Page 28 of Freeing Hawk
“Let them put him in a cell by himself.” I told Angel. “We can’t have them get to Carl, got it?”
Angel nodded as he left the room.
“You’re a good one.” Carl told me. “I just wanted to drive, you know? But one lapse in judgment and I got stuck. Honestly, I don’t want to die because of this.”
“I’ll do what I can.” I promised him.
Carl nodded.
I sat with him until the police took him. Alone in the room, all I wanted to do was crumble. My back throbbed, my heart hurt, and I was still no closer to finding Kingston. He could be in one of three places—Oklahoma, California or Mexico. I rubbed my eyes.
“Let me take you home.” Angel’s voice was soft behind me.
“I’m not tired.”
“Hawk, Nikau is going to ask a couple of friends to keep looking at the convention today.” He explained. “Tex is going through the information he’s gathered and will let us know what’s what. Until then, there’s nothing we can do.”
Reluctantly, I followed him from the room and climbed into the front seat of his car. Though I said nothing, all I wanted to do was hide. When I shook my head and looked up, I was at his place.
“This isn’t…”
“You look like you could use some Tiberius loving,” Angel said. “Look, after you get a chance to exhale, I’ll either take you home or call you a taxi.”
Again, I remained silent and followed him into the house. I fell into the sofa pulled a pillow under my neck and exhaled. Angel disappeared into the kitchen area. Claws on the floor caught my attention but I didn’t move to see where the pup was. He didn’t take well to me ignoring him. He walked up to me and rested his neck on my face.
“Hey Tiberius.” I whispered, scratching his side. “You know I can’t breathe, right?” `
I scooted backward into the L-shaped sofa and patted the space in front of me. The large dog hopped up and curled up in my body.
Angel had been right—there was nothing better than a cuddle after a horrible day.
Tiberius moved upward to rest his head on my arm, his breath hot on my face. When I looked down, Tiberius licked my nose.
I giggled. “You stop that.”
Angel’s presence filled the space around me. I kissed Tiberius between the eyes and was rewarded with a kiss to my chin. I looked up to see Angel standing at the door, a glass in his hand, one hand in his pocket and smiling.
How can a man be so sexy?
“I didn’t want to disturb this moment.” He admitted.
I sat up and Angel stepped forward to hand me the glass. A sniff told me it was whiskey—coconut flavored with two ice-cubes.
“I’ve ordered pizza.” He told me. “It should be here shortly.
Tiberius moved to rest his bum and hindlegs in my lap while settling the rest of his body on the sofa. I wasn’t sure what kind of move that was, but I didn’t mind.
“Are you sure I should be here?” I asked him.
“What’s changed between the time you invited yourself over, to now?” Angel asked.
“I didn’t know you had a Leta then.”
Angel paused, his back still.
“Yes, I know about Leta.”
He turned and shoved his fingers into his pockets. There was a sign of resignation on his face and even as his shoulders rose and fell, I knew he was exhausted. “What do you know?”
