Cabin 12

by Freya Barker

  “Are you sure?” I want to know.

  “I’m fine,” Bella suddenly says, her eyes cracking open and for the first time in thirty-two hours, I can breathe.

  “There you go.” The guy smiles at her as he wets some gauze with distilled water. But when he goes to wipe it over her skin, I step in.

  “I’ll do that.”

  “It’s okay, I—”

  “I said I’ll take care of it,” I repeat, moving him out of the way and sitting down next to the stretcher. “Hey, Sweetheart.” I pull the sheet out from underneath her and partially cover her up.

  “Hey.” Her smile is a little wobbly, but still the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

  I’m handed the bottle of distilled water and a stack of pads over my shoulder, and I gently start wiping the grime off her face. “What about Connor?” she asks suddenly.

  I force my hand to keep moving as I weigh my answer, but the EMT behind me solves my dilemma when he says, “The other crew is looking after him.”

  Truth is, I’m pretty sure the kid is dead. I’ll have to wait to find out what exactly happened, but I was coming up behind him when he suddenly dropped like a sack. The moment he hit the ground my entire focus became her.

  “Bella!” I turn to see Damian running toward the ambulance.

  “She’s good,” I assure him quickly, but I still move out of the way so he can see for himself.

  “Fucking Christ, kid,” he mutters, putting his hand on her ankle and dropping his head down. “Took twenty goddamn years off my life, I swear.”

  “I’m fine,” she repeats. “How was your vacation?”

  Damian snorts, shaking his head. “I think I need another one.”

  “Sir, we should take her into Mercy, get her checked out.”

  “Right,” Damian acknowledges with a nod. “I’ve got shit I have to take care of here, but I’ll call the family, tell them to meet you there.”

  “I’ll go with her.”

  Damian’s eyes snap to me, and he gives me a long hard look before nodding once. “Go on, get her out of here.”

  Bella

  By the time we pull up outside Mercy, I’m halfway presentable.

  Jasper spent the entire half-hour trip painstakingly cleaning every trace of blood he could find off my skin. Gently folding back the sheet he covered me with, he would expose a little at a time, sweetly guarding my modesty.

  “Thank you.” I grab his hand when he’s about to pull it away. “For finding me.”

  He closes his eyes and sighs deeply. “I shouldn’t have lost you to begin with.”

  Before I have a chance to set him straight, the doors open and the sounds of my family drown out everything else.

  “Mi preciosa!”

  My mother wrestles her way to the stretcher as they pull me out, and I swear would’ve thrown herself on top of me, if my father hadn’t held her back.

  Flashes of my sisters’ worried faces fly by as I’m wheeled into the ER, repeating, “I’m fine.”

  I miss Jasper’s touch already and try to look behind me to see if he’s there, but my family crowding behind me blocks my view. I’m wheeled into a cubicle—my family held back at the door—and lifted onto a bed. I sigh in relief when it’s not Dr. Lipczyk I see coming through the curtains, but one of the young female interns.

  “I hear you’ve had quite an adventure,” she says easily, palpating the swelling on my cheek and around my eye. I’m grateful for the lighter tone, it helps stave off the dark shadows lurking at the edge of my awareness. “Nothing looks broken,” she concludes, peeling back the sheet they left me covered with. “Let’s have a look at the rest of you.”

  “There’s nothing, other than a couple of bruises,” I inform her.

  “Good. Lucky. Now, you know I have to ask this...” She lets her words trail off and looks at me with the question clear in her eyes.

  “He never touched me,” I assure her, and she raises an eyebrow at the swelling on my face. “Not like that. He never touched me in any sexual way.”

  “All right. Well, then I think we’ll get some X-rays done of your face and your ribs, since you’ve sustained quite a bit of bruising on your left side, but if nothing shows up on those, I think we’ll be able to let you go home.”

  Two hours later, I’m wheeled out of the hospital to my father’s waiting car, Ma and my sisters flanking me. There’s been no sign of Jasper.

