“No, it isn’t,” Amos agreed. “About 99 percent of the time, these kids are just bad news and end up dead,” he said. “Every once in a while, we find one who escapes the gangs. But it takes us a while to figure out if that was a good thing or not.”
And no doubt he was staring at Kurt as he spoke those words.
“In my case, it’s a good thing,” Kurt said.
The detective just nodded and then motioned to one of his cops. “Go give him your statement and then get out of here,” he said. “I’ll let you know when we’re done.”
On that note, Laurie Ann and Kurt headed to the side, where the cops quickly took their statements, and then they were finally free to go. She looked at Kurt and asked, “Where’s your truck?”
“I parked it down the road,” he said. “I didn’t want anybody knowing I would be here.”
“Smart move,” she said.
“I’m just glad I was here,” he said. “I’d hate to think what would have happened if I hadn’t been.”
“And I don’t ever want to think about it again,” she said, “because I’ll never sleep again if I do.”
“Got it,” he said with half a smile. The three of them walked in silence as they finally reached his truck, hidden behind an empty house down the block.
They all got into the vehicle, and she watched in amazement as the dog curled up on the seat beside him. “She’s adopted you, hasn’t she?”
“You know what? I think she has,” he said. “Here I was thinking that I was rescuing her, but now I’m starting to realize she’s rescuing me.” And, on that cryptic note, he started the engine and drove toward the motel.
Kurt was still shaking inside at how close tonight had been. That’s the last ugliness to ever touch her, he swore. She was so sweet, so pure, compared to the life that he’d lived, that it bothered him tremendously to think that anything even close to that dirt could hit her life. And he couldn’t even imagine if his son had been there. Jeremy would have tried to protect his mom, and things would have gotten ugly very, very quickly. Not a comforting thought.
When they got to the motel, he brought the two of them inside and looked at the double bed and said, “We’ll have to share.”
“What? You won’t be chivalrous and offer to sleep on the floor now?”
“Tonight we both need sleep,” he said. “My nerves and senses will be dulled if I don’t.”
Immediately her smile fell off her face. “Are we not safe now?”
“We’re safer, yes. Are we out of danger? I’m not sure yet,” he said. “I want to make sure we have the full headcount of that lovely team locked up before I say yes.”
She nodded slowly, and then she walked to the bed, pulled the covers back, stripped down the outer layer of her clothing and laid down in the bed in her bra and panties.
He watched in amazement.
She looked at him, smiled, and said, “We came to sleep, so let’s sleep.”
Just like that, she curled up on one side of the bed and closed her eyes. He grabbed his phone and sent Badger several messages. It was early in the morning; he wouldn’t get them until he woke, but Kurt needed to send off as much of this information as he could. If nothing else, he wanted somebody on his side, just in case more trouble came.
He didn’t realize just how much having some friends, decent friends, made a difference in his world. Back then maybe he would have cultivated more friends if he had realized there was a benefit to them. That sounded cold, but it really meant he didn’t have the benefit of even understanding what a friend was, not until he had Laurie Ann in his life.
After that, everything had changed but not enough. Yet he also knew, inside his heart, that he hadn’t been ready for her. He wasn’t good enough. He needed to grow up and change and learn. He just hadn’t known what that meant. And now that he did, he was grateful for it. He just wished it could have been in half the time.
Exhausted, making sure that Sabine had a bed on the floor, he curled up in the bed. He was asleep almost instantly.
Chapter 12
Laurie Ann rolled over in the night to find herself up against a body. She moaned.
Kurt whispered, “It’s okay. Go back to sleep.”
Her eyes flew open, more awake now, and she stared at him. “How late is it?”
“It’s only five in the morning,” he said. “Sleep.”
She smiled, curled up against him, and said, “I’m really happy that we are together.”
“We could have a lot of time together, if we want it,” he said.
“I want it,” she said instantly. “I just don’t want to push you.”
“You always don’t want to push,” he said. “Maybe you should have pushed me a while ago.”
“Nope, you had to come on your own,” she said. “I have to admit I did look for you for a while, and then I realized you’d moved on, and I just had to live with it.”
“I’m sorry,” he said gently.
“I know,” she said. “I’m just sorrier for the time we missed.”
He looked down at her, leaned over, and kissed her gently. “And I don’t want to waste any more time,” he said. “I was a fool, but I was a young, naive fool. At least I knew what I needed to do to grow up.”
“And you did an admirable job of it,” she said. “I can’t believe it, but you’re even taller and bigger than before, even after your accident.”
“And yet I lost a lot through that healing process,” he said with a smile. “I was quite a bit bigger and heftier before I was injured.”
“Well, if it matters,” she said, “you can be that way again, but I don’t think it matters, does it?”
“Nope, it sure doesn’t,” he said, chuckling. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close.
She could feel his erection between the two of them. She wiggled her hips slightly. “So just how much do you want to make up for lost time?”
“Well, I want to make up in a really bad way,” he said, gently rubbing his nose against hers. “But I don’t want to push.”
“You know what? Everybody warned me that you were this fly-by-night guy who just wanted to get in my pants. But even back then you didn’t push it,” she said. “I definitely had to force you.”
“It was your first time,” he said, “and I didn’t want you to feel pressured into it.”
“Which is also what made you so very different,” she said, chuckling. With her arms looped around his neck, she pressed her hips against his. “Besides, it feels very much like I have to force you back into this too.”
“Oh, hell, no,” he said, “I am totally okay to take the lead on this.”
“Are you sure?” she asked in a light tone. “It sounds to me like you’re awfully slow.”
He let out a bark of laughter, and he leaned over and kissed her like he meant it, like he’d been wanting to since he first saw her again. He could feel their passion immediately sucking him into that spiral that he’d never felt with anybody else since.