I don’t even have to claim self-defense. I just have to walk away.”
“You’re an idiot, Duke, if you think a knife gives you a better chance at survival against me.”
Slower than an old man on a sunny porch, Duke slashed at Mike’s middle. Mike stepped to the side, his hands falling with force. He grabbed Duke’s wrist with one hand and smashed the other against Duke’s elbow. The knife skittered across the ground, Duke’s knife hand now useless.
Anger surged within Mike. Images of the bruises on Sara’s puffy eyes overcoming him. Her nightmares as she lay in that hospital bed, flailing her hands and groaning, fueled his rage. Red clouded his vision. He struck out. He tried to claim revenge for a beautiful woman who couldn’t claim it for herself. Tried to somehow fill the aching hollow of helplessness in his core. Tried to drown out the soul-crushing agony of seeing his love in pain.
Tears blinding him, on violent autopilot, Mike lost himself to his fear for Sara. To his terror of something happening to her. It wasn’t until he felt a firm hand on his shoulder that he came to. That he allowed reality to seep back in.
“All right, bro,” Greg said, pulling him away. “That’s enough. Cops are on their way.”
“I got it from here,” Jake said, stepping into the alley.
Greg grabbed Mike’s shoulders and started pushing him away. “Let Jake sort this out. He’ll get the least amount of questions.”
They walked in easy, unhurried strides out of the alley, across the street, and to the waiting BMW SUV. Each climbed in, Christie nodding from the driver’s seat as they closed the doors.
“All set?” she asked in a nonchalant sort of way.
“We’ve got this,” Greg said, staring out the window as she pulled away from the curb. “Jake’ll say Duke tried to take his wallet with that knife and Jake defended himself. He’s been in these parts forever. The sheriff is his best mate. Case closed.”
Christie nodded once. “Never tell Sara. Just say that he got put in jail because of what he did. She doesn’t need to know he would’ve gotten away with it.”
Mike stared out the window, his heart aching. “Did she wake up? Have you heard?”
She’d been in there for a day and a half, only barely coming to a couple of times, and immediately falling back to sleep. Mike had given up all the duties on the ranch he could, but there were a couple of classes he still had to teach. Christie, Greg, or Jake filled in when he couldn’t be there, or when they couldn’t, May came in. They made sure someone was always with Sara in case she woke up.
“She is on pretty serious painkillers. She woke up once but she was all crazy,” Christie said in a quiet voice.
Mike sighed, his eyes misting over again. He could take a great many things, but seeing her in pain broke a part of him he didn’t know how to fix. He’d give his life to see her healthy and happy. He couldn’t imagine any other way.
Greg leaned forward in the seat to put his hand on Mike’s shoulder. “She’ll heal, bro. And Duke’s going away. She’s safe. Just stick by her side, and she’ll carry on. I get the feeling that she’ll run through hell if you’re by her side.”
“She might be strong enough, but I’m not sure I am,” Mike admitted, his eyes going hazy as he stared out the window.
“That’s why you have us. You support her, we’ll support you,” Christie said softly. “We’re all a team. She’ll come out okay. Trust me.”
Two things were clear. Christie had been through something serious, and she had a core of steel because of it. She’d become everyone’s backbone in dealing with this. Mike was extremely lucky to have her calling the shots, because he still felt like a day-old kitten. Utterly lost.
* * *
Mike was in a chair next to Sara the next morning, dozing against the hospital bed, when he felt her hand stirring from within his. Her eyes blinked open, unfocused for a moment, before zeroing in on his face. Her lips tweaked into a smile before she winced. Tears welled in her eyes.
“Mikey,” she said in a hoarse voice.
“Yes, baby, I’m here.” He smoothed her hair back from her forehead.
Tears overflowed and wet her face. “I lost it. I lost our baby.”
Mike’s heart dropped. Tears blurred his vision. He’d heard that from the doctor; it wasn’t news. Her dejected