“The paramedics will take care of him,” Cole assured and then yelled up the bank, “Down here. We have a gunshot wound to the chest. Hurry!”
A gunshot sliced through the leaves, and Cole hunched over her, shielding her.
The baby’s cry punctuated the sounds of splashing water.
Cole squinted through the trees toward the river. “The idiot’s trying to cross the river with the baby. Down here! He’s getting away,” he shouted, but the responding voices sounded far too far away.
“Cole.” She gasped, struggling to suck in enough air to push out the words. “I’m okay. I want you to save the baby.”
“You’re not okay,” he shouted, his expression tortured. “I won’t leave you.”
The sound of splashing water stopped, then a sickening plop swallowed the baby’s cry.
Her heart rioted. Tears burned her eyes. “Please, Cole. Save him for me.”
He pressed a desperate kiss to her lips and then bolted to his feet. At the sound of Cole hitting the water, her eyes slipped closed.
* * *
Searing pain ignited in her chest as a baby’s cry tugged her from sweet oblivion.
“Decreased lung sounds on the right,” a male voice grumbled. “Possible pneumo. She’s having a hard time breathing.”
The ground beneath her rumbled and bounced. Her mind flailed from sensation to sound, struggling to make sense of them. Inhaling, she startled at the odd pressure. She strained to open her eyes, caught glimpses of faces, the inside of an ambulance, before her eyelids fluttered, closed of their own volition. “Cole?”
A warm hand curled around hers. “I’m right here. Along with the little guy whose life you saved.” He propped up the bundle cradled in his blanket-clad arms for her to see.
The baby! “He’s okay?”
“Yes, and Joe is in custody.”
“Sorry, I doubted you about Joe,” Dan said from her other side. He flicked his finger against a lethal-looking needle.
She tugged the oxygen mask from her mouth. “What are you doing with that?”
He fitted the mask back in place with a stern, don’t-touch look. “Demerol for the pain.”
She relaxed back against the gurney. “Thank you.”
Dan gave her the needle, then relieved Cole of the baby.
Bending over her, Cole tenderly stroked her hair. “You are one incredible woman.”
“That’s our superwoman,” Dan cooed to the baby. “This is the second time she’s saved your life. Do you know that?”
Cole smoothed her furrowed brow and shook his head. “I don’t think math was your partner’s best subject.” He winked and turned to Dan. “How do you figure twice?”
Dan stepped up to the end of the gurney and showed her the baby. “This is Luke Gibson.”
Tears clogged Sherri’s throat.
Cole’s hand tightened around hers, his gaze searching her face. “What’s wrong? Are you in pain?”
She pulled the mask from her mouth. “Mary Gibson is the woman whose husband assaulted her and then shot my partner.”
“Sherri saved her and the baby,” Dan filled in, pride beaming from his eyes. “And the mother had promised to name the child after Luke if it was a boy, or Sherri if it was a girl.” Dan squeezed her toe. “Luke would’ve been proud of you.”
The tears spilled to her cheeks.
Cole pressed a kiss to her damp cheek and whispered close to her ear, “You did good.”
She shook her head. “It’s because of me Joe kidnapped the poor thing in the first place. He must’ve known the connection and known how it would torment me.”
The paramedic driving said, “More likely he took the kid to torment his ex-wife. He was livid when he first heard she was pregnant after she left him.”
Cole’s attention swerved to the front of the ambulance. “Wait, you’re saying this baby’s mother is Joe’s ex-wife?”
“Yeah, you didn’t know?”
“No.” Cole looked at her.
“I didn’t know. Joe and his wife had split before I was hired. I’d never met her.” Her mind whirled, her breaths coming fast and shallow.
Dan fit her oxygen mask back in place. “I didn’t know, either. I knew his ex-wife’s name was Mary, but of course her last name’s different now. I never made the connection.”
Sherri tugged the mask away. “Joe told me he wanted to break his wife. I thought—”
This time Cole commandeered the mask from her grasp and held it in place. “It’s okay. We’ve caught him red-handed on kidnapping and attempted murder. He won’t be able to hurt her or you anymore.”
