Savage Collision: A Hawke Family Novel (The Hawke Family Book 1) (36 page)

I cry out when the second shot rings out through the phone and in the air outside. The first time Matteo fired, I swear my heart stopped.

Everything I had dreamed of for my future, everything I had dreamed of for a future with Danika, disappeared in a millisecond.

Until I heard Danika’s voice again, I thought for sure we were too late. It had apparently just been a warning shot, but Matteo just said he wanted to remind her what he was capable of…

Images of her lying in pools of her own blood, her eyes wide and lifeless flash across my vision, mingling with the memories of Star’s death. That’s been happening a lot lately, ever since Doc got me talking about the accident. The visions, the nightmares, things I had somehow managed to push out of my head after the accident—all of it came crashing down like a tidal wave.

And now, I might lose Danika.

No. I can’t.

The officer standing outside my open door says something to me, but I don’t hear it over the rush of blood in my ears. I’m listening for anything over the line, any indication at all of what has happened, but the line is dead.

“Oh God!” I scream and drop the phone on the seat next to me, dropping my head in my hands as the tears stream from my eyes. I can’t do this. I can’t.

Three sharp cracks ring out and I turn my head to the officer who has turned back to look toward the building. His walkie squawks and garbled words race out in an indistinguishable stream. He responds and starts to walk away from me toward one of the police vehicles.

“No,” I cry, grabbing his arm, “what’s happening? Is Danika all right?”

He pulls my hand from his arm. “She’s okay. Your friend really knows how to take care of business.”

His words don’t immediately register. All I hear is that Dani’s okay, and, at this moment, that’s all that matters. Then I realize he said something else.

“What? What do you mean?” The officer doesn’t answer me and turns to speak with another officer, putting his back to me. I look past him toward the warehouse and see several dark figures moving around. A flood light spills out from the SWAT vehicle parked behind me and in the bright florescent lights, Gabe emerges from the building with someone cradled in his arms.

Danika.

My heart beats out of my chest and I can’t seem to get any oxygen in my lungs as I watch Gabe stride across the parking lot toward the parade of vehicles along the street. The flashing lights of the squad cars, ambulances, and fire trucks paint strange colors across his stern face. Every step he takes seems to last for an eternity.

I’ve never felt more helpless in my entire life. Not even when I was laying in that hospital bed being told I lost the use of my legs. Nothing compares to the agony of watching and waiting, knowing there’s nothing I can do.

The closer he comes, the more anxious I get.

I should have been in there. I should have been the one who saved her.

She has to be okay.

As they approach the fence-line, I notice her tan trench coat is streaked in something dark.

Blood.

She’s not okay…

My vision blurs and my head swims and I struggled to keep my shit together. Gabe moves through the opening the police cut in the fence and makes his way toward the car.

Her arms are wrapped around Gabe’s neck and her face is turned into him, obscuring my view and preventing me from seeing her like I need to. The officer who has been standing near the car steps away to make room, and Gabe steps into the open door next to me.

“Savage.”

I know he’s talking to me; I hear his words. But answering him is out of the question. My voice is caught in my throat.

She isn’t moving. She’s covered in blood and she isn’t moving.

“Savage, snap out of it.” He nudges my shoulder and I shake my head, trying to clear the fog of panic that has overtaken me. “She’s okay,” he says, leaning into the car with her, “it’s not her blood.”

Not her blood.

I should have known that. If she’d been hurt, the paramedics would have taken her immediately. Apparently, logic flies out the window in these situations.

He starts to lower her into my lap but she cries out and grips his neck, clinging to him. “No, no, please don’t…please…”

Her cries make my heart shatter all over again. She’s clinging to Gabe for comfort—not me. And why shouldn’t she? He’s the one who saved her, who risked his life to make sure she was safe.

While I sat here, fucking useless…

Gabe pulls his head away from hers and cups her face in one of his palms. “Danika, look, it’s Savage.” He turns her to look at me and her wide, red eyes meet mine. She practically leaps from his arms trying to get to me. He helps lower her into the car and she climbs into my lap, latching her arms around my neck and sobbing against my shoulder, her whole body violently shaking with each breath she tries to take.

“Shh, baby, it’s okay. You’re safe.” I run my hand up and down her back, trying to soothe her, but nothing I do seems to help. Her despair is complete; she’s inconsolable.

I hold her for what feels like an eternity before an officer approaches and tells Gabe he needs to talk to the sergeant. Gabe nods to me and disappears.

Another officer approaches almost immediately.

“Mr. Hawke, we need to take Ms. Eriksson to get checked out by the paramedics.”

She stiffens in my arms, her grip on my neck tightening.

“Can that wait?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “I’m afraid not, sir. They need to see her right now.”

“Danika, baby, you need to go…”

“NO!” She screams and finally pulls back from my neck, allowing me to see her face fully for the first time in almost two months. Fear overpowers her beautiful features, her eyes so wide and terrified, I can’t see any of the stunning blue that normally gazes back at me. “Please, no, don’t leave me.”

I capture her face in my hands and smooth my thumbs over her blood-spattered cheeks. “Danika, baby, they need to look at you to make sure you’re okay. I am not going anywhere. They will bring you right back to me.”

