Well, I’m not prepared for that. I never will be.
I stay concealed in my position a moment longer as I come up with a plan. Lucy rambles on at Chloe about how she’s messed everything up. How she had to make the trip down here for a blonde little bimbo who couldn’t keep her nose in her own business.
But that blonde little bimbo was sharper and quicker than Lucy’s men were. And thatblonde little bimboismine.
Chloe sits on the ground basically underneath a metal lift gate that looks like it’s about to collapse, and if that doesn’t jolt to life a tornado of anxiety in my chest, then the gun pointed in her direction sure does. But the detail of the lift gate gives me an idea; awakens an opportunity inside me I don’t know I would have considered had I never grown to know Chloe so deeply.
Stepping out of the shadows, I raise my gun in Lucy’s direction, and Chloe’s eyes ping open when she hears movement at her side.
“Put the gun down,” I tell Lucy, who looks just as surprised to see me. Her hand briefly loosens around the gun before she tightens her grip and keeps it pointed at Chloe.
“Detective Mills,” she sings, a sick smile stretching across her face. “Another helpless victim in the Baby Widow’s web.” Her lips turn down into a frown. “Such a shame. She has so many people in that damn department wrapped around her sick little finger.”
“Colin, get out of here,” Chloe whispers from the ground beside me. “Please.” I glance at her and see the fear glowing in her eyes. She wasn’t afraid to lose her life, but she’s afraid I’ll lose mine.
“Shut up, Stark.”I’m not going anywhere.
I step in front of her, directly into the line of Lucy’s barrel. I should shoot her.
I should pull the trigger and kill Lucy, because I know it will be considered justified. Couple of weeks ago, had I found myself in this position, I would have. But Chloe needs to know this isn’t just about saving her. This isn’t about doing the right thing.
This is about proving to her that I am a little bit dark, like she is, and that we still have light. She needs to know thatI see her.
As quickly as I can, I lower my gun and slam my hand into the release of the lift gate, dropping my body to the ground and rolling Chloe and I underneath the trailer.
It’s one of the biggest risks of my life, but so is loving her. And I plan to do that, too.
There was a slim chance that the gate was so old, it was rusted in place. Relief rushes through me when that isn’t the case. The metal gate slams against the floor, and the deafening sound of logs avalanching off the truck rumbles around us, vibrating the trailer and—hopefully—barreling into Lucy’s body across the room.
Eyes wide in surprise and delight, Chloe stares up at me, her fingertips squeezing my sides. Her body is so warm underneath mine, even though I can feel the chill of her hands through the fabric of my shirt. And those red lips of hers, so perfect and full. They part when my gaze moves to them as the rolling logs come to a slow above us.
I crush my lips to hers, smoothing my tongue past the seam and into her warm mouth. Her tongue swirls around mine, her hands moving up my body and curling into my hair, andfuck, I could pull my dick out and fuck her right here.
Instead, I pull away from our kiss, and we’re both breathless, her golden eyes sparkling, lips pulling at a smile.
“It was an accident,” she whispers, and I lower my forehead to hers, nodding.
“An accident.”
***
I’m sitting in a chair near the edge of Chloe’s hospital bed, writing up my report on the events of this afternoon. The machine on the other side ofthe bed beeps a steady rhythm in the background of my typing, and every now and then a nurse or another visitor walks past the door to the room, glancing our way curiously before continuing on their way.
There’s also a tiny fucking dog curled into a ball sleeping on the couch behind me. Metal scratch marks have scribbled out the nameBrendaon its name tag, and block letters spelling the nameRueare carved next to it. Why this dog was sleeping in Chloe’s Bug is another mystery that is Chloe Stark. A mystery Chloe lowered her voice before telling me she’d ‘explain later.’
Something tells me I’m going to be hearing that a lot in our future.
When Alex realized Lucy was the snake in the department, Captain Barrett tried to come with us to the warehouse Barry said he’d followed Chloe to, but I demanded he stay behind. I was still pissed at him, and what better punishment for him—and prize for me—than forcing him to dig into his colossal mistake of hiring a detective who had faked all her prior department employment records and accolades. And who knew that woman who seemed like an innocent rookie was actually the oldest of four siblings who were running a trafficking ring. When I realized she’d likely set her sights on Chloe for throwing wrenches into her carefully crafted network, I made it to that old mill in record time.
I’d been to that warehouse before. My father worked there when I was in high school, when the mill was still active and running. It’s been out of commission for over ten years, almost as long as he’s been out of commission of his role as my father.
I wanted to go in there alone because I had no idea what we’d be walking in to. I didn’t want Alex to see anything that would incriminate Chloe. She could have killed Lucy in self-defense, but knowing her, she probably would have gone a bit overboard, made it look so far beyond self-defense that there’d be no talking our way out of it.
I sent Alex around the long way; told him we’d sweep our respective sides and meet in the middle. Micah had already texted and said the doors on the west side of the building had been lodged closed. I didn’t have the time or capacity to wonder how or why he knew that.
But because of that information, I knew it would take Alex extra long to make it inside—and it turns out, I’d needed every last second of that time. Alex came through my side of the building just as I rolled Chloe under the trailer. When we finally climbed out, the three of us navigated the uneven landscape of logs toward Lucy’s arm that was sticking straight out between two giant pieces of tree.
“That lift gate gave away,” I told Alex, staring down at the black nail polish on Lucy’s broken fingernails.