But...but...Joe’s rant replayed through her mind. Something he’d said didn’t line up. She could sense it, but couldn’t sort out what it was.
The ambulance swerved into the hospital’s driveway and within seconds her gurney was being yanked from the back of the truck. Cole strode beside her. “I’ll be right here when you get out of surgery.” He smiled down at her. “We have a lot to talk about.”
The gurney surged through the doors, and he slid from her view. She grappled for his hand. “Wait!”
Cole leaned over her with a warmth in his eyes that stole her breath. He stroked her hair and then cradled her cheek in his palm. “You need to let the doctors do their job.”
“It’s about Joe.” She pulled the mask from her face. “He said, ‘My wife, I wanted to break. You I wanted to kill.’”
Cole’s expression turned all gooey tender, his face hovering closer. “You’re safe now.”
She closed her eyes and scrunched her forehead, straining for a way to make him understand when she wasn’t sure it made sense herself. “He said he wanted—past tense—to kill me, but after Luke’s death, decided tormenting me was more fun.”
Cole nodded, but he didn’t seem to understand at all.
“Don’t you see? I was supposed to die. Not Luke.”
* * *
The nurses whisked Sherri away before Cole could respond to her anguished cry. His heart ached to see how much the man’s death still tormented her. After today her nightmares were bound to get worse than ever.
Zeke must’ve come to the hospital to get her statement, because he stepped up beside Cole and squeezed his shoulder. “She might be onto something.”
“What are you talking about?” The air conditioning chilled the water dripping from his clothes. Shivering, he tugged closed the blanket Dan had given him to warm up after his plunge in the river. “You think Joe had something to do with Luke’s death?”
“Could be we arrested the wrong guy for his murder.”
“How? The man assaulted his wife to the point of almost losing her baby then shot at the paramedics who came to save them. How do you get that wrong?” Cole didn’t like the look of the twitch in Zeke’s cheek.
“Mary’s testimony was sketchy. She came home from her morning exercise class and the door was unlocked. She heard what she assumed was her new husband upstairs. When she went up, he shoved her downstairs and repeatedly kicked her in the gut. Her description of the man—shorts and running shirt, dark hair—fit her husband’s, but later she claimed she never actually saw him and knew he’d never hurt her. He wanted this baby as much as she did, or so she said.” Zeke shrugged. “We figured she was a typical abused woman, defending her abuser.”
“You must have had other evidence.”
“Yeah, a 9-1-1 call from the house, claiming to be from her husband. Voice recognition software was inconclusive on a match.”
“But it doesn’t make sense that a burglar caught by the homeowner would waste time calling 9-1-1 after beating her up.”
“Exactly. And the husband came in from his usual—” Zeke air-quoted the word “—morning run just after the ambulance pulled away with his wife inside. He played the part of the frantic husband real well. But the shot that took out Luke came from a rifle we recovered from the woods behind the house. His rifle. And the only witnesses that saw him running, saw him
running from the direction of those woods.”
“Gunfire residue?”
“No, but he was wearing a sleeveless shirt and had already been to the washroom before we thought to check.”
“Where’s this guy now?”
“In jail awaiting trial. Refused a plea bargain. Says he’s innocent.”
Cole sighed, not knowing what to think. “If the assailant was her ex-husband, surely she would’ve recognized him.”
Dan joined them, his arms loaded with the supplies needed to restock his rig. “You talking about Joe?”
“Yeah.”
“His wife walked out on him three years ago. At the time, he was fifty pounds heavier, had a full beard and scraggly hair. None of us recognized him when he first got out of rehab.”
“You think his wife wouldn’t have recognized him?”
Dan shrugged. “She’d just been shoved down the stairs. She wouldn’t be noticing much of anything. It took me a few minutes to recognize him today in that disguise he had on, and I was staring at him. And he was always good at mimicking voices.”
“Why didn’t you tell us this eight months ago when Luke was shot?” Zeke seethed.
