Page 28 of Dark Memories
Two SWAT officers walked behind them until they were away from the house, and then they melted back into the dark. The team would wait until Zach and Kali were gone before going in and arresting the occupants. Harry breathed a sigh of relief that the operation had gone as planned, and they’d gotten Kali safely away without alerting her kidnappers.
Father and daughter saw each other at the same moment. “Daddy!” Kali cried.
Zach ran to his daughter, her voice calling to him the sweetest sound in the world. He lifted her into his arms, pressed his face to hers, closed his eyes, and inhaled his little girl’s scent.
“You found me, Daddy,” she said.
He smiled into her hair. “Of course I found you. You’re my baby girl.”
Something yipped.
“You’re squeezing him.”
He leaned away and saw the white dog she held. “Who’s this?”
“Oliver, but he likes Ollie best. He didn’t want to stay with the bad people.”
“No?” Did they have a dog now? At this point he’d give her anything she wanted. Ollie licked his hand.
“See, he likes you. I’m keeping him, Daddy.”
“You are? You’ll have to be responsible for taking care of him.”
“I will. Promise. He already loves me, and I love him.”
“And who can blame him?” He looked up and met Delaney’s eyes. Were those tears in them? “Thank you both.”
She smiled as she glanced at the other detective. “We just did our job.”
Eric Cantu nodded. “What she said.”
While she and Cantu talked to their boss, Zach took his daughter to the ambulance. “You remember Dr. Anderson?” She nodded. “He’s going to take a quick look at you, make sure you aren’t hurt.”
“I don’t want a shot, Daddy.”
“No shots tonight, sweetheart.” He stepped inside the ambulance and set Kali on the stretcher. “I’ll be right here while Dr. Anderson examines you.”
“Hello, Kali,” the doctor said, squeezing past Zach and taking a seat on the stool. “I see you have a friend.”
“His name is Ollie, and he’s my dog now.”
“He’s a handsome lad. How about we let your father hold him?”
Zach took the dog from Kali’s reluctant hands. “You can have him back in a few minutes.”
“Did anyone hurt you or touch you while you were in that house, Kali?” Dr. Anderson said, his voice soft and gentle.
Zach braced himself for her answer. A hand on his arm startled him, and he glanced over at Delaney. He’d been so intent on his daughter that he hadn’t noticed her standing at the door. He saw the same tension in her eyes that he knew was in his as she, too, waited for Kali’s answer. He put his hand over hers and squeezed.
“Miss Doe touched my arm when she told me I could go to the bathroom.”
“That’s all, just your arm?” She nodded as she pointed to her upper right arm. “No bruising,” he said after examining the spot. “And that’s all? No one else touched you anywhere?”
When she shook her head, Zach let out a relieved breath. He’d still have to deal with any mental issues she had from her kidnapping, but he was profoundly grateful that she hadn’t been hurt physically, or even worse.
“Thank God,” Delaney murmured.
“You can say that again.” The ton of weight he’d been carrying around the past two days melted away.
