LOGAN

As soon as I walk into the office, the hustle and bustle of the day is in full force, and it's barely even seven in the morning.

“What’s with the cheesy ass grin, Knight?” Brantley asks.

“Nothing,” I respond, pouring a cup of coffee. But that’s not entirely the truth. Kayla Sinclair is to blame. After yesterday and seeing her with Skylar, it made me the happiest I’ve been in years. Honestly, I wasn’t planning on introducing them so soon, but I know Kayla isn’t a short-term thing. We’re in this together for the long haul.

Fuck, I love her so damn much. Surprisingly, it wasn’t hard to tell her how I feel. Those three words had only been reserved for Skylar for the last six years, and I swore I’d never say them again after Maggie. However, I also never expected to have these types of feelings again. I couldn’t wait another day to tell her. The way she looked into my eyes as she whispered the words back to me, made me feel whole again.

“Whatever you say,” Brantley snickers, following me into my office. “A few undercovers went over to the house and scored meth. We know for sure they’re selling and they trust our undercovers so we have to keep them safe. Apparently around three today they’re having a big shipment of something big come in. They told our guys to come back and they wouldn’t be disappointed. I say, we watch the shipment come in, have our undercovers purchase it, watch to see how many others go over there, wait a few hours, and then bust their asses.” His face is full of disgust.

“Jesus.” I shake my head. “And to think they’re selling to kids. Those motherfuckers need to be stopped.”

“When the time is right,” he reminds me running his fingers through his hair.

“They’re probably supplying the whole county with drugs. I wouldn’t be surprised if half the people who show up today, and pick up, are dealers in the area. The house could be the main source, which means this could be one of the largest busts our department has had in over a decade.”

Brantley nods. “I believe you’re right.”

“So, we’ll head over there after lunch? I have some other cases I'm reviewing this morning,” I explain looking at the stack of files piled up on my desk.

“Yeah, let's head out after lunch,” he agrees.

The day passes quickly, and I can't wait for it to be over so I can see Kayla. Since she's on my mind and has been all damn day, I text her.

The morning passes quickly and soon I’m heading across town to meet Kayla for lunch. I make it over there without waiting in traffic and go inside and wait for her, and can’t help but plant a kiss on her lips as soon as she’s close enough for me to touch her.

“Well hello to you, too,” she says with a bright smile on her face.

I lean over and whisper in her ear before she orders. “You look beautiful.” She’s wearing a high-waisted pencil skirt, a low-cut blouse, and heels. Her hair is tucked behind her ears and a hint of blush hits her cheeks.

We grab our sandwiches and sit close by the window and eat.

“I have a surprise for you tonight,” Kayla says, smirking.

“Does it include donuts?” I inquire, arching a brow.

She snorts and sets her sandwich down. “Something better...”

“I’m loving the sound of this already.”

Once we’re finished eating, I walk her to her car. My body presses against hers as our mouths and tongues connect. Want and need rushes over me as my hands run up her body. I feel her shiver beneath me.

“Logan,” she warns. “Tonight.” She’s nearly gasping for air as she whispers against my mouth.

We force ourselves apart, both breathing heavily. “Tonight, then.”

I drive back to the office as fast as I can knowing lunch took a little longer than I expected. As soon as I walk in, Brantley is walking toward me with the keys to the unmarked car in his hand. I turn around and follow him.

“Are you ready for this?” he asks, holding up the search warrant as he climbs in the driver’s side and starts the car. Selling to the undercover cops was enough probable cause to get a judge to sign one.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” We’ve handled big cases before and I’m pretty settle in stressful situations such as this one. Being in a war zone, you learn quick that staying calm is a form of survival. You take it one step at a time and focus on the target.

We drive to the suburban neighborhood in Elk Grove and park a little farther than usual. Normally we’d take a whole team with us, search the home, confiscate all the drugs, and arrest them. However, knowing they’re getting a big shipment in, we decided to wait until after it’s in their possession to add on the additional charges. Once we start seeing them distribute again, we’ll call for backup and raid the premises. We want to make sure these guys go down hard.

We shoot the shit as we watch the house with binoculars and cameras. Right as I look over at Brantley, he nods toward the house. “Look, we’ve got our first customer of the day already.”

I pick up my binoculars and my heart drops when I see a Mustang convertible sitting in the driveway.

“Please, don’t,” I grit under my breath.

The door swings open and I see high heels, a tight skirt, and a low-cut blouse. I feel fucking ill to my stomach when the woman turns around, and I see Kayla’s beautiful face.

“What the fuck!” I yell, not even realizing I spoke.

“What? What is it?” Brantley asks as Kayla walks up the sidewalk and knocks on the door.

“That’s...” I swallow hard, blinking and trying to comprehend what I’m seeing. “That’s my girlfriend.”

Brantley turns and looks. “What?”

