Natural Born Lawman by Sherryl Woods

Author:Sherryl Woods
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MIRA
Published: 2015-07-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Patsy saw Justin walking toward the side of the highway. There was something about his jerky, dazed progress that brought her scrambling from the car and heading straight for him. She reached him just as a deputy she recognized as Dusty Patterson got to his side and clamped a hand on his shoulder.

“Get away from me,” Justin demanded, his voice like ice.

“Don’t do this,” Dusty pleaded. “You’re not thinking straight.”

Anger radiated from Justin in palpable waves. Even without knowing what was going on, Patsy sensed that he was about to do something he would come to regret. Instinctively she stepped in front of the two men.

“Justin?”

When he didn’t even glance at her, she spoke his name again, more sharply this time. As if he’d been drawn out of some distant hell, his gaze finally shifted to clash with hers. The sight of the tears streaking down his cheeks was almost her undoing. There was no doubt in her mind now that something truly terrible had happened to Sharon Lynn and Kyle. What else could create such despair in such a strong man?

She reached up and touched his face. “Come with me, please,” she begged.

For the longest time, she wasn’t sure he would agree. He seemed torn between anger and a distress so deep and heart wrenching, she could only fear its cause. At last, he turned away and went with her.

He got into the car and leaned forward, his head resting on the steering wheel. Quiet sobs shook his shoulders. Patsy scrambled across the seat and put her arms around him. As desperately as she wanted to know what had happened, how badly Kyle and Sharon Lynn were injured, she kept silent, letting Justin do his grieving in silence while she fought her own fears.

It seemed they remained like that forever, but in truth it was no more than a minute or two, she realized, before he drew in a shuddering breath and faced her.

“We have to go to the hospital.”

“Sharon Lynn and Kyle are there?”

He shook his head. “Only Sharon Lynn.”

The implication of that tore through her. “Oh, my God. Kyle?”

“Didn’t make it.” He looked so shattered that all she wanted to do was reach over and hold him again, but he was already starting the engine. The grim set of his mouth told her he wouldn’t appreciate a show of sympathy right now, that he’d only tolerated the first display because he’d been nearly oblivious to it. All she could do was stay with him, be there when he needed someone and be there for Sharon Lynn, whose world had just come crashing down around her head. She thought of Sharon Lynn’s terrible premonition that her future with Kyle was jinxed and realized the enormity of what lay ahead for her.

* * *

At the hospital, they found the rest of the family already gathered, most of them still in the clothes they’d worn to the wedding. Patsy faded into the background once she was certain that Justin was being taken care of by his family.

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.