“Whoa.” Dan backed up a step. “I had no reason to think you’d arrested the wrong man.”
“Okay, looks like we’ll have a lot more questions for Joe Martello.” Zeke clapped Cole on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’ll nail this guy for everything we can get on him. You’re a good man. I’m sorry I was tough on you.”
Cole shook his hand. “Apology accepted. I think we were all guilty of misjudging each other.”
“Yeah, you want a lift back to the trailhead to pick up your truck?”
“Not right now, thanks. I need to stay here. I have to check on Eddie. And I promised Sherri I wasn’t leaving.” It had ripped his heart out to abandon her on the riverbank and go after the baby. He wasn’t about to get any farther from her than the doctors made him.
He found a quiet corner and let his eyes slip closed. Please, Lord, let her be okay. Her tortured cry as the nurse had wheeled her away, that she was supposed to die not Luke, replayed in his mind, squeezed his chest. He couldn’t pretend for another second that his heart didn’t belong to her. Had always been hers. But would she ever get past the nightmares and self-torment enough to let him in?
SEVENTEEN
Cole couldn’t remember a more perfect afternoon. The sun was shining. The birds were singing. And every last one of Sherri’s extended family had gathered at her uncle’s farm to celebrate her recovery.
The first bullet that’d caught her had grazed her arm, causing no serious damage. The second bullet had hit just under her left collarbone and thankfully hadn’t punctured a lung. But between the exertion and holding her breath in the cold water, she’d developed spontaneous pneumothorax. Needless to say, he’d spent a lot of time on his knees praying in the ten long days since. Now they sat shoulder to shoulder at a long line of picnic tables overflowing with everything from quinoa salad to fried chicken and home-baked buns, and Sherri was absolutely glowing.
Unlike the past few months, she talked freely about all the bad things that had been happening to her and why she’d been so reluctant to admit they were overwhelming her. “Cole helped me see that I wasn’t helping anyone, including myself, by pretending nothing was wrong.” She choked up.
He reached for her hand beneath the table and offered an encouraging smile.
Squeezing his fingers like a lifeline, she returned her attention to her family. “So I’m making it my mission to help others not make the same mistakes I did.”
Pride swelled Cole’s chest. She’d already met with her colleagues and admitted to the PTSD symptoms she’d battled following her partner’s murder, and one by one they’d each admitted to their own personal struggles, some openly, some confiding in her afterward through calls and notes and thanking her for her transparency.
Sherri’s aunt passed him a plate of cookies, snapping him out of his musing. “What ever happened to that young man who tried to save Sherri from those hooligans in the mall?”
Shame pinged Cole’s heart for doubting Ted’s motives for rushing to protect Sherri. “He’s recovered from the assault and is doing well.” And thankfully had promised to curb his obsessive concern for her welfare.
“And what about your brother? How’s he doing?”
“Better. Thank you for asking.” Eddie had changed a lot since his brush with death. He was getting counseling and they were all working at communicating better. “We’re hopeful he’ll overcome his destructive behavior without the need for a residential rehab.”
“I’m so glad. You should bring him with you to next Sunday’s picnic. We’d love to have him.”
“That’s very kind of you,” Cole replied, choking down his surprise. He still couldn’t quite believe Sherri’s family hadn’t balked at their growing closeness considering her father’s initial reception the day of the dog attack. A guy with a family as broken as Cole’s was a long way from what most parents would want for their only daughter. But a few hours in her family’s company had more than convinced him that he’d been an idiot to think he’d be happier single.
He fingered the small box in his pocket, his heart somersaulting.
After the meal, the kids ran off to play and the adults retired to lawn chairs under the trees. He’d hoped to coax Sherri into a romantic walk through the meadow, but so many of her cousins were eager to talk with her that he ended up relinquishing his place at her side and joining the men.
Jake plunked down beside him and handed him a glass of lemonade. “You’re good for her, you know. I haven’t seen her this happy in a long time.”
“I’m glad she’s happy.” Cole soaked in the sight of the light in her eyes, the tiny creases at their edges that were thanks to her beaming smile, her rosy cheeks, the way the breeze teased her hair, blowing it over her lips so she had to keep brushing it away.