My mouth goes dry and anger rushes through my body. What the fuck is she doing there? It’s dangerous and unpredictable. She doesn’t need to be there. I can’t understand why she’d be here.

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” Brantley tries to reassure me, but when the door swings open and the older man pulls Kayla into his arms and hugs her, I see his arms traveling further down her back than appropriate. My jaw ticks and I’m two seconds from opening the door and walking over there and beating the fuck out of this creep. She steps inside and I’m stressed the fuck out. I want to text her, warn her, ask her what the hell is going on. But I know I can’t. She’d ask questions. She’d want to know how I know she’s there. It’d make her look suspicious to the creep, and I can’t risk putting her in more danger than she already is. Or maybe she knows more than I think she does. My mind is reeling, swimming in a fog that I can’t seem to get out of.

I check the clock, thirty minutes pass but it feels like I’m drowning. She’s still in there. So many questions run through me. So many awful scenarios playing in my head.

Finally, she steps outside carrying a duffle bag. The same type of bag the Royal girl had. One of the neighbors is outside watering their lawn and the man keeps glancing over at her. Before Kayla gets in the car, the young kid is dropped off. He walks toward the house with a bad attitude. The older man says something to him and the kid looks at Kayla and with everything he has, pushes her hard. It all happens so fast, yet plays out in slow motion.

She stumbles backward, trying to catch herself as she falls to the ground. Her head hits the pavement and even though I’m not close, I can tell it was a hard hit. I reach for the door handle and Brantley pulls me back.

“No!” he shouts. “You can’t go out there. You’ll blow our case before we can get a team of guys to issue the warrant.”

I’m thankful Brantley is thinking straight because I’m losing my fucking mind. The older man goes to Kayla and shakes her but she doesn’t respond. I watch with bated breath, worried out of my mind, as the little punk kid walks inside giving no shits about what he just did.

I call dispatch and request an ambulance at the address, letting them know what I know. I can’t stand being in here as she lies lifeless on the ground, but I know I’d be putting everyone’s lives at risk if I break protocol.

The neighbor pulls out her cell phone and yells something to the man. He shakes his head, telling her no and waving her off, but the woman thankfully doesn’t listen.

Brantley puts a hand on my shoulder, grabbing my attention back to him. “As soon as the ambulance takes her, I’ll drive you straight to the hospital.” Brantley tries to calm me because I’m so volatile waiting.

“Thanks, man.” I run my hands over my face, sinking further into dark thoughts as each second passes. Finally, the ambulance arrives along with an on-duty fireman. The look on the homeowner’s face is evident he’s stressed. He knows any extra attention isn’t good considering he has a house full of drugs.

We watch as the paramedics check her over and see if she’s conscious. They hook her up to an oxygen line before loading her onto the stretcher.

“Thank God,” I mutter, rocking back and forth in my seat.

The guy waits until the ambulance starts backing out before pulling his phone out and walks away as he begins talking.

“I bet he just called off the delivery,” Brantley suggests. “He knows he has a target on him right now.”

I can’t even respond. I feel my walls slowly building up. I’m tense and stressed to the max. I can’t think about anything or give two fucks about this case while Kayla is medically unresponsive. I can only pray that she’s okay.

“They’re going to stay low right now. I bet nothing happens until next week,” Brantley says. I agree and as soon as the ambulance is out of sight we make our way straight to the hospital. I send a quick text to Drew and let him know what’s going on.

Brantley drives as fast as he can to the hospital, while anxiety creeps through me, and I feel some sort of relief when I see Drew standing outside the emergency entrance, talking on his cell phone. I thank Brantley before he decides to go back and watch the house alone.

As soon as Drew sees me walking toward him, he hangs up and falls in line with me. “I just called Courtney and she’s picking up Viola. They’re on their way.”

“Okay.” My jaw ticks, unable to really process anything right now.

“You have no idea why she’d be in that neighborhood?” he asks.

“I have no fucking idea. It doesn't look good, at all, considering how long she was in there and how comfortable she was with him like they were friends or something. But there must be legit reason. There has to be.” Every horrible scenario plays through my mind and it takes everything I have to push them away.

Drew places his hand on my shoulder and pulls me back to reality. “I’m sure there is. I’ll wait for Court and Viola out here. We’ll meet you inside.”

I walk to the registration desk and tell the woman I’m with the Sacramento PD. After explaining the situation about Kayla and that I’m her boyfriend, I give a physical description so she can find details about her right away.

“They brought her into triage, and once she’s stable, they’ll transfer her into the ICU and you’ll be able to see her.”

“I need to see her now.”

“They were taking her to get an MRI since they’re worried about brain injury and swelling.” She then reaches into a basket. “Take this buzzer and when it’s time, I’ll buzz you.”

Drew finally walks back in with Courtney and Viola. They both engulf me with hugs and start asking me a million questions. All questions I want answers to as well.

A half hour passes before I get buzzed. I sprint to the registration desk and the same woman is still there. “Can I see her now?”

