Hidden Away (KGI #3)(43)

Sophie put a finger over his lips and then followed with a soft brush of her mouth. “Shhh. I’m fine, Sam. Garrett was great.”

Sam turned to look at Garrett for the first time. “Thanks, man. I’m glad you got home when you did.” He studied him for a long moment. “Everything okay with you?”

Garrett nodded. “Yeah, now that you’re here.”

Sophie laughed. “He was afraid he’d have to coach me through delivery. He was pretty green there for a while.”

Sam settled into the chair beside Sophie’s bed and laced his fingers through hers. “No chance I’d miss this.” He smoothed a hand over her swollen belly. “I can’t wait to meet our little girl.”

“I hate to interrupt, but we need to move Mrs. Kelly to another room now,” the nurse said from the door.

The nurse moved forward to unhook the monitor. Sam helped Sophie from the bed and she walked awkwardly toward the door after the nurse. Not knowing what else to do, Garrett followed the group down the hallway to a larger, much more comfortable-looking room. The bed was certainly bigger and it didn’t look like a slab at the morgue.

As the nurse settled Sophie into the bed, Sam stepped back to stand beside Garrett. Garrett turned to his brother. “I should probably leave now.”

“You aren’t going to stick around for the birth of your niece?”

Garrett swallowed. “You want me to watch?” He tried to keep the horror from his voice but knew he failed miserably.

Sam laughed and slapped him on the back. “You can stick around until the messy part comes and then move into the hall. Hell, before it’s over with, I imagine the entire family will wind up here.”

Garrett ran a hand through his hair. He needed to get with Donovan and figure shit out about Sarah. And he needed to get on the road, but how could he leave when his niece was about to arrive? Donovan would want to be here, not stuck in the war room on his computer looking for Sarah.

Sam’s eyes narrowed. “What’s going on with Sarah Daniels? Besides the fact she gave you the slip.”

“Someone broke into her cottage and scared the shit out of her. So she bolted.”

“And what is this about keeping Resnick in the dark?”

“How about you worry about Sophie and let me deal with Resnick and Sarah Daniels.”

Sam frowned but the nurses were moving away from Sophie and Sophie looked over to find Sam. Sam left Garrett and returned to Sophie’s bedside. He took her hand and kissed each finger, his smile warm and contented.

Garrett leaned back against the wall and wondered how the hell he’d gotten himself in the middle of childbirth.

CHAPTER 15

SEAN Cameron turned his patrol car onto another county road that led away from the lake and scanned the tree line and farther down the dirt road. It really pissed him off that Rusty had pulled this crap after all the Kellys had done for her. He’d questioned some of the students at her school and had been told she drove off with Matt Winfree after school ended.

When he got his hands on both of them, he was going to wring their necks. Especially Rusty’s. Marlene and Frank were sick with worry and now Sophie was in the hospital about to deliver. Something that should be a joyous occasion for all the Kellys. They should all be at the hospital, not scouring the countryside looking for an ungrateful twit.

When he rounded the bin, he fishtailed to a quick stop, coming only inches from running over a person in the road. He looked up to see Rusty staring at him through the windshield. Her hair was a mess. She had blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, and her eyes were wide and frightened.

As soon as she recognized him, her expression grew hard and cold. Her lips twisted belligerently and she limped past him and continued down the road. He shot out of the car and charged after her. He grabbed her arm and spun her around.

“What the hell happened?” he demanded. “Where’s your car?”

Her nostrils flared. “Get your hands off me, copper.”

“It’s either my hand or the cuffs. Take your pick,” he snarled back.

He pulled her back toward his car and pushed her against the side. She trembled underneath his fingers and he let go, standing in front of her, arms across his chest in an intimidating manner.

“Start talking, Rusty.”

She refused to meet his stare. “It’s about a mile up.”

“Did you wreck it? Where is Matt Winfree?”

Her head popped up and anger burned through her eyes. “What do you know about Matt?”

“I know you left school with him when you should have been going home. And that you took off without telling anyone where you were. Damn it, Rusty, the Kellys are worried sick about you. Sophie’s in labor and the family should be with her but they’re all out looking for your irresponsible ass.”

Her face fell and for the first time he saw beyond the belligerent front to the pain that lurked deep in her eyes. He frowned as he took in not only the trickle of blood but the redness of her face. His gaze swept downward to take in her torn shirt and the welts around her neck.

“Son of a bitch,” he bit out.

Rusty flinched away and would have taken off but he put his hand on the car to block her.

“Talk to me, Rusty. What the hell happened? Did that little bastard hurt you?”

She shook her head mutinously and Sean blew out his breath in frustration. “Get in. Show me where your car is.”