Between Limestone Ruins

Chapter Seventeen

The paramedics were able to sew Walker up on the spot, provided he didn't want sedation for them to remove the bullet. 

Bad boy military boy Walker did not require sedation and was on his feet with a crutch in 20 minutes, barking orders to coordinate the investigation and clearance of the library. 

Hannah had stepped away to call Nora at the police station. She and the rest of the team had arrived while Walker had still been at the station and had begun analyzing any evidence on or in the letter.

"Go back to the hotel. Take everyone. It's going to be a long day tomorrow, we all need to sleep for a couple hours and get an early start. Yeah, I think he's okay. Thanks Nora. We will." She hung up and joined Walker, seated on the steps outside the library.

"They're going to get some sleep. Are we good to go? Tomorrow is going to be long, and you lost a lot of blood. We both need a couple hours rest."

Walker shook his head. "You're the only person who is not going to fight about me working tomorrow, you know that?" he chuckled.

"Why wouldn't you work tomorrow? It's your case. He isn't going to wait for your medical leave." She gestured at the library as if their killer were still inside.  

"I assumed you wouldn't leave, kicking and screaming, and I don't have the energy to argue with my partner. I just want to sleep safely for a few hours and then tackle this bullshit as a team." 

Walker's emerald eyes seemed to shine as he looked down at her. 

"What?" She laughed. "Did I get your blood on my face?"

Walker barked out a laugh. "No, but your outfit is doomed." His face sobered. "Thank you, Hannah. Honestly. I am glad to have you on this team." 

Her responding smile stole all the air from his lungs.

"No worries Walker, but this does mean I get to drive us back to the hotel, you being down a leg and all." Walker tossed the keys to her outstretched hand and they headed for his car around the corner.

The purr of the engine of his cop vehicle put Walker to sleep in seconds once it started. Hannah was suddenly struck with how dark his under-eyes had grown in the short time they had been in Kingston. She was grateful he was asleep now; the man deserved a months-long vacation.

The sharpness of his jaw and the darkness of the car accentuated by the five-o'clock shadow he'd grown through the stress of the day. He was a beautiful man, and in sleep Hannah could sense all the injustice he'd suffered through his life, all the battles he'd fought, not unlike her own. He desperately needed a break from more than just this case. He was a different man in sleep, the stresses of his day-to-day finally off his face. 

Funny, how it only took him being shot in the leg and passed out cold for her to actually empathize with him.

Somehow, they'd ended up on this case together, and somehow this case had become personal for both of them. Their mutual fear of failure and desperation to save the world had them both low on sleep and catching naps in that passenger seat.

Walker was asleep right up until the police lights met them in their hotel's parking lot.

"Aren't we the cops?" Hannah asked dryly.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Walker murmured groggily blinking as his eyes adjusted to the lights.

"Me too."