  I’m installed in the front seat, while Ma and Chrissy get in the back. Gabby and Fran are in Gabby’s car. When Papa gets behind the wheel I turn to him.

  “Have you seen Jasper?”

  Instead of looking at me, his eyes shoot up at the rearview mirror and he glares into the back seat.

  “Papa?”

  “Ask your Ma and your sister,” he grinds out between clenched teeth, as he pulls away from the hospital.

  I turn around in my seat and find those two looking at each other.

  “Well?”

  Chrissy is the first to look me in the eye. “I believe he mentioned something about needing to get back to his team.”

  My father snorts beside me.

  “Was that before or after you guys jumped on him like a bunch of feral cats?” I guess, and judging from the guilty look on Chrissy’s face, it’s the latter.

  “He was supposed to look after you,” Ma says defensively. “This would never have happened if your family had been here.”

  “Bullshit,” Papa and I say at the same time. I’m glad to know there’s at least one person in my family with some sense.

  “That man got up before dawn to make sure my house was safe to come home to at the end of my shift. Would any of you have? Do you think Damian would’ve gotten up at three o’clock and driven half an hour to do that?”

  “He should never have let you go back to work.” I can’t quite believe what I’m hearing as my mother’s mouth presses into a stubborn line. “I told you that job was too much and too dangerous for you.”

  “Ma,” Chrissy cautions, putting a hand on her arm, but I’m already reeling with a retort.

  “At least he respects and trusts me enough to let me decide for myself what I can and cannot do,” I hiss before swinging back around in my seat, staring straight ahead, my eyes burning, knowing Ma won’t let this go until she’s had the last word. She doesn’t keep me waiting long.

  “And see where that got you?”

  “Enough!” my father barks. “Carmella, no more. Stop before you do more damage.”

  The rest of the trip to my house is silent. Uncomfortably so. I dread seeing not only Gabby’s car, but Damian’s SUV as well, parked in front of my house.

  Damian has the car door open and me wrapped in a bear hug in seconds.

  “Love you, kid,” he mumbles against my ear, and the tears I’ve been holding back suddenly tumble down my cheeks. He leans back and cups my face in his big hands, searching my eyes before looking over my shoulder. “Where is Greene?”

  “Ma.”

  He doesn’t need more explanation and shakes his head. “What do you need?” he whispers for my ears only.

  “A shower and sleep,” I tell him, the strain of the past two days making my legs weak.

  “You’ve got it, honey. Kerry will give you a hand, she’s inside waiting.”

  My big brother tucks me under his arm and walks me inside, ignoring my sisters and walking me straight to Kerry.

  “I’m fine,” I assure Gabby and Fran, who look a little bedraggled, although I’m not sure if I was successful, given the state of my face.

  “She needs a shower and bed,” Damian instructs his wife, and behind him Gabby pipes up.

  “We’ll take care of her.”

  “No,” he says firmly, facing our family. “Kerry will, while we have a little chat.”

  “SO,” KERRY STARTS, while she’s brushing through my wet hair. “Jasper Greene.”

  I look at our reflection in the mirror, her face healthy and tanned, wearing a gentle sm
ile, and mine red and blotchy from spilling my guts to her and having a good cry in the shower.

  “I don’t know,” I confess. “I can’t imagine he’ll want much to do with me after what my family did to him.”

  “Pffft...I’m sure he’s a bigger man than that. He’ll understand your family’s just been worried. They were scared, they’ll turn around, and so will he.”

  “I’m not so sure.”

  “Why would you say that?”

  “Because he told me he’s never had a family. Let alone one like mine. Besides, I’m afraid what my mother and sisters said to him only enforced what he’s beating himself up for.”

  I remember his last words in the back of the ambulance, “I shouldn’t have lost you to begin with.”

  Kerry has barely tucked me into bed when the bedroom door opens a crack and Damian cautiously peeks in.

