Page 91 of Dead Man's Alibi

Sam hated knowing that she’d once considered him a harmless informant.Maybe he had been, but something had warped and changed inside of him.And if he hadn’t been so fucking stupid, if he’d hightailed it out of Marietta right after Nate had been arrested, what would have happened?What more would Nate have suffered?

The thought of it nearly killed her.

God, she hoped Brian Mathewsrotted.

And where wasNate?Cal had gone to deal with the legalities.Pick him up from the jail.Once Jake processed Mathews, he’d help smooth over any last kinks.

Sam still didn’t know how to feel about Jake.So he hadn’tpurposefullyput Nate behind bars, but Mathews had talked about how easy he’d been to fool.And that was Jake’s own fault.Not because he was bad at his job or unprepared, but because emotion had gotten in the way ofrealpolicework.

And yet she knew that Jake valued the truth enough to keep seeking it out.Even when he’d been sure Nate had done it, he’d looked into the things that hadn’t added up, and if he hadn’t done that… well, she’d probably be dead.

Maybe Cal and Jill would have gotten to her in time thanks to the phone location.It was possible, but it would have been a lot more complicated without a police force behind them.She might have lost more blood.Mathews might have gotten off another shot.So many terrible potential outcomes without Jake’s help.

Still, she didn’t really feel all that grateful to him.If he hadn’t been such an asshole, hating Nate for no good reason, she wouldn’t have been in that situation in the first place.

And where wasNate?

Aly bustled back in.“They’re going to try to spread out your pain medication, but you can’t forgo it completely, Sam.You need rest to heal.”

Sam ignored that.Maybe she’d take the meds later, after she knew what was going on with Nate.

Maybe she wouldn’t.

“Cal should be back, don’t you think?”

“I can call him again, if you want,” Aly said pleasantly.

But that fake-ass pleasant tone was just Aly being placating.

A knock sounded at the door and Sam’s heart soared with hope, but it was Landon who came in.He’d gone to get Aly a ginger ale for her iffy stomach.

Sam wanted to scream.If one more Bennet walked through that door that wasn’t the one she actually wanted to see…

“Look who I found,” Landon said.

And then the rest of the Bennet brothers filed in behind him.

“Nate.”Everything inside of her seemed to just whoosh out in that breath.

She was an empty vessel.But then reality crashed back in, and she wanted toscream.He was here.He washere.In his own clothes, no handcuffs.Released and here andhers.

She tried to get to her feet, but Nate crossed the room in seconds flat.

“Don’t get up, damn it.Sit your ass down.”He put his hand on her shoulder as if to keep her on the bed.

Because he sounded somad, and she was just so damn happy to see him not in a prison jumpsuit or cuffs, Sam found herself listening despite her usual inclination to fight an order.She sat and looked up at him and tried to believe this was real and not some kind of hallucination caused by the drugs she was on.

Then he sat on the bed next to her and gently gathered her into his arms.Warm and sturdy andhere.Real.

“Good girl,” he murmured into her ear.

She choked on a watery laugh.“Don’t you ever say that to me again,” she said, but it was through a too-tight throat and with tears falling over onto her cheeks.

He was out.He was free.He was here.

She knew he was struggling with his own composure, so she held tight with her good arm.She let his shirt absorb all her tears.Tried to soothe away his own ragged breathing.She wasn’t sure how long they just clung together—her crying, Nate trying not to.

When they finally parted a little, Sam noted everyone had left, so it was just the two of them.