Never Giving Up (Never #3)(34)

I turned back to the wall of men, the last two men were nothing like the man in my memory. I looked back to Dillard. “That’s him. None of the others match the man in my mind. That’s him. I know it.”

“Ok,” he said, taking my elbow and leading me out of the room.

“Wait, ok? That’s all you’re going to say? Was that Jason Ramie? Did I pick the right one?” I knew I had; I just wanted to hear it from him. He didn’t say anything, just led me back to the room where Porter waited. I walked in and rushed to him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. His face burrowed into my neck and I heard him take in a deep breath. After a moment he pulled away and framed my face with his hands.

“Are you ok?” He looked panicked.

“Hey,” I said, trying to get him to focus on my eyes. “I’m fine, Porter. I’m ok.” I felt a smile pull across my face and it was the most brilliant smile. I could feel it spreading throughout my entire body. Happiness. Joy. For once in the last year I wasn’t fearful. Something snapped back into place within me, something about being in the room and facing the biggest fear I’d ever had was invigorating. “I did it,” I whispered through my enormous smile. “I found him.” Porter’s eyes grew wide and he frantically looked around for Dillard.

“Was he in there? Did she ID him?”

“Why don’t you both take a seat,” Dillard said, motioning towards our abandoned chairs.

“Fuck sitting, Dillard. Tell us what happened.” The detective looked like he was trying to decide whether he was going to let Porter talk to him that way, but slowly a smile spread across his face.

“She did beautifully. She positively identified Jason Ramie. He’s being taken into custody as we speak and will be charged with attempted aggrevated murder.”

Even though I knew I’d picked him out, I couldn’t help the surprised gasp that left me. My hand captured the breathy cry that left my mouth and I turned to Porter. He looked just as shocked as I felt.

“You did?”

I shrugged. “I remembered.”

“Of course you did,” he said, pulling me into him again, kissing my forehead. “What happens next?” His question was directed at Dillard, but his eyes stayed on me.

“Well, like I said, he’ll be formally charged and in a couple of days he’ll have a bail hearing and then he’ll enter a plea.”

“A bail hearing? He could get out on bail?”

“Unlikely. Usually in murder cases like this the bail is set very high and I can’t imagine the boy has money like that laying around.”

Boy? He didn’t look like a boy to me. He was big and burly. He might have been young, but he was no boy.

“But there’s a chance?”

“A slim one.”

“Still . . .” Porter continued.

“Hey, it’s ok. Everything is going to be ok,” I said, trying to soothe him. Porter looked back to me and I saw a little smile pull at his lips.

“Well, this is a pleasant turn of the tides. Ok,” he brushed the back of his hand down my cheek. “If you’re sure you’re ok, I’ll let it go for now.”

“I’m fine. He’s locked up tonight. I remembered.”

“You did fantastic,” he said gently.

“She really did,” Dillard interjected. “I was worried at first that the whole thing would overwhelm her, but she was methodical and thoughtful. She made her way down the line and she grew more confident as she went along. If it weren’t a shitty situation, I would say it was a pleasure to work with her.”

Porter looked at me with so much pride it made my heart swell in my chest, and I felt some of the walls I had built around it shatter and fall to pieces.

“So, we’re free to go?”

“Definitely. I will call you to let you know when the bail hearing is, just in case you want to be there. And you should definitely call your lawyer.”

“Thank you, Detective,” Porter said, shaking the man’s hand.

“No problem. You did great, Mrs. Masters,” he said as I shook his hand. I smiled up at him.

“Thanks for being patient with me and thank you for catching him.”

Chad waited at the entrance of the police station and when we approached, he looked to Porter for instructions.

“Chad, thank you for waiting. I’m sure you want to get home. I’ll contact you in the morning.”

“I don’t mind. Do you want me to follow you and Ella home?”

Porter looked at me and smiled. “No, they’ve caught the man who shot Ella. I think we’re going to drive home alone tonight.”

“That’s wonderful news, Sir. Ma’am, I’m happy to hear he’s been caught. Have a good evening.” With that Chad walked away and Porter and I were alone, in the evening, not in our house, for the first time in weeks. It shouldn’t have felt foreign, but it did. To just be the two of us was a novelty. I leaned into him and heard him breathe in a content breath.

“Let’s go home,” he said into my hair, making me smile.

“That sounds fantastic,” I said into his chest. When we pulled up to our house, there was no police cruiser parked down the street and I reveled in the feeling of safeness I felt in that moment. Perhaps we were going to be ok.