She shakes her head vigorously, tears streaming down her face, her fingers digging into my shirt and clutching at it frantically. “No, please, don’t make me go.”

I glance over at the officer, who gives me a sympathetic look, but it’s clear she has to go, no matter how much she might protest.

“Can I go with her?” She buries her face against my neck, sobs racking her body again, and I know no matter what the answer is, I can’t leave her again, not for anything.

He nods. “I’m sure that won’t be a problem.”

“Thank you. Can you get my chair from the trunk please?”

He looks momentarily confused, then glances down at my legs and back up to my face.

“Oh, uh, sure.” He disappears around the back of the car. I pull Danika’s face away from my shoulder. Her bottom lip trembles and tears still stream down her cheeks, but her breathing has returned somewhat to normal.

“Baby, I am going to go with you, okay? But you need to go with the officer, so I can get out of the car.”

Her eyes are glazed over and I’m not one hundred percent sure she understands what I’m saying, but she nods anyway. When the officer returns, she allows him to help her out of the car. The second I’m seated in my chair, she lunges at me, curling herself back into a ball on my lap.

The officer just points in the direction of the ambulance and I follow him over there, Danika seemingly oblivious we are even moving.

She’s in shock.

How could she not be, after what just happened?

We go through the same routine when the paramedics try to get her off my lap to do their exam. I finally convince her to get onto the gurney, but only because I promise to not move and hold her hand the entire time.

She has several scrapes along the right side of her face, but no other visible injuries. I hear the paramedics say something about shock, but I concentrate on squeezing her hand to let her know I’m here.

When the sergeant approaches and tells us we need to go the station to give a statement, she collapses into a fit of hysterics again.

I want nothing more than to bring her home and just hold her, show her I am not going anywhere, but there’s no way we are getting out of going to the station. She cries against my neck the entire ride there, her body shaking and her breath hitching with every sob. My already-pummeled emotions are running wild, and I can barely keep myself in check. The only thing keeping me from completely falling apart is knowing Danika needs me.
 

The interview at the police station drags on for four agonizing hours. Listening to Danika recount her ordeal in excruciating detail had my stomach roiling and my hands stinging from clenching them throughout her story.

When she described Matteo blowing off Paul’s head and his body falling onto her, knocking her to the ground and pinning her under him, I could barely stop myself from grabbing her arm and pulling her from that room to end her distress.

I know they needed to know what happened—every gory detail—but watching her in so much anguish killed me. Now, as we finally approach my building, she’s once again clinging to me, her warm breath puffing across my neck and cheek. I know she isn’t asleep. I can feel her lashes fluttering against my skin as she blinks away her tears.

No one has said a word since we left the station.

They let Gabe go.

Thank God.

Anyone else who shot three people in the head with a sniper rifle would probably spend several days in jail while there was an investigation, at least, and may be prosecuted, at worst. But with Gabe’s background, family connections, and the circumstances, I can’t say I’m surprised it was easy for him to get released immediately.

His eyes lock with mine in the rearview mirror and I see the same darkness there I remember from when he returned from one of his many deployments. He doesn’t like killing, and I know he suffered when he had to do it.

In the past, he’s always been very good at hiding it from people—everyone except me. I don’t know how I didn’t know he was seeing a shrink. I guess I just figured he was dealing with his demons in his own way, but I’m glad he did. Otherwise, he would have ended up even more fucked up than he already is.

We pull into our building’s underground parking. The moment the car stops moving, Danika shifts in my arms and leans back, looking around to see where we are. “We’re home, baby,” I whisper, pressing my lips to hers gently.

Home. My home. Not hers.

Fuck, I want it to be her home.

I want her here, with me, where she belongs. Here, where I can love her, and protect her.

This isn’t over with Dom, not by a long shot. No way he’s going to just walk away knowing she’s still alive, knowing what she knows, what she could do to him, knowing she caused the death of his right-hand man and two others. But, I will deal with that tomorrow. Tonight, tonight is about taking care of her, making sure she realizes she is safe, giving her whatever she needs.

Her unfocused, red-rimmed eyes search my face, but she doesn’t respond. Gabe opens the back door and helps her climb out, but as soon as I slide into my chair, she lurches to climb back into my lap. I don’t blame her. She’s terrified and still in shock.

The silence continues on the elevator ride. Gabe holds the door to my condo open and Princess races out, jumping at me and then at Gabe’s legs. He scoops her up and nods as he heads across the hall to his place. No words are necessary. Not now.

Hell, what would I say, anyway? Thanks for murdering three people to rescue my girlfriend?

I head straight for the bathroom. While the medical staff did the best they could to somewhat clean her up, there’s still blood spattered and smeared on her cheek and in her hair.

Thank God she hasn’t been able to look in a mirror.

Stopping next to the glass door of the massive shower, I nudge her.

“Baby, let’s get you out of these clothes and cleaned up.” She looks at me with vacant eyes and my heart breaks just a little more. I give her a fake, reassuring smile and capture her face between my palms. I don’t want to leave her for a moment, but I need to grab something for her to sleep in. “Can you get undressed while I run to the closet?”