“Great.” No wonder she felt terrible. Surely, she looked worse, but she had more pressing concerns. “Did you get hurt?”
“No, honey. I’m so sorry they used you.” He brought her hand to his lips. “I want to arrest them all over again for hurting you like this.”
“It’s not that bad.” A small fib. “Did you solve the case? Is it over?”
“Mostly yes. We made a big dent in it today, that’s for sure.” He smoothed the hair back from her forehead. Helped her sip a little water. And then he kissed her on the cheek that wasn’t busted up. “You rest up,” he said.
“You’re leaving?” She heard the panic in her voice.
So did he. “Easy, Natalie. I’m not going anywhere right now.”
“Okay.” But even in her compromised state, she realized he hadn’t given her any indication that he was staying. Of course, he had things to do, and it was selfish to want him to give all of that up to stay with her. “Thanks for being here,” she murmured. She had now, and she’d promised herself it would be enough.
Holding his hand tightly, she let herself doze off again.
CHAPTER 21
Sitting down to a video call with his bosses, Gamble and Swann, Trent struggled to focus. He wasn’t happy about leaving Natalie at the hospital. He could apologize forever and it wouldn’t change a thing. She’d been kidnapped, drugged, and injured on his watch.
But he’d been needed elsewhere. Part of the job, of course. Statements, reports, and interviews demanded his attention as authorities made arrests and pressed charges. Throughout the wrap up of the case, he stayed in contact with Natalie’s sisters, getting regular updates on her condition. She was improving every day and asking about him regularly.
He wanted nothing more than to be there, if only to reassure himself that she was healing and would make a full recovery. He counted it a miracle that her sisters even spoke to him at all. By some miracle, they didn’t blame him. He kind of wished they would.
He’d sent flowers to Natalie’s hospital room, and also to Roni’s house for her and Celeste.
“Trent, you’ve done a great job here.” Gamble drew his attention back to the meeting. “Your report is thorough, and all of the law enforcement agencies involved will appreciate this.”
“Yes, sir.” One thought had been bugging him as he wrote those reports they were so happy with. “I feel like we’re missing a piece of the puzzle,” he began. “Have any of the men in custody explained how they chose their targets? I understand the mechanic down in Georgia was copying keys. But that doesn’t explain some of the stuff up here.” Sure, these questions were technically above his pay grade, but he figured he’d earned the extra information.
Swann shook his head. “Not so far. Either they don’t know, or they’re protecting another asset. My money is on asset protection.”
“So we missed somebody in the roundup,” Trent muttered. Not good.
“That is our theory, yes,” Gamble said. “We have a couple people under surveillance. And we’re definitely looking at every boat mechanic up and down the Eastern seaboard. But you broke this whole mess wide open. Job well done.”
“To that end,” Swann said, “We’d like to give you a month off.”
“Pardon me?” He had done good work for the agency in the past and never once been offered a break like this. “Is there a problem you’re seeing? Some reason to keep me out of the field?”
His stomach swooped and dived. As much as he wanted to stay on the job, a lengthy break might be enough time to convince Natalie they were good together. In a permanent way.
He didn’t have anything against short-term relationships, but she was it for him. He had known it long before Royer kidnapped her, even if he hadn’t been ready to admit it to himself.
“There’s no trouble that we can see. You got your man, a few of them actually,” Gamble said.
“Take the win,” Swann added. “A month of paid leave without looking over your shoulder sounds like a sweet deal to me.”
“Me too! Absolutely,” Trent said. “You just caught me off guard.”
“That was the point,” Gamble admitted with a wry smile.
“Great, thanks.” Visions of luxurious getaways with Natalie played through his head and he immediately dug into the research. He made a list of places he thought would fuel her creativity and give him a chance to pamper her while she finished recovering.
He knew better than to simply book the tickets and the reservation. She should have the final say. With his top three choices in mind, he only had to track her down and hope she’d be willing to talk to him again.
* * *
After two more nights inthe hospital, the doctors finally discharged Natalie. Celeste and Roni both came to pick her up, but there was no sign of Trent. He hadn’t come by since that first night after Royer’s capture.