  “Ahh good, you’re decent,” he says, walking over to sit on the edge of the bed. “I’ve got to get back to work, but I’m sure Kerry won’t mind staying with you.”

  “Where is everyone else gonna be?” his wife asks.

  “I’m sending everyone over to our house, if that’s okay with you?”

  The two share a look in silent conversation, and Kerry nods. “Of course it is.”

  “Papa wants to have a word before he herds them out of here, though.”

  “Sure.”

  “I’ll send him in and, Isabella?” I look up in my brother’s serious face. I can’t remember the last time he used my full name. “I’m proud of you. I don’t know many people, man or woman, who would’ve been able to keep a cool head under those kinds of circumstances. You did an amazing job holding it together. Keeping that kid calm. I found the slug on the kitchen floor. I know what you did and it’s nothing shy of amazing.”

  My eyes instantly start welling up again, both at Damian’s words and the fear that boy—barely an adult—didn’t survive; despite my best efforts. I have to know for sure.

  “Connor?”

  “I’m sorry, honey. He didn’t make it.” I nod sharply, noting the sharp clench of my brother’s jaw.

  “I don’t think he was always bad,” I feel compelled to say. “Most of the time he was just a teenage kid, really. But life damaged him in a way I don’t think he could ever have recovered from.”

  “I know.”

  “He told me some things you probably should know.”

  “Tomorrow, honey. We’ll deal with that tomorrow. I’m sending Papa in and then you get some sleep.”

  He gets up, leans over, and kisses my forehead before leaving the room. My father walks in almost immediately.

  “Your brother is right, mi hija, you were...are amazing. I want you to know he read us the riot act out there.”

  “But you—”

  “Oh, me too. And I deserved it. Accused me of not speaking out when I know better. Keeping silent to keep the peace. He’s right. I did that, and I’m sorry, Isabella.”

  “Papa, it’s okay.”

  “Bueno, nada mas. I just needed to tell you that. Te amo, querida. Get some sleep.”

  “Te amo, Papa.”

  CHAPTER 21

  JASPER

  “What the hell are you still doing here?”

  I look up from my screen to see Damian walking in. I don’t even know what time it is, but a quick glance at my watch shows nine thirty.

  “I’m writing up my report. Almost done.”

  “Since when do you write up reports the same day?”

  “Since I saw something you guys didn’t because you had your back turned, and I want to make sure I remember every fucking detail, so there isn’t a chance in fucking hell this kid’s death will be brushed off like his father’s was.”

  “Don’t hold back on my account,” Damian comments sardonically, taking a seat on the other side of my desk. “You’re talking about McMahan? You know he didn’t shoot the kid, right?”

  “He might as well have.”

  “Okay, you’re gonna have to explain, Jasper. As I recall, he didn’t step foot into the cabin until after the shot was fired.”

  “But he was out on the porch, looking through the broken window. Fucking waving at the kid, Damian. There’s no way that kid would’ve missed him.”

  “Are you saying McMahan manipulated the shooting?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m fucking saying. Think about it; he knows the kid, he knows we’re looking into his connection to the kid, and he knows the kid is out for revenge. He knew the kid would go for his gun. He doesn’t want to give us a chance to ask questions.”

  “And you saw him?”

  “He was fucking waving, Boss. He doesn’t know we’re aware of the payoffs to the family. As far as he’s concerned, his involvement dies with the kid.”

  Damian is quiet, tapping his fingers on my desk, processing the information. I leave him to it and finish writing my report.

  “So show again me what you have on this payoff scheme so far,” he finally says, when I print off a copy of what I wrote for my own records.

  I lay it all out for him: Hiram Miller’s bank statements showing all transactions after his daughter died, the trust fund, the connection to Eugene Lipczyk, and how he is affiliated with Mercy Hospital through his seat on the board. I even tell him about the run-in I had with his son in the ER the night Bella was cut.