“Oh, man—” Jake laughed at him “—you’ve got it bad.”
Oh, yeah. Cole reined in a private smile and sipped his lemonade.
“Do you still have nightmares, Sherri?” Jake’s father, the former sheriff, asked.
Cole’s heart galloped as everyone went silent. She’d once scoffed that no man would want to marry a woman who spent half the night thrashing in her sleep.
“Not nearly as bad or as frequent as before.” Her gaze sought his and held. “Cole told me they would ease if I talked about them, but I think it was seeing the tortured look on his face when I begged him to save Baby Luke that made the difference. You see—” her voice hitched and Cole had to grip the arms of his lawn chair to stop himself from springing to her side and pulling her into his arms. “People could tell me all they wanted that there was nothing I could’ve done to save Luke, but I still felt as if I’d let him down. But when I begged Cole to save the baby, I honestly didn’t think I was going to make it.”
The admission slammed the air from his chest. He closed his eyes against the throbbing pain at the mere thought of losing her. And from the sound of the sniffles coming from the circle of family, he wasn’t alone.
Sherri knelt beside him and clasped his hand, before he’d realized she’d crossed the lawn between them. “I could see he didn’t want to leave my side. But I didn’t want him to stay and watch me die when he could save another. I think God allowed me to feel what Luke had felt when he was dying. He’d wanted me to save that mother and child more than anything, just like I’d wanted Cole to save the baby.” Tears spilled from her eyes. “And in that moment, I knew I hadn’t let Luke down.”
Cole tugged her into his arms. Cradling her against his heart, he buried his face in her hair. “Please don’t ever ask me to leave you again.”
She lifted her head and palmed his tear-dampened shirt with a shy smile. “I won’t.”
His heart swelled to bursting and forgetting about her family he lowered his head and claimed her lips with a sweet, lingering k
iss.
As a chorus of “ahs” rose around them, her lips curved into a smile beneath his. Her arms slipped around his neck, and she whispered close to his ear. “Now my family knows all my secrets.”
The family kindly turned the spotlight off them, delving into conversations about the weather and the gardens with only a few giggles and whispers from her younger cousins. Sherri’s cheeks had turned a gorgeous shade of pink, but she didn’t seem in any hurry to leave his arms. If he’d needed any more assurance that she wasn’t ashamed of him, or his family, that confirmed it.
Jake caught his attention, and wrapping his arm around his own wife, winked.
* * *
Sherri nibbled on her bottom lip as Cole walked her to her apartment, his hands stuffed in his pockets. He’d grown fidgety after their kiss at the picnic, asking when the gathering usually broke up and if she wanted to leave early, but...not in a twinkly eyed I-can’t-wait-to-get-you-alone-to-kiss-you-again kind of way. Fishing her key from her purse, she slanted a glance his direction. “Are you okay?”
His head snapped up, surprise on his face. “Never better.” He pulled his hands from his pockets and wrapped an arm around her waist. “Your family is terrific. Thanks for inviting me.”
She chuckled. “Mom has been talking about you so much. My aunts would’ve come looking for you themselves if I hadn’t.”
The twinkle she’d been missing returned to his eyes.
Sherri unlocked her apartment door and waved him inside, but instead of whirling her into his arms, he sauntered over to the dining table.
“You finished the teddy bear puzzle.”
Her heart skipped at the pleased note to his voice.
She joined him at the table and smiled at the image of the teddy bear nurse bandaging the other bear’s paw. Her finger strayed to the hole in the bear’s chest where a couple of pieces were missing. “Some pieces were missing.” She couldn’t help the melancholy that seeped into her voice, remembering how disappointed she’d felt the first time she’d done the puzzle. She’d left it on the table for months, hoping the pieces would turn up...hoping he would turn up. But when months had gone by with no sign of either, it had seemed cruelly appropriate that it was the bear’s heart that was missing. The one thing Cole hadn’t been willing to let her mend.
Emergency Reunion Page 18