Page 84 of The Situation Ship
Poppy admired her fierce defence of those she cared for, feeling unworthy of such support. Tonight should have ended with a celebration, not them having to lie to an officer and risk going to jail themselves.
She was getting down from the ambulance with Isaiah and Axel’s help when Captain Hamill confronted them. Poppy had been expecting this.
“Where did you get the gun?” the captain demanded, not caring who was around or who could hear. Poppy understood her grief, but she was putting her own life at risk by asking these questions. Sophia wouldn’t accept another threat to her plan.
“It was in the surveillance room on the desk when I entered,” she said. “It should be on camera.”
“It is, but there’s no footage of how it got there. It just magically appears. What happened with Davide? What were you talking about? Why did you have to shoot him?Killhim?”
“I’m sorry about your friend, but he was going to kill me. He wasn’t in his right mind. I hope you’ll see in time why I had to do what I did.” Poppy tried to spell it out, not wanting the officers to understand her double meaning.
Captain Hamill wiped the tears from her eyes, studying Poppy closely.“I never should’ve trusted you– either of you. I knew it was going to get more of my people killed!”
The officers got between them, but Poppy knew the woman was angry and just needed tovent.
“I’m sorry he betrayed you,” she said again as her own tears fell. The pain, the shock and whatever cocktail of drugs the paramedics had given her to keep her movingopened the floodgates. “But he attacked Mina and confessed to the others.” She left out Sophia’s involvement so it wouldn’t start a manhunt. She knew she was Sophia’s target and, unless prompted, wouldn’t kill anyone else. “Davide came to delete the footage of what he did to Mina, and he would have killed me for trying to stop him.”
“But why? He worked with me for five years. Why now?”
Poppy wanted to tell her the truth, that he’d been just a pawn in someone else’s bigger game, and she would once it was over. If she survived to tell the story, she would learn what wrong she had done to Sophia to awaken such hatred. She despised Davide for hurting Mina and his part in this game, but he had got caught up in a wider web and thought he was helping and protecting someone he loved.
“I can’t answer you that now,” she admitted, and the betrayal in Captain Hamill’s eyes stung her.
Recovering her composure, the captain left without another word to return to her waiting crew. The cool breeze off the coast caused Poppy’s teeth to chatter –or the adrenaline was finally wearing off– and Isaiah wrapped his jacket around her shoulders.
“Don’t take what she said to heart. She’s in shock,” Phoebe said softly.
But Poppy saw the doubt in Isaiah’s eyes. He knew she was keeping secrets.
The paramedics and the officers finally gave the group the go-ahead to leave. Axel and Phoebe hailed a couple of taxis; Poppy figured the couple wanted to give them some space. Isaiah gave the address to the driver and helped her into the back seat. She winced as she bumped her shoulder against the hard leather seat. Isaiah was quick to help her settle against him so she didn’t feel it too much when they went over the bumps and dips in the road.
“You promised me that you wouldn’t leave Phoebe and Axel,” he said sadly, holding her body against his. “I could’ve lost you. When I heard the gun go off and the officers refused to let me go to you, I thought my heart was going to stop.”
Poppy’s head waged war with her heart. All she wanted was to protect him, but all she seemed to do was cause him such pain and frustration. She couldn’t tell him that she had killed a man so that he would be spared. She couldn’t put that on him when it had been her choice. It had been her choice to take the lives of those who’d wronged her and others, and he had already put aside his duty to carry that secret.
“Are you going to say something? Please, Poppy, I need to understand,” he said gently. “Do you not trust me? Is that why you went alone?” The hurt in his words crushed her already heavy heart.
“I got a note when we were at the party that said if I didn’t go, I would find you in a pool of your own blood. I had already seen what happened to Joshua, and I couldn’t bear the thought of your life being taken, of you being stolen from me. I’ve never had a chance to feel about someone how I feel about you. I can’t even understand it. I trust you, but I don’t trust you to protect yourself when it comes to me, whether it’s your job or not, and I can’t let you go,” she told him, studying his face as though she was afraid she would forget. “You’re safe now, and so is Mina. That’s all that matters to me. I’ve never had people to love or fight for me, and now that I have it, I won’t let it go. You can call me selfish, reckless, or stubborn, but I’m not giving up love now that I’ve found it.” Her chest rose and fell sharply as she confessed her feelings, not wanting him to believe that she doubted him for even a second.
She silenced his anger by pressing her lips to his. Kissing him was like tasting heaven, like taking a deep breath after drowning. All thoughts of death and fear faded away.
“You did what you had to to survive,” Isaiah said, holding her carefully so he wouldn’t hurt her.
“I didn’t do it to survive. It was a choice. You or him. I picked you,” Poppy admitted.
“We don’t need to talk about this now. You just need to rest,” Isaiah murmured as the taxi pulled away from the curb. She didn’t know if it was the crash of adrenaline or the cocktail of medications, but tucked under his arm, she sank into a deep and sudden sleep.
“How’s Poppy doing? We have some extra pillows and blankets to make her more comfortable. There are also plenty of towels and anything else she might need in the bathroom,” Phoebe said to Isaiah in the kitchen.
He’d carried Poppy to the spare room, and thankfully she hadn’t woken when he’d left the room to talk with the others. Whatever the paramedics had given her had knocked her out. While she slept he had been tempted to redirect the taxi to the hospital, but he didn’t want to cause her more distress, and she had been so adamant despite the severity of her injury and pain that he guessed she had a good reason.
“She’s asleep, but I don’t want to leave her too long in case she wakes up. Thank you for all you’ve done. I don’t know what we would’ve done without you,” Isaiah said, not wanting to burden them or bring up old traumas.
Phoebe opened the fridge and waved off his thanks. “No need to thank us. You’re more than welcome – you’ve done so much for me, for us! It’s the least we can do. There isn’t much food in the fridge. We’ve been eating out mostly since the construction workers have been here, and we didn’t want to be in the way, but I can pick up some food and necessities in the morning.” She rattled on, eager to help, as she boiled the kettle and made them some tea.“I already texted the workers, and they’re going to take a couple of days off, so you can stay for as long as you need. Axel called the hotel, and we’ve booked ourselves in to give you two some space.”
“Are yousureyou don’t mind us staying? We’re putting you out of your own home, and though I can’t be sure, I have a feeling that the danger isn’t over yet.”
“You’re staying here for as long as you need. I’m not taking no for an answer. Besides, it’s not our first time in danger, and no one knows you’re here. You’ll have your own private pool and balcony. It can be your little holiday home while the police investigate.” Phoebe smiled, sliding the mug towards him.
