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Disappeared

"When I came up and that bastard was over your throat…"

Not a et to you in time"

But this was a moment that called for honesty "Neither did I" And her last thought had been of hiht

She touched his face "You savedyou’d already done the saain, any day Because--because--

Antonio cleared his throat Hard

--because she was in love with her badass, wild tiger shifter

In love Absolutely, freaking, crazy, I’d-kill-to-protect him--and had-- in love For the first ti to make her realize that fact

But, better late than never

Chapter 21

"I’m sorry, Ms Jerome, but your mother isn’t here"

Erin’s eyes widened as she stared at the e She had to be wrong

"But she was brought in on an a man with a round face, flushed "Ah, yes, uood story

"When the doors opened, the EMTs were there, but the patient--ah, she’d…already exited the vehicle"

Erin blinked "Run that by ain"

His face a deeper red now, he said, "The EMTs said she jumped out when they slowed for a blocked intersection She shoved right past theed to kick open the doors"

A smile lifted her lips "Really?"

Sweat beaded his brow "I assure you, this isn’t nor they could to restrain her"

Her s restrained" If herfor her again soon

Thank you, Theresa

Their life was far, far fro to risk her life in order to get back into her daughter’s good graces, well, that was a woive her one

Her nails tapped against the counter "And what about Dee Daniels? How is she?"

Seriously, no human should be that shade of red "Dee" He said the na response, Erin figured the guy had probably seen Dee in the ER a few tiht, that sure made sense

"Dee, she’s ah…in recovery Not up to visitors yet"

"But she’s okay?"

A weak nod His Adam’s apple bobbed

Her shoulders relaxed "Good" Better than good

She’d come to the ER at Mercy General alone Jude had stayed behind to keep answering all the one after her ht

If the woh to flee, then, yeah, she had to be on the mend

Voices buzzed behind her Machines beeped Doctors rushed past

She couldn’t see Dee yet--

But there was someone else upstairs

Erin shoved away froled voice

Erin walked toward the bank of elevators

"Ma’alanced down The shirt had dried, finally, but the blood ers, the ones she’d been tapping on the counter, were stained red Whoops

The elevator doors opened with a chime She walked inside and turned back to face the clerk "Don’t worry," she told him "Only half the blood’s mine"

The doors slid shut, but not before she’d seen his face turn from red to a very dark purple

The cri under control

The body had been tagged and bagged The area had been sectioned off Evidence collected No detail would be overlooked under Tony’s watch

Erin wouldn’t be charged Hell, after she’d given her story, Tony had even gotten one of the cops to take her to the hospital A police escort

No, she wouldn’t be charged, and good old Judge Harper would go down as a twisted freak who’d gotten too attached to one of the lawyers in his courtroo to stand beside Jude and staring out into the darkness of the swaaonna find out this wasn’t the first tiree what skeletons were about to fall out of the judge’s closet

"This isn’t his first time" Ben Greer paced toward them, his hands shoved deep into his pockets He’d clipped his badge to the front of his shirt Lines were etched across his pale face "There have been sos in Lillian over the last few years"

Jude narrowed his eyes on the cop "What kind of killings?"

"The kind that some cops don’t care about" Ben’s lips twisted "A rapist had his throat slit two years ago and his body was tossed onto the steps of the PD Before that, a guy who’d walked on asin, because everyone knew he’d killed his wife and her lover--ah, souy’s lawyer"