Page 129 of Valor

“How— You found me.”

“I willalwaysfind you, Lani,” he tells me, expression serious. “I’m just sorry it took me so long.”

Someone else touches my other arm, so I look over and lose it when I see my mom’s tear-stained face. The sobs come fast and hard, completely uncontrollable. I’m no longer a woman in her thirties but a terrified little girl.

“Mom?”

She wraps both arms around me as Gibson releases me, and I cling to her. “I’m here, honey, you’re safe. You’re okay.” Relief and hope chip away at the remainder of my fear, but the darkness is there when I close my eyes.

Ready to drag me back down.

A few seconds later, she pulls away.

Gibson is standing just beside me, wearing dark jeans and a white T-shirt that’s stained with dirt and what looks like blood. Likely my blood. “Gibson,” I say his name again, a plea leaving my lips. He’s here.

My mom’s here.

I’m safe now.

He leans down and cups my cheeks again, then rests his forehead against mine. “I’m so sorry,” he whispers. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there.” Tears slip from his eyes. “If I had just waited. If I’d not left you?—”

“It’s not your fault,” I choke out. My throat is so raw. Everything hurts, every muscle in my body is sore, but with Gibson’s hands on me, I feel the first inkling of peace since I was attacked.

He pulls away and retrieves some gauze to press against my arm where I ripped out the IV. “We need to call them to put this back in.” He starts to reach for the call button.

I shake my head and lean back against the pillows, then use my other hand to replace his on the gauze. “I don’t want one.”

He stops. “Did you have one in before?” he asks. “Dr. Pierce said he thought you might have.”

I nod. “They kept me drugged.”

“They? There was more than one person?” Gibson remains standing at my side.

“I don’t know. They always had a mask and sunglasses on.” When I close my eyes for a moment, I still see them. “How long was I gone?” I ask.

“Fifty-six hours.”

“It felt like forever.”

“Can you tell me what happened?” He takes a seat on the edge of the bed.

I take a deep breath, and the hesitation must have been on my face because he reaches for my hand, taking it in his own.

“I’m sorry, Lani, but I need to know. I need to find this guy and make sure he cannevertouch you again.”

Even as I never want to relive the worst days of my life, I’d rather let Gibson handle my abductor with all the anger I see on his face right now. “I—I went inside, and they were waiting for me. They waited a few minutes before coming after me though,” I recall, replaying the moment over and over again in my head. “I think they were hiding in the kitchen. It was dark, so I didn’t see them at first. I hit them in the head, but they tackled me. I hit the coffee table.”

“Whoever it was stitched you back up,” my mom says. “Three different injuries needed stitches. Doctor Pierce said there were a total of thirty-seven stitches on your back. A few of them came open when you escaped, but he was able to get them closed again.”

I nod. “Makes sense. I hit it hard. They injected me with something right after, so I didn’t have time to determine how injured I was. I don’t remember anything after that, aside from waking up in a dark room.” It all comes rushing back, and my heart begins to pound.

The darkness.

The sweat on my skin.

“Breathe, Lani,” Gibson tells me.

“I’m trying.” I close my eyes. “It was a small room, barely large enough for the bed. I don’t recall even getting up to go to the bathroom, but there was no catheter line. I—I think they may have been cleaning me up while I was unconscious. There was always this stench of cleaner in the air.”

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