Page 94 of Trusted Instinct
The officer shone his flashlight on the man lying on the pavement. “Who’s this?”
Auralia climbed out of the pickup and came over. “He’s Shane. Listen. Could you do me a favor and handcuff or zip tie or whatever restraint you’d like to use on that guy?” She pointed toward Kendal. “And could you get these two people into your car and take them to an emergency department? Seriously, I don’t know about the guy on the ground, but this woman is going to die without care.”
“FBI is five minutes out.” He handed Gator two zip ties. “Creed is it? Sir, could you please lean back a bit? I know you have him constrained. For everyone’s safety, I need this on my camera. Here we go. Kendal Cowan, I am placing you under arrest for aggravated unlawful restraint. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you?”
“Yes.”
“With these rights in mind, do you wish to speak to me?”
“No.”
“Thank you for your assistance, gentlemen.” The officer made his way over to Shane and felt for a pulse. “That’s it? The two of them?”
“Two,” Auralia called out.
“Buddy,” Creed said, “it goes like this. You release your knife and your gun. We zip you up. You get out of the car while we wait for the nice special agents to come get you. And you do it easy, or Gator slams your head into the wheel until you pass out, and it happens anyway.”
“He’s alive,” the cop called from where he stooped next to Shane.
“I can help you get him into your car,” Auralia said. “But he’s the shooter from the dell. So cuffs first.”
Creed took control of the gun and knife.
Kendal cooperated with the zip ties.
He was cowed as he stepped out of the vehicle, his head hanging low.
The police waited for the FBI to show up, even though it put Shane and Brandy in danger. It wasn’t long, though. And they were off to the hospital.
The special agent was reading Kendal’s Miranda rights to him again for good measure.
The day had been long. It had been physically and emotionally exhausting. There were the highs of overcoming terrible odds. There was the joy of seeing Auralia strong and capable, clever, brave. She was everything. Just flat out everything.
She walked over and slipped into his arms. “Today was one for the history books.”
“Well, for the newspaper at least,” she said.
Gator was rocked back on his heels. “The day’s not over, we got us two more hours.”
Auralia, uncurled from Creed’s arms just long enough to smack Gator. “Don’t you dare challenge Fate.” Then she eased her arm around Gator and held all three of them together in a tight hug with Rourou curled up sleeping at their feet.
“All day long, when my spirit was flagging, when I was really scared, the one thing I held tight to was that I trusted you both. I trusted your instincts to be brave, and strong, and good. And most of all,” she whispered, “I knew if I needed you, you’d be there. And you proved me right time and again. There is no luckier woman in this world.” She squeezed extra tight. “Thank you both.”
Auralia had no idea, none. How could Creed ever explain how much her love and trust meant to him? How could he show her how deep his love was for her in return?
Standing there in the black of night, he made a pledge to himself that he’d spend the rest of his life living up to her trust.
Chapter Thirty-One
Auralia
Auralia sat next to Creed on the second leg of their flight from Washington, D.C., heading to New Orleans. Today was Mémère’s birthday, and Auralia was able to budge her trip to Ukraine back by a few days so she could make the pilgrimage with Creed.
After telling Gator about their relationship, Creed thought this would be a good time to tell the rest of the family, who would be gathering in from far and wide.
It seemed that the Fates were on her side because she was able to book her ticket to fly with Creed and Rou without any problems.
Now, Creed was reading his book with Rou asleep on his lap, and Auralia was reading the paper on her tablet. Remi had told Auralia that she had updated the article about Morrison's craziness. Liu, their editor, said that Remi got this next one since Auralia would be mentioned.
