Page 69 of Through the Fire
He grinned at her—the happiest, friendliest smile she’d ever seen on him—as he pulled a pair of handcuffs from the case on his belt. “Definitely.” He tossed the cuffs to her, and she grabbed them out of the air one-handed. It wasn’t until one of Courtney’s hands was restrained that she realized what was happening and started to struggle.
“I’m not the criminal here!” she yelled, trying to twist free. Hugh helped restrain her as Kit secured Courtney’s other wrist before double-locking the cuffs with the key Hugh offered. “How dare you arrest me? By the time I’m through with you, you’re going to be jobless and destitute, do you hear me?”
Hugh took a firm hold of a still-shrieking Courtney and met Kit’s gaze. His small smile was grim. “I commend you on not getting rough with her. If I’d been in your place, I don’t know if I would’ve had the willpower to resist.”
Kit returned his smile with a humorless one of her own. “I was tempted.” As Hugh led Courtney toward the door, Kit glanced around, her mind clicking through what she needed to do. When her gaze landed on Sam, who was having the stuffing hugged out of him by his siblings and Theo, sharp anger pierced her. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the knowledge of Courtney’s abuse and the accompanying rage aside to dwell on later. Right now, she had a viner full of witnesses and victims and who knew what else.
Otto was returning the photos to their envelope, his expression hard, when Kit caught his attention. “Can you escort Mr. Espina across the street to one of the interview rooms?” Otto dipped his chin in acknowledgment before ushering the other man toward the door.
“Wait!” Jules called. “I want to talk to you before you leave town again, and I know that Elena, Sarah, and Grace will want to see you.”
Mr. Espina turned toward Jules. “Tomorrow. We’ll meet at your house at eight.”
After he and Otto left, Kit turned to Theo and Jules’s family, letting her expression soften to a smile when the kids looked at her anxiously. “Let’s move this next door so the viner can reopen for business.”
Jules gave a watery laugh, her arms around Dee and Tio, gripping them to her sides, as Sam and Ty stayed close and Theo loomed protectively over them all. “The poor customers keep getting chased out of here. They’re going to start getting their food to go.”
“Nah,” Kit said. “They like being in on the excitement. This way, they’re first on the gossip chain.”
“True.”
Kit switched her attention back to Theo. “Is there an interview room they all can fit into?”
From his grimace, she took that as a no, so she thought about other possibilities.
“The women’s locker room will work in a pinch.” When Ty looked like he was going to complain, Kit spoke again before he could. “Right now, I’m the only woman who might be wandering in there, so you’ll be safe.”
They gathered up their coats, seemingly unwilling to break out of their tight family huddle, and Kit thought that was sweet. She felt a slight pang that she didn’t have anyone close by, but she was glad that Jules wouldn’t be ripped away from her siblings, and she was very happy that Sam and the others wouldn’t have to live with the awful, vicious Courtney Young.
“Wh-wh-why d-d-did y-you br-br-br…l-lead h-her in h-h-here?” Sam’s accusing question broke the comfortable silence, and Kit looked at him in surprise.
“I didn’t—not intentionally. I just brought her to the police station because she got her car stuck in the snow. When she darted across the street toward this place, I wasn’t sure what to think.” She met Sam’s eyes and was unable to tell whether he accepted her explanation or not. “I’m sorry for my part in springing her on you. That must’ve been terrifying.”
Sam gave her a tiny nod before looking away, but Jules managed a tight smile. The rest of the kids looked overwhelmed and stressed, reminding Kit to focus. There was a lot to do before everyone could head home.
She gave Theo a rueful look. “Every time I try to take a day off, I end up in the middle of some incident.”
He tipped his chin. Although the gesture was slight, his gaze was warm, and she finally felt like she was part of the team. “Welcome to Monroe.”
Chapter 20
By the time Kit escaped the police station, there was only an hour or so of daylight left, but she still wanted to go to the tower. She was tired and needed to see a friendly face—especially if that face was Wes’s. It had been a long day. Mr. Espina had contacted a lawyer, who’d arrived with custody documents and other contracts for Courtney to sign. In return, she had been released.
It bothered Kit that Courtney wasn’t getting any jail time for what she’d done to Sam—and the others—but Sam had assured her that he didn’t care if she was punished. All he wanted was to stay with Jules and his other siblings, without the threats of having to return to Courtney or Jules going to prison hanging over their heads. Since Courtney had signed legal custody over to Jules, all the kids were ecstatic. They didn’t even want the inheritance left by their father, but they agreed to accept it when the lawyer mentioned how it would drive Courtney crazy to only get a tiny sliver of the fortune their father had possessed.
“Honestly,” she told Justice, who’d spent most of his day happily hanging out with Jules and her siblings, “I’m glad they’re sticking around town. I’d hate to lose my training buddies.” She hoped they wouldn’t hold it against her that she’d unintentionally led Courtney right to them, especially since everything had turned out for the best.
As she neared the turnoff for her street, Kit hesitated, tapping her fingers against the steering wheel and peering at the darkening sky. It would get dark even more quickly, thanks to the gloomy clouds that’d gathered. She hadn’t realized how accustomed she’d become to the sunny weather until it changed.
She passed the turnoff, continuing toward the western pass. Sticking his head between the seats, Justice rested his chin on the center console, his droopy jowls spreading out to either side.
“I know,” she said as if he were judging her. “We’ll get a half hour of work in before it gets dark, and we don’t have a helper, so we probably won’t get much accomplished, but I don’t care. Wes is probably waiting for us. I did tell him we’d come to the tower to train today. The only way to tell him I couldn’t make it would be to call on the radio, and then everyone and their brother would be in our business, and we’d probably piss off another dispatcher.” She knew she could also email him, but she honestly didn’t want to chance that Wes would tell her not to come.
Justice heaved a long sigh.
“Fine.” The only reason she was making the trip to the tower was because she wanted to see Wes again, and it was a little silly to try to convince herself—or Justice, who couldn’t understand a word of what she was saying—otherwise. “Today was tough, and the only thing that got me through was knowing that I’d get to see Wes. We’ll do some basic obedience training, have a Pop Tart, and get home in time for dinner. Sound like a plan?”