  “Do you have anything to show Lipczyk is connected to McMahan in any way?”

  “Working on it. There’s evidence the two know each other; they both grew up in Durango, were only a few years apart in high school, and they attend a lot of the same social events.”

  “That’s not exactly much to go on,” Damian points out. “That could apply to quite a few of the upper echelon in this town.”

  “You’re right, it isn’t, but it’s interesting enough to keep digging.”

  “That, I agree with. Check college alma maters, find out any personal connections: golf, country club, wives. Dig through social media. Find me anything that shows a personal connection, anything more than what can be brushed off as coincidental.”

  “Working on it.”

  “As for what you saw today at the cabin, have you talked to any of the SWAT guys that were there? Blackfoot? Anyone who may have seen the same you did? I’m not doubting you, but two witnesses would be better than one.”

  “I was holding off. The moment I start asking questions, I’m sure word will get back to Chief McMahan, and I want to make sure I have full backing of the Bureau before I go ahead.”

  “You do, but tread carefully. The moment you can show me something concrete, we will launch a full investigation. Jesus, Jasper,” he says, rubbing his hand over his face. “A cop shooter is bad enough, but police corruption in the highest possible ranks is a minefield. God only knows how far the tentacles reach.”

  “I know, believe me. Blackfoot does too, which is why he slipped it to me.”

  “Leave him out of it for now. I don’t want to put a target on his back.” Damian gets up and heads into his office, but I catch him just before he disappears.

  “I meant to ask you, how is Bella doing?”

  He turns and leans a shoulder against the doorpost, crossing his arms in front of him. “No injuries that won’t heal within a week or so. Emotionally? Only time will tell. Right now she’s sleeping. Kerry’s with her and I sent my family to my place. You’ve got something you want to tell me?” He squints his eyes, and I find myself wanting to squirm in my seat, but I resist, facing him head on.

  “I like your sister,” I admit.

  “Tell me something new, genius.”

  That comment takes the wind out of my sails, and I need a moment to consider how to word things. I shouldn’t be surprised though, I was pretty adamant about going with her in the ambulance.

  “I just think she’s better off with family. Safer. She’s going to need the support, and I...I should focus on the investigation.” I was going to say I’m not sure if I’m what she needs, bu
t that would’ve given too much away.

  “Good.” He pushes away from the doorpost and turns to into his office, but at the last minute he throws over his shoulder; “Go home, get some sleep. Tomorrow morning I want you to get a full statement from Bella. She mentioned something the kid told her, something important.”

  I’m not sure if he’s being purposely obtuse or just an asshole, but the prospect of seeing Bella in the morning is already messing with my head. Still, I shut down my computer, pack up my laptop, and head out the door.

  LAST TIME I SAW MY bed was when I left it before dawn Saturday morning. When I rolled into it the moment I walk in the door, I didn’t expect to fall asleep almost instantly.

  Unfortunately, it’s only three in the morning and I just shot straight up in bed. Bella is first on my mind, but then I remember she’s already home, safely in bed—or so I hope. Nuts how quickly my body has settled into the routine of waking at this early hour. Too bad it’ll be another five or six hours, at least, before I can decently show up on her doorstep to get her statement, and there’s no way in hell I’ll get back to sleep.

  Work it is. I pad into the kitchen, get a pot of coffee going, and flick on the scanner before sitting down with my laptop. Work has always been my escape of choice, and fuck do I need an escape now. I don’t do well with unpredictability.

  I lead a simple life which consists mostly of work, sometimes the gym, and an occasional outdoor activity I enjoy. The only people I deal with are either part of an investigation I happen to be working on or my team. The last time I tried anything close to a relationship outside of those parameters was over twenty years ago. I was in college and really more invested in accomplishing the goals I’d set for myself than I was in her. I ended up hurting her, disappointing her family. I decided there and then I was probably better suited to a single life, and I’ve done fine by myself. Until Bella made me want something more.