Sarah’s head snapped around when she heard Lawson’s voice. She breathed a long sigh of relief when she saw him standing there and went over to wrap her arms around him.
“Oh, my God.” She sighed, leaning against his chest. “You’re okay?”
“Pretty much,” he replied, but she could hear the wince in his voice.
She sprang back from him at once. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t even think,” she blurted out, scanning him for injuries. “What’s the damage?”
He reached out a hand to Sarah and drew her back to his side. “A couple of cracked ribs,” he responded. “Throat contusion, some cuts and bruises, and a broken finger.”
He lifted his hand, to show the splint on his finger. His face had been cleaned up and patched, and it looked a lot better now that it wasn’t smeared in blood.
“Really. That’s all?” she asked. She had been so scared he’d end up with serious damage after his fight with Granger. She was so relieved all his injuries seemed mostly minor. His neck, though… She shuddered at the swift memory of Granger with his hands wrapped around Lawson’s throat.
“Hey, that’s nothing to sniff at.” He tried to laugh, wincing again, and raised his injured hand to his neck.
“I’m sorry. I mean, I’m just glad it’s not worse,” she replied, taking his good hand and giving it a squeeze. “What happens now?”
Lawson and Xavier exchanged a look. “Well, I gave my statement to the FBI while I was being fixed up. They’re still back there talking to Lainey. They’ll be contacting the rest of you to get statements in the next few days. I told them they’d find us all at the lodge.”
“How’s Lainey,” Xavier asked. “Did she mention how she ended up at the old dairy farm?”
“Apparently, Donner grabbed her after he escaped and was leaving town. Just dumb luck he ran into her and recognized her from a photo Granger had been passing around. She’ll needsome time to heal, but she’ll be fine,” Lawson replied with a smile. “Once she’s released, the FBI will see she gets back home to her family.”
“Speaking of family,” Xavier interjected. “We should get back to the lodge and see the damage. There’s a lot that needs to be done.”
“Yeah, the others are back already,” Hannah added, rising to her feet. Xavier draped an arm around her protectively.
“There’s going to be a lot in the way of repairs and cleanup. Again.” Lawson sighed.
“You need to rest,” Sarah protested, but he just smiled at her.
“I’m okay,” he replied. “I want to know what we’re going to be dealing with. Then I’ll be able to relax.”
“The sheriff has a couple of his guys ready to run us back to the lodge,” Xavier explained. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
ON THE WAYback to the lodge, the sun had begun to rise. Sarah sat plastered to Lawson’s side in the back of the police car, not leaving any room between them. Not that either of them minded. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer.
It was a new start, a new opportunity for them to turn the lodge into the safe space it was always meant to be. With Victor Granger gone, it felt like the way was finally clear for Sarah and Lawson to be together, like they had wanted to be for so long.
Arriving back on the property, Sarah was surprised to see that there were already a few cars scattered around, parked in the driveway. She frowned, worried.
“What’s all this?” she muttered as they climbed out of the car. Bailey waved to her from the porch, grinning as a few people walked past her into the building.
“What’s going on here?” Lawson asked, sounding confused.
“When we got back from the hospital we noticed the bodies had been removed, and the FBI were packing up their evidence, ready to leave,” Aaron replied. “Told us we could start cleanup whenever we were ready.”
“And apparently, while the guests were in town, word got around that the lodge had been attacked,” Cade called back to Lawson as he emerged from inside. “After the FBI cleared out, people started showing up with supplies. Seems like we have a lot more friends than we thought.”
Sarah’s lips parted with surprise. “They came to help?” she asked.
“Excuse me!” someone called behind her, and she turned to see a man heading toward them with a large pane of glass under one arm. She stepped aside for him to walk past her, staring after him until he disappeared through the entrance.
“Yeah, Sheriff Willis also called in some help from the officers,” Bailey told them as she headed down from the porch. “And a few other people from town also wanted to give us a hand, when they found out what happened and that we’d helped stop the criminal organization that had been terrorizing the roads around here. This place is going to be back on its feet in no time.”
“That’s amazing news,” Sarah replied, a rush of emotion rising through her chest. This was so kind of people who were basically strangers to come up and help put the place back in order. It was such a great feeling, knowing people cared enough to help get the lodge back up and running again.
“You want some coffee?” River asked as she popped her head through the front door. “I just got a pot on. I figured it’s going to be too noisy to get any sleep, at least anytime soon.”
