough again to have a family and a life together. God, he hoped so, because he didn’t know anymore how he’d live without her. How he’d give up the dream he’d seen.
Chapter 25
Sam was surprised by how gentle and polite the detectives were. Given the pressure they seemed to be under from Westbrook, she’d half expected them to grill her about the attack. To challenge her on whether her life had really been in danger.
But, they hadn’t. The female detective led and asked most of the questions. Whenever the male detective jumped in, he did it with a quiet voice and almost apologetically. She had to repeat all the details of the night, and she had to admit, she’d clenched her hands in her lap to get through it.
Then it was over. They thanked her for talking to them and led her out of the room.
And, smack into Logan.