Where You Can Find Me by Fiona Cole
24
We truly did letit go after that night. I realized how precious time was, and I didn’t want to waste it holding a grudge. That didn’t mean I would allow it to happen again. I just decided to move on and enjoy my time with him. And Jack made time. He still had to work odd hours, and there were times I didn’t see him, but he’d never not called or messaged me goodnight since my breakdown. I appreciated it because I saw the case wear on him. I saw the exhaustion in his glazed-over, bloodshot eyes, even though he tried to hide it. But the nights we did spend together were relaxed and not filled with our normal passion. I didn’t care; I was happy we were together, and I didn’t have to worry about if he had been hurt or something worse.
Saturday morning, we woke up to the sound of his phone going off. I heard him pick up but kept my face buried in the blankets, not ready to face the morning so early.
“MacCabe.” He paused as the other person spoke. I mostly tried to ignore it until I felt him tense and pull himself to a sitting position, instantly alert. “You found what?”
“Are you sure?”
“How long for the results?”
“Shit, Shane. I don’t know what to say. I’m scared to hope.” Another pause. His tension bled to the other side of the bed onto me, and I pulled myself up. “All right, man. Keep me in the loop. Hey, before you go, when does Bennet get back from his vacation? No reason. I’m just curious what he knows.”
Jack ran his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know what to think, Shane. I just know he rubs me the wrong way, and I don’t trust him. He seems too invested in an excited way. You know I wouldn’t do anything. Anyways, I was just checking. Take care of yourself, and let me know anything when you figure it out.”
He hung up the phone, turned to me, and with both hands on my cheeks, kissed me hard and heavy. I didn’t respond immediately as I sat there in shock at his enthusiasm after talking to Detective Daniels. Usually, those phone calls ended in more stress. As my shock wore off, I enjoyed the feeling of his soft lips pressing into mine and opened my lips to taste his tongue. My curiosity forced me to pull away from the kiss. My eyebrows scrunched in confusion at seeing the wide smile on his face. “Not that I’m not happy to see you so happy, but what was that all about?”
“It’s a little premature to get excited, but the autopsy report of the victim from Saturday night came back, and they found skin under her nails. It’s not one hundred percent that it will match anyone in the system, but it’s pretty conclusive that it is our killer’s DNA.”
I tried to focus as nausea swarmed my stomach again at hearing more details from Whitney’s murder. After a few deep breaths, what he said finally kicked in, and hope for this finally being over began to fill my chest as a smile stretched my cheeks. I just wanted this to be over. I wanted to spend nights with my boyfriend while he didn’t look physically and emotionally exhausted from all the murders he saw. And no matter how much evil in the world continued, I wanted this one to be put to an end.
I leaned in and kissed him this time. We broke apart with a laugh because we were both so happy at the slim possibility. I didn’t care how unrealistic it was; I wanted to hold this close for a little while. Jack pulled back after peppering my face with a few more quick kisses.
“Let’s celebrate. Let me take you to dinner. Let me surprise you with something special tonight.”
I nodded my head as I let his excitement fuel mine. I would have agreed to anything at that point to keep him this happy.
“All right. I have a few things I need to tie up at the office, but tonight, you are mine. I’m going to come up with something memorable for my girl.”
I loved when he called me that. It was possessive and warmed my chest. He quickly got dressed and grabbed his things before leaning on the bed, pushing my hair back behind my ear, and lifting my chin. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
He gave me a quick peck and told me to be ready by six-thirty. I heard the front door close and fell back on the bed with a happy squeal. I loved surprises and couldn’t wait to see what tonight would bring.