Chapter 18
When the cops came and finally took Jensen away, she heard about Frank, who had been left out in the yard. Greyson led the men to the backyard and showed them the man tied up there. They brought him back to the house. Greyson had also taped the entire conversation with Jensen and shared that with the police.
The cops listened to it and shook their heads. “This guy will never stand trial. The judge will declare him unfit in a heartbeat.”
“I know,” Greyson said. “I’m not sure he’s sane enough to even be left on his own.”
“But it wasn’t him who attacked the cops earlier, right?”
“No. He wasn’t the one who escaped their custody. I suppose it’s possible Jensen helped Frank,” Greyson said, “but I honestly don’t know. The cops were outside at that point, taking away their prisoner.”
Suddenly shouts and cries came from outside. They looked at each other in horror and raced outside. The paramedics were desperately trying to work on a man on the ground.
“What’s the matter?” the cops yelled.
“He pulled a razor blade from his waistband,” a paramedic replied. “But, instead of attacking us, he slashed his throat. He hit an artery.” An edge of panic was in his voice as they worked to try to save Jensen.
Jessica stood on the front steps, looking at the scene in shock.
Greyson came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, tugging her against him.
She realized Kona was nestled up against their side, and she dropped a hand to Kona’s head, then moved it to cuddle closer to Greyson. “Dear God,” she said. “When will this be over?”
“Now,” Greyson said. “There’s too much blood loss for him to survive. They have to try, but he’s done.”
She shook her head. “Is it wrong for me to be okay with that?”
“It’s easier, but it’s also very difficult,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of people suffer after returning from war. Unfortunately this kind of mental instability is often the result.”
“That’s terrible,” she whispered.
Another ambulance arrived and several more cops as well. They were pushing back the crowd that was gathering outside. He’d pulled her inside and said, “Come on. Let’s go up and spend some time with Danny and remember what life’s all about. Not to mention clean up your bed so you can sleep tonight.”
She looked up at him, her tears rising and a knot in her throat. When they raced upstairs, they found Danny right where she’d left him, sleeping in the closet. Greyson looked at him for a long moment. “The innocence of youth.”
“I know,” she whispered. “I almost hate to disturb him. Are we done with the cops?”
“For a little bit,” he said. “We’ve given them all the statements we need to tonight. We’ll have to deal with them later though. But this chaos outside isn’t anything we need to be involved in.”
“No,” she whispered.
He led her to the bedroom where he efficiently stipped off the bedding and with her help remade it.
“I wasn’t sure I’d be able to sleep here again, but the whole energy has shifted now. Plus with the mess cleaned up …”
“Not to mention, it’s over. You can stop being afraid. You get your life back now and can move on.”
She looked up at him, wrapped her arms around his neck, and said, “Could you just hold me? I think I’ve had enough of the darker side of life to last me a lifetime.”
“I hear you,” he whispered and held her close. They curled up on the bed, wrapped their arms around each other, and just lay like that for a long moment.
“I’m scared to jinx it,” she said, “but I’m really hoping this is the end of it.”
“I think it is,” Greyson said. “With Jensen and Frank captured, no reason for it not to be.” He got up and took a look out the front window over the garage. The ambulances were gone and so was the body on the ground. He opened the window and whistled, attracting the attention of the ranking cop on the ground.
He looked up and called out, “We’ll talk tomorrow. We’ve got a lot of reports to take care of. We may not get much intel out of Frank, but we’ve got him in custody this time and will interrogate him. I’m not sure his testimony matters at this point.”
“Good enough,” Greyson said. “We need some sleep.”
“Sounds good. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
And, with that, Greyson shut the window and headed back to Jessica, who sat up on the bed, looking at him.
“And?”
“He didn’t make it,” he said.
Quietly tears slid down her cheeks. “Do you realize that’s Danny’s entire family on that side—George and Jensen—are both dead?” she said.
“But what we do know is that now you are safe, and so is Danny.”
“Depending on Frank,” she said.
“Well, Frank has his own issues to deal with now. He’s the one who attacked the cops, who broke in your home, who stole your car, and who kidnapped Danny, so he’s not getting out of jail anytime soon. Once they start piling on all the charges, he’ll be singing like a bird, trying to see the light of day. His motivation was only money, so there’s nothing in it for him anymore.”
She nodded and smiled. “That’s right,” she said, “and that’s a good thing.”
“Yes,” he said. “So now you can just relax.”
She smiled and said, “I think maybe I’ll put Danny in his own bed then.” And, picking him up, she moved him into the other room and got him ready for bed.
“Poor little guy. We didn’t even have a chance to get him ready for bed, did we? Things got crazy fast, once we got home,” he said.
“No, we didn’t have time,” she said. “That’s okay. Luckily he’s pretty resilient.” She got him into a new diaper and pajamas, then
