A Trace of Hope by Blake Pierce

Author:Blake Pierce [Pierce, Blake]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blake Pierce
Published: 2018-03-04T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

The next few hours went by in a blur. Keri and Evie barely had a moment alone together before the SWAT team burst in. They didn’t really try to talk anyway. Mostly they just held each other. Even as they were taken to the hospital in ambulances, had IVs put in their arms, and were wrapped in thermal blankets, they didn’t let go of each other’s hands.

Keri learned that Ray was alive. He’d already been transported to the same hospital as them with a grazing gunshot wound to the left forearm. He hadn’t wanted to go but SWAT wasn’t in a negotiating mood and basically forced him into the ambulance.

Apparently he had gotten the red jacket security team’s attention by firing several rounds into the air above the Festival Hall crowd, then leading the guards on a chase to the pool house, where he’d locked himself inside a supply pantry and held off multiple attackers until the cavalry arrived. At some point in the excitement, he’d lost his headset, which explained his lack of communication.

Keith had lost communication because he’d been arrested. When the police found a random guy sitting in a parked car half a block from the estate with a headset and a laptop, they decided to take him into custody and sort it out later. He’d subsequently been released.

There was a brief lull after Keri and Evie had been triaged at the ER and determined not to have life-threatening injuries but before the doctors came in to do more thorough exams. Mother and daughter sat in mobile hospital beds next to each other, separated from the world by a thin, puke-green curtain. Neither of them spoke for a while.

“I knew you’d come for me,” Evie finally said quietly.

“How did you know?”

“They took me, they hid me, and they used me for six years. But they couldn’t keep the world out that whole time, Mom. I saw the news stories. The guy who took me actually showed me the press conference after he kidnapped me, the one where you were crying in the parking lot. He was laughing at you.”

“I’m so sorry, sweetie,” Keri said, trying to keep her voice from cracking.

“He thought it would break me,” Evie continued, her voice surprisingly neutral. “But what he didn’t get was that just seeing your face gave me comfort. Knowing that you cared so much…I held on to that for years when it seemed like there was no hope. And then…”

Her voice trailed off. Keri desperately wanted her to continue, but she didn’t want to push too hard and shut her down. Anything her daughter volunteered was a blessing, considering the circumstances. But Evie regrouped and continued.

“And then I heard you became a cop. I saw some of the stories about you saving kids. And I knew that eventually you’d find me. I never had a doubt. Well, mostly.”

Keri started to ask about the “mostly” but was interrupted by a phalanx of medical personnel who all swarmed into the room at the same time.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.