Page 89 of Deserving Cora
Feeling sick now from the way the chopper was swaying and jerking in the storm, she squeezed her eyes shut. Her arm was screaming in pain, her butt hurt from where she’d landed on it, and her head throbbed from hitting the wall.
But she was alive, and they had found Lara. She’d go through it all again if it meant being where she was right now. Scared out of her mind, but safe.
As if he could read her thoughts, Pipe spoke softly. She barely heard him over Owl and Stone’s conversation about getting them out of there without crashing.
“You’re good. I’ve got you.”
Yeah, he did. She was hurt, Lara was obviously traumatized, and they might still die in a horrific helicopter crash, not to mention they might be prosecuted for stealing the chopper…but Cora didn’t care. They’d deal with the fallout from the last few hours later. For now, she was content to be alive and with the man she loved.
CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE
Cora sat on the rooftop deck of Pipe’s cabin at The Refuge. To her surprise, he had replaced the two separate Adirondack chairs with a cushioned love seat shortly after they’d returned. He said it was so he could sit closer to her. It was adorable, and considerate, and was even a little hard to believe. Cora had never had a man who wanted to be by her side. And Pipe being so sweet was hard to get used to.
Her arm was in a cast and she’d been given painkillers for her cracked coccyx. She’d literally broken her butt. It was ridiculous. But Pipe had gotten her a wedge cushion to sit on and the drugs cut down the pain significantly.
The helicopter ride had been terrifying and painful, but what had been even scarier was staring down the barrels of a dozen weapons after they’d landed. Owl and Stone had managed to land on a helipad at a local hospital, but since the landing was unauthorized and no one knew who they were or what was happening, the police had been called.
It had taken nearly an hour to straighten everything out—with the help of Tex, Brick, Lara’s parents, and even Owl and Stone’s former commander—but eventually they were allowed to enter the hospital.
Cora was discharged that same night after x-rays and getting the cast on her arm, but Lara had stayed for two nights. Owl didn’t leave her side. Every time he so much as tried to get up, Lara freaked out. For some reason she’d latched onto him, and when he wasn’t in her line of sight, she became hysterical.
Her parents had come to the hospital, and even their presence hadn’t calmed her down much. They were obviously glad to see her and know that she was alive, but distraught by everything that had happened. They were filled with guilt over ignoring Cora’s warnings…guilt made even worse when Lara didn’t seem to want them to stay. Cora suspected it would take a while for their relationship to mend, if it ever would.
Owl wasn’t fazed by Lara’s need to have him by her side. He had an unending well of patience, holding her hand for two days straight, only reluctantly letting go for the occasional bathroom break.
“You all right?” Pipe asked.
It had been less than a week since their ordeal in the basement, and Cora swore Pipe asked her that question at least twenty times a day, but she truly didn’t mind. Him asking meant he cared, which was the best medicine she could’ve had.
“Yeah. Just thinking,” she told him.
“About?”
“Him. Creepy Guy.”
Pipe scooted closer and put his arm around her shoulders. He couldn’t pull her into his lap with her broken tailbone, but he didn’t hesitate to touch her whenever he could. “He’s going to be found.”
Cora appreciated his confidence, but she wasn’t so sure. After all, the FBI hadn’t been able to find him before. What made this time any different?
“They will,” Pipe insisted, as if he could read her mind. “Someone like that? Someone evil down to his core…he’ll make a mistake.”
“I just…he’s going to hurt some other woman. Or women.”
Pipe sighed. “Yeah.”
That was all he said, but as much as Cora hated him confirming her worst fears, she appreciated that he wasn’t brushing off her concerns.
“Tex hasn’t found out any more info?” she asked.
“No. And he’s still super pissed that Unknown hacked into his computers.”
Cora huffed out an amused breath.
“You don’t know him. He prides himself on being the best of the best when it comes to tech shit. And this anonymous person has not only done what he wasn’t able to do—three times now—he did it by hacking into Tex’s system to get information.”
“But he’s been helping us. I mean, he unjammed those phone signals so you could talk to Stone. And he figured out who Creepy Guy really was.”
“I know. But Tex still isn’t happy.”
