“Brandon?” Will heard Jen say.
“He’s okay,” Lonnie said. “He’s at the station waiting for you.”
“Ada?” Her voice broke.
“Last I heard, alive. He hurt her, though. Bad.”
One of the uniforms handed Will a pocketknife. He began sawing on the rope around his calves, but his hands wouldn’t stop shaking enough to make any headway. Suddenly Jen was beside him on her knees.
“Let me.” She extended her hand and took the knife away from him. In just a few seconds he was free. He reached out and pulled her to him. She buried her face in his chest and began to sob. If Artie hadn’t still been there to see it, Will thought he might have joined her.
CHAPTER 63
The mood was somber as Will, Jen, and Brandon made their way across the parking lot. Brandon had insisted on wearing his suit. Will wore a suit as well, and Jen felt a little underdressed in her slacks and top. She’d put one of her nicer dresses on at first but had decided the black eye, purple cheek, and angry red cuts looked extra bad when combined with dressier clothes.
She ached all over, and her eyes felt gritty from lack of sleep. The aches were partly to blame for her insomnia but so was guilt. How many times had Ada begged her to get out of police work? She’d been afraid for Jen’s safety, but it had never occurred to either of them that Ada might be the one in danger.
She took a deep breath as the automatic doors slid open. Will squeezed her hand and stepped forward to the reception desk.
“We’re here to visit Ada Levinson,” he said to the grey-haired woman behind the counter.
“Levinson, Levinson,” the woman repeated the name as she typed it into her computer. “Room 330.”
She smiled at Will and gestured toward the elevators.
“It’s two floors up. Turn left when you get off the elevator.”
Will thanked her, and the three of them headed for the elevators. Will, Jen, and Brandon moved to the back of the car as an orderly pushing an older man in a wheelchair got on with them. The patient didn’t bother to hide his curiosity as he stared at Jen and Will, who had a few bruises of his own showing on his face.
“You two go a few rounds?” he said, smiling to show he was joking.
“You could say that.” Will smiled back at the man. “Not with each other, though.”
“They caught—” Brandon started, but Jen put her hand on his shoulder.
“That’s enough, sweetie,” she said.
The orderly and the patient glanced from Brandon to her. Something in her expression must have told them to drop the subject because they did. They got off on the third floor, too, but turned the opposite direction from Ada’s room. Jen waited till they’d moved out of earshot before turning to Brandon.
“Let’s not talk about what happened to everyone we run into, okay?”
“But, Mom, it’s all over the news anyway. You guys are heroes.”
“No, we’re not ‘heroes.’ We were just doing what we’re paid to do.”
“They’re saying you’re heroes on the news. You and Will and Al.” Brandon glanced at Will as if to say “help me out here,” but Will just grinned at him and shrugged his shoulders as if to say “you’re on your own, kid.”
“Newscasters like to label things,” Jen said. “It’s boring just saying a cop did his or her duty and caught a bad guy. Labeling them heroes is more dramatic.”
“Your picture was on the news,” Brandon pointed out. “So people are gonna know who you are anyway.”
“With this face?” Jen waved her hand at her bruised face. “Does this look like the picture you saw on the TV?”
“She’s got a point,” Will said. “That woman is gorgeous. This one? Monster material.”
Brandon burst out laughing.
“Keep it up, you two.” Jen gave them a mock scowl. “And you’ll see the monster come out.”
“You’re no monster, Mom” Brandon said. “You’re a monster-slayer.”
“That she is.” Will slid one arm around Brandon’s shoulders and the other around Jen’s. “That she is.”
As the three of them continued down the hall, checking numbers as they passed the rooms, Jen relished the warm feel of Will’s arm around her shoulders. The only time they’d been separated since the cabin was while being treated in the emergency room, and even then they were in neighboring cubicles. The doctor had insisted on admitting Jen overnight to rule out a concussion. He’d wanted Will admitted as well, but Will had refused.
“I’m staying in her room,” he’d said, “so if anything goes south with me, I’ll be right here. But I’m not letting her out of my sight.”
The doctor had reluctantly agreed, and when Jen went upstairs to a room, the staff found him a cot. Al brought Brandon in to see them, and after tears and hugs all round, took him to spend the night at his house.
“Thank you,” Jen had said, tears in her eyes. “For everything.”
“I should be the one thanking you,” Al said.
“For what?” Brandon was the only one in the room who was out of the loop, and Jen wanted it kept that way. But before she could come up with something her son would believe, Al came to the rescue.
“What do you mean, for what? For letting me and Sally have you as a guest. Of course, you’re gonna have to do some work for your bed and food. Let’s see—wash dishes, take out the garbage, run the vacuum—maybe laundry if you won’t mess it up. Does he know how to do laundry, Jen?”
“No, but he’s a quick learner.”
“Okay, if you don’t want to tell me, don’t tell me.”
“What do you mean, don’t tell you? I just did.” Al ruffled his hair. “Let’s get outa here. Sally’s ordered pizza, and these guys need their rest.”
Will had set up his cot close to Jen’s hospital bed, and the two of them had fallen asleep soon after, her