She flashes a small smile. “Yes. Follow me.”

Drew and the girls stay back and wait for me to return with an update. I just want to see her and know that she’s okay.

“You can only stay for ten minutes,” the woman warns.

“Can you have a nurse give me an update?’

“Yes, I’ll send her right in,” she tells me before walking away.

I walk through the door with my heart racing and my blood boiling. I don’t even know anything yet and I’m already scared out of my mind. My heart drops when I see she’s still hooked up to oxygen and a bunch of machines are beeping around her. I walk to the bed and grab her hand, hoping she can feel me.

“Kayla, can you hear me?”

She doesn’t respond.

“I love you, Angel.” I kiss her hand and rub my finger along her cheek. “I love you so fucking much.”

A nurse walks in and greets me with a smile. “You must be Detective Knight. I’m Sara, the ICU nurse.”

“Can you tell me anything?”

“We’re still waiting for the MRI results, but otherwise everything looks good so far. Her heart rate and blood pressure are all within the normal ranges. The oxygen is just a precautionary until we know more.”

“And what will the MRI tell you?”

“Just if there’s any bleeding or swelling. She was knocked unconscious and we’re keeping her sedated for now until we know for sure. If there’s trauma to the head, having her sedated will help her body to heal.”

It takes everything inside me to not lose it.

The next three days go by in a blur. I don’t eat. I don’t sleep. I don’t even remember what it feels like to need to eat or sleep. The MRI results came back with minor swelling, so they kept her sedated to allow her body to begin healing naturally. I hate not being able to hear her voice. Holding her hand, I speak to her and remind her how much she’s loved and that I miss her so damn much.

Viola and Courtney also visit her every day, but we all only get a short window to be in her room, which means we’re mostly camping out in the waiting room. If something changes, one of us will at least be here.

On the fourth day, her nurse tells me they’ve lowered the sedation levels and she could possibly wake up within the next twelve hours. After another MRI that morning, they could see that swelling has gone down and that she should have a full recovery as soon as it continues to decrease.

The good news gives me hope. I’ve been a fucking wreck, but trying my best to stay strong for her sake.

After sitting down in the chair next to her bed and pressing a kiss to her hand, I tell her the news her nurse told me. I don’t know if she can hear me or not, but just in case she can, I want her to know that she’s strong enough to pull through this. I know this situation could’ve been a lot worse, considering the guy’s background, but talking to her gives me comfort, too.

A nurse pops in and reminds me of my time limit, which I fucking hate. If they’d let me sleep on the floor, I would, just to be next to her. She looks so peaceful, like a real-life Sleeping Beauty, except my kiss won’t wake her.

I check my watch and realize half my time is up already, but when I look back at her, Kayla’s eyes begin to flutter open.

“Kayla?” I perk up and rub my hand across her cheek. “Finally. I was so scared and worried, Angel.”

She blinks a few times, looking around the room and at me, but doesn’t say anything.

“I’m so happy you’re awake. Do you remember anything?”

She shakes her head as she studies my face.

“That’s okay. That’s normal for traumatic situations. I’m just so damn thankful I witnessed what happened and was able to get an ambulance there for you as quick as possible.” 

She breathes in deep and releases a soft breath and tries to sit up. I help her adjust her pillow and she smiles. The first time I’ve seen that beautiful smile in four days.

“What happened?” she asks.

“You were knocked down and smacked your head on the pavement pretty hard. They did an MRI and saw you had some swelling, so they wanted to keep you sedated until it started to go down.

“Oh,” is all she says.

“I’m just so happy you’re awake. I’ve been going insane for four days.” I smile at her and she smiles back.

“Are Viola and Courtney coming?” she asks, and I grab her hand and kiss her knuckles.

“I’m going to text them as soon as I can tell them you’re awake. I’ll make sure Drew and Travis know, too.”

A nurse steps in, seeing that Kayla is awake and is almost as shocked as I was. I’m smiling and thrilled because I didn’t really expect this to happen so soon once they decreased the medicine. The nurse introduces herself to Kayla and lets her know she’s going to do some neurological testing. She puts her pen up and instructs Kayla to follow it with her eyes. She then asks her a series of questions like her name, her birth date, what city we’re in, and other standard questions. I smile when I hear her answer correctly.

The nurse is typing all her notes on the computer and nods her head at me to come over. “Your time is almost up,” she tells me quietly. “But don’t worry. Now that she’s awake, if her vitals stay stable, she’ll be moved to a regular room.” She comforts me because I don’t plan to leave anytime soon.

The nurse directs her attention back to Kayla and smiles.

“Honey, do you have any questions or do you need anything?”

“Actually,” she says, clearing her throat. She sits there for a moment, staring at the nurse. When her words come, they are quiet and meek and rip a knife straight through my heart. “Who is he?”

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TO BE CONTINUED...