Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 103665 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103665 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
“That’s not true,” Amka said. “It’s not.”
Shock ricocheted through Christian. “Both of you stop talking right now.” He needed to call Daisy.
May shook her head. “The gun is in my office here. Bottom drawer.” She pushed strands of hair away from her face. “I’d appreciate it if we could keep this as quiet as possible. I moved out here for privacy.”
Shit.
Paige exited the room and returned with a Glock in a plastic bag. Did the trooper just keep those in her pockets? “Dr. Smirnov, we’re going to have to arrest you.”
May looked at Christian. “You can right after I stitch him up. I’m the only doctor here. Come on, Christian.”
“No. You can do it here,” he said.
She sighed. “Fine. Let me get supplies.” Jeb followed her from the room and they both returned very quickly.
Christian helped her remove his shirt.
“I can’t believe this,” she muttered, poking him with her gloved hands. “You’re lucky the bullet went all the way through. I’m giving you a local whether you like it or not.”
Christian looked at the distress on Amka’s face.
She cleared her throat. “That explains why you were doing shots at the bar. That isn’t like you.”
May sighed. “Yeah. It was self-defense, but I still killed a man.”
Amka shook her head. “You didn’t have to confess.”
Christian barely kept from shaking his head. The woman had planned to actually go to trial to protect her friend? She needed a damn keeper. Good thing it looked like he’d live through the night, even though May seemed to be stabbing him rather strongly with the needle as she patched him up. “It’s going to be okay, Amka.” He’d make sure of it. Somehow.
May finished and ripped off the gloves. “I’ll call Daisy. Hopefully I can be out on bail later today because we don’t have another doctor.” She patted his shoulder. “I did a good job here. Don’t screw it up and rip out my stitches. Any chance I could get you to stay in the hospital?”
“No,” Christian said shortly. “However, we’ll wait here for you to get released on bail.”
“Thanks.” May moved and then tripped, nearly going down.
Christian caught her, surprised by the feel of metal in his hand.
May winked and stood. “All right, troopers. Let’s do this.” They all three left the room.
Christian looked down at his hand.
“What’s that?” Amka whispered.
“A phone. Best guess? Jarod’s phone.” The doc must’ve taken it after shooting him. Damian had taken both the laptop and Helene’s phone right before the troopers had arrived earlier. With his resources at EVE, he should be able to find the video of Hank’s death on each device as well as the cloud—and delete them.
Amka prodded her swollen nose. “We have to help her. Jarod tried to attack me a couple of times, so I could testify he was like that.”
Anger cut through Christian and he shoved it away. “That’s the kind of thing you’re gonna want to tell me from now on, sweetheart.”
A pretty blush wandered across her face. She liked endearments. Good to know. “Why would I do that?” Her chin rose.
“Because I love you. Want you forever.” He stood and crossed to her, not caring how badly his shoulder and front of his clavicle felt. He’d almost lost her, and that couldn’t happen again. He hadn’t planned to find love, but he had, and now he’d figure it out. “I’m not sure how we’re gonna do it, but there’s no way I can let you go. Not now. Not ever.” He leaned down and kissed her. “Think you have enough room in your life for an AWT and wolf-husky mix?”
“Yeah,” she said softly, “I have more than room. You two are my life.”
Chapter 40
Three weeks later
* * *
Amka settled into the chair at the campfire, her gaze on the river creek running along the edge of Christian’s property. Tika stretched out next to her, snoring rhythmically.
Movement sounded behind her, and Christian dropped a blanket over her, picked her up, sat in her chair, and planted her on his lap. “Sun’s going down. It’s going to get cold.”
She snuggled into him, her nose in his neck. “Is your shoulder okay?”
“It’s fine. Nothing to worry about.”
Worrying about him was now her right, and she kind of loved it. She cuddled deeper beneath the blanket. “Are you taking care of me?”
“Always. That’s my job.”
She shut her eyes for a moment. They’d take care of each other, but she truly enjoyed the feeling of shelter. “This might sound off-kilter, but I think Tika might be getting a cold. He’s snoring like crazy.” Did wolves get colds? Most animals could, so it made sense. “I wonder if we should take him to the vet.”
Christian stretched his long legs out to the fire. “He’ll be fine. Even if it is a cold, he’ll shake it. Don’t worry.” He kissed the top of her head. “Are you sure you’re okay moving in here at my place? There’s plenty of room to expand my house. I mean, our house.”