I look away, not able to watch his memories go up in smoke. As I look down at the grass, I see the reason for his last trip in his left hand. And I feel the tears start to sting my eyes again for a different reason. It’s the picture from his mantel. The one of him and his family.
I let out a sob as I place my head on his shoulder thankful we all made it out alive. “I’m so sorry, Case,” I whisper.
He repositions himself, wraps his arms around me, and pulls me into his lap. I feel his heart pound against my chest, and he hugs me tightly. He buries his head in my hair, and I can hear his ragged breathing in my ear. “I’m so sorry,” I repeat because I don’t know what else to say.
He coughs, and it causes his entire body to shake mine as well. “We’re gonna be okay,” he rasps, gripping me tighter to the point of pain. “You’re okay.”
I wiggle myself loose and look up at him. “What about you? Are you okay?” I reach up and place my hand on his face, and my heart stops. It’s the first good look I get at him since he ran back into the house. His face is covered in black ash and sweat drips from his body. His eyes are sad, but his jaw is tight.
“I’m fine.” He pulls me back into him. “I have you. I’ll be fine.” I don’t point out the obvious. That he ran back into a burning house in order to get a picture. But I know how important that picture is to him. It’s all he had left of a family who left him.
***
“Who could have done it?” Brecken asks as he sits up in his hospital bed.
He’s been in the hospital for nine days now and is gonna be released soon. We’re all hoping tomorrow. The doctors say he has made a remarkable recovery.
Case shrugs as he stares out the window that looks over Chicago. “No one knows where I live,” he replies flatly. My heart hurts so much for him. He lost everything he had in the fire yesterday other than that one picture he was willing to risk his life in order to save.
“I don’t understand why this is all of a sudden happening,” Miller wonders. “We’ve been doing undercover cases for over four years now, and we’ve never been this close to death this many times on one case before.” He chuckles at his own words, and my chest tightens for them; Case hasn’t gone into detail about his job, but is this what he goes through on a day-to-day basis? I didn’t know being an undercover cop was so hazardous to their health.
Case sighs heavily. “I don’t know. It all started that night those guys attacked Taylor in the alleyway. The guy said he had gotten a call earlier that evening about Taylor but didn’t know who it was from.”
“How did you get him to tell you that?” Miller asks.
He continues to keep his back to us. “I just started breaking bones,” he replies with no emotion, and I cringe. “I broke one for every question he didn’t answer. A broken nose. Broken arm and some broken ribs …” He shrugs. “He started talking. And then I broke them just because.”
Miller looks at me. “Did they say anything to you? Like what they wanted or who had sent them?”
I shake my head but then remember. “Uh, yeah … one of them said that they wanted to know if I was worth the risk.”
“What risk?” Miller asks, and I shrug. How am I supposed to know what they were talking about?
Then Brecken looks at me. “What had you done that day? Where had you gone that someone could have seen you?”
“Nowhere,” I say thinking back to that day. “I had slept most of that day. I was just lying around the house when Jenna had called me to ask her to cover her shift. Then while I was getting ready, I saw where Rox’s club had been raided. I got to the club as quick as I could to tell Case.” I roll my eyes at how stupid that sounded. “He obviously already knew.” I sigh. “We got into a fight … then I started my shift. My brother came by to check on me …”
“Maybe he was the one being followed,” Brecken offers.
Case shakes his head still giving us his back. “They would have attacked him first, not days later,” he muses.
“Did anyone come with him?” Miller asks.
I shake my head. “Not that I know of.”
“Who all had he talked to while he was there?” Brecken questions.
“I don’t know.” I sigh. I just wanna go to sleep, and I want people to stop trying to kill us. “The place was packed, and he wouldn’t have stayed long because Savannah wasn’t with him.”
Brecken goes to open his mouth, but the door to his room flies open. I jump and Case spins around when it bangs against the wall.
“Oh, my God.”
We all stand and watch with surprise on our faces as Rachel runs in and jumps onto Brecken’s bed. He lets out a growl as if her pouncing has caused him pain. She straddles him, and my eyes widen in shock. Is she gonna fuck him right here?
“Baby!” she cries out as she places her hands on either side of his face. “Are you okay?”
He goes to speak, but she crashes her lips to his. She lets out a moan as she rocks her hips.
“Oookkkaaayyyy,” I mumble as I place my hand up to shield her affection toward him.
“What are you doing here, Rachel?” I hear Case snap.
I lower my hand, and she pulls away from Brecken’s face. He licks his lips and grabs her hands, pushing her body away from his, but she remains straddling his hips. She looks over her shoulder at Case and gives him a fuck you look that I know all too well from her. “I came to check on Brecken. I heard he got shot.”
“Yeah. Nine days ago,” I snap. I don’t know Rachel all that well, but I do know she is all about herself.
She snaps her head around to look over her other shoulder to give me the death glare. “I didn’t know that since dickhead fired me. I haven’t been to the club. You didn’t even call me.” She looks back down at Brecken and pushes out her bottom lip. “I had to hear it from a friend.”
I look away from her and frown. Who had fired her? I hadn’t heard about that, but I’ll ask later. Now’s not the time and place.
“I’m fine,” he says pushing her away even more. She has no choice but to get off his hospital bed.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Case growls as he leans his back against the window that overlooks Chicago.
She looks him up and down with a look of disgust on her face, and I wonder what is going on between them. Things have been so crazy since our fight over her; we haven’t had the chance to talk about where they stand now.
“You look like shit!” she spits as she places her hands on her hips. She pushes out her hip, and it makes her short skirt rise up and shows off her ass. “Not get enough sleep last night?” She arches a dark eyebrow.
“No. I didn’t actually. So you would be smart to leave before I have you thrown out.” Case gets a cruel smile on his face. “Or go ahead and stay. You’ve never really been one to do what’s smart.”
She snorts. “Obviously. I did you, didn’t I?”
This is the most awkward position I have ever been in. I go to turn to leave the room when she turns to face me. “He’s a cop,” she announces.
I refrain from smiling. “You don’t say?”
Miller chuckles and covers it with a cough. I look over at Case and a smile tugs his lips. It’s the first real one since the fire yesterday. “He …”
“Save it.” I hold up my hand. “I know everything, Rachel.” And I do mean everything.
She huffs and spins around to face Brecken. “When are you being released?” She changes the subject.
“Tomorrow.” He hopes.
“Do you want me to come and get you? I can take you back to my place,” she offers, and I pray he says no. I feel like Rachel wouldn’t have much sympathy. Or that she would be the type to try and poison your coffee.