“Is that man your husband? He’s a beast.” An EMT checked her pulse. She shined a light to check Megan’s pupils.
She rolled her eyes. “I might as well claim him because he’s not going anywhere.”
Megan sat on a stretcher outside of the ambulance, eyeing Ryan pacing back and forth with an icepack on his face. Police cars lined her block, and several news teams filmed nearby.
“We had to pry you out of his hands. That man wouldn’t let you go. He wailed and carried on thinking you were shot. I had to let him hear your heartbeat before he released you.” The EMT laughed. “I told him he couldn’t come in the ambulance. He almost bit my head off.”
“Yes, that sounds like him.” Megan put a hand to her head. “Ouch.” She felt a trickle of blood.
“The bullet grazed by your ear. It could’ve been worse.” She cleaned Megan’s wound and wrapped a bandage around her head.
Megan lifted a hand. “Thank you, Jesus.”
The EMT smiled. “Hallelujah.” She put a hand on her hips. “You need to go to the hospital, you know. And so does he.”
“I told you, I’m fine. I just want my baby.” Her chin wobbled. “I want Cooper.”
Agent Wilders came over carrying a notebook. “I need to get a statement.”
“Later,” Ryan growled, tugging Wilders’ shoulder. “Megan needs her rest.”
Agent Wilders shook his head. “I have to get her statement now.”
“Not without her attorney present,” Ryan said.
Megan glared at Ryan. “Agent Wilders, I’ll be happy to answer your questions. But can you tell me where Cooper is?”
The agent shook his head.
Megan swallowed tears. Where is my son? She pictured him crying and hungry or lying somewhere… She gulped.
Ryan looked at his watch. “He’ll be here in ten minutes.”
She reached for Ryan. “You know where he is?” Her heart thumped in her chest. She sobbed. “I thought…I thought…”
Ryan looked at the EMT workers and Agent Wilders. “I need to talk to my wife in private.”
“Okay, but you’re not leaving until I get a statement,” Agent Wilders said. “From both of you.” He glared.
Ryan met him stare-for-stare. “You’ll get it with our attorney present.”
Wilders stomped off.
Ryan pulled Megan close.
“Well?” she asked.
“Cooper’s safe. He’s with Michael Ward.”
“What?” Megan’s mouth dropped open. “Why?”
“I gave him to Michael for safekeeping,” Ryan said. “I had to protect him from Frank and Jackson’s people.”
“You…you kidnapped my son—”
“To protect him, yes, but Cooper was never in any danger,” Ryan interrupted. “It’s been the worst two days of my life.”
Fury hit her in waves. She jabbed a finger in his chest. “You made me think…why didn’t you tell me?”
“I couldn’t,” Ryan said. “Your face and heart would’ve told the truth. I suspected Frank and Jackson’s people both had leaks from the FBI or law enforcement. They had to be getting inside help. It was the only way they could get away with so much. How else could Frank have gotten a note to me without getting caught? And, how could Jackson get killed without any clues? I couldn’t tell you the truth because I feared the whole house was wiretapped. And, I was right. Agent Gray heard our conversation. That’s why he said Frank had been captured.”
Megan sagged against him. “I’m furious with you, but I’m glad my baby is all right.”
“I didn’t know who to trust.” He hugged her close and pulled away to gently touch her hair. “Thank you for trusting me.” He shook his head. “You were supposed to hide, to run away, not come back upstairs.”
“I didn’t know if you were in trouble so I had to come back. Good thing I did.”
“I would’ve handled it.”
“You were on your knees getting your face rearranged.”
“I wasn’t—”
“Just say thank you,” Megan interrupted.
“Thank you,” he said.
“And you owe me a guitar.”
“I’ll get you one.” He sighed. “Before you came up those stairs, I had been praying. The entire time I was on my knees, I was asking God to look out for you. To help you leave. I didn’t care about myself. Trust me, that’s big for me.”
She placed a hand on his chest. “Thank you for loving me and for being a father to Cooper.”
“If you’ll let me, I’d like to be in his life.”
Her eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean if I let you?”
“I’ve decided to set you free. I’ll give you the money and the divorce. I only hope you’ll let me see Cooper from time to time. I love you too much to keep you hostage. I see that now. Besides, I promised God I’d do it if He kept you safe. Imminent death will put things in perspective real fast. During those precious seconds, I had no one to trust but Him and He came through for me.”
Megan hugged him. “Thank you for freeing me. You can see Cooper every day. I realize you do love him and Cooper is crazy about you. I won’t interfere with that.”
Ryan nodded and stepped out of her arms. He averted his eyes, but Megan could see they were teary. He turned to walk out of her life for good.
Megan raised her voice. “But I have one condition…”
Ryan turned.
“Can this be a package deal?”
Ryan’s face transformed. She read the relief and hope in his eyes, and her stomach relaxed.
He was back in her arms in two steps. “This is a fairytale ending.”
She chuckled. “I’m not saying I love you. It’s way too soon.”
“You don’t have to,” Ryan said softly. “It’ll come in time. I have enough love for both of us.”
Megan rolled her eyes. Nice to see his confidence had returned. “What’s going to happen since we never found the microchip?” She shuddered. “Frank might come back for Cooper.”
Ryan rested his head against hers and whispered, “I found it.”
“What?” Her mouth dropped. She looked around to see if anybody was listening, but Agent Gray was getting all the attention for now.
Ryan placed a hand over his lips. “It was in your guitar. That’s where Jackson hid the microchip. When you cracked it open, the chip fell to the floor. I don’t know how I saw it, but I’m going to say it was God. I pocketed it before the cops arrived.”
Megan glared. “You need to tell Agent Wilders. I don’t want to live my life in fear.”
He shook his head. “I don’t know if I can trust him. If Agent Gray was his partner…”
“I see,” Megan said.
“I’m giving the chip to Frank. Michael’s getting word to him. Frank will delete anything incriminating about me on there. The way I see it, I’d rather trust the evil I know, and I know Frank.”
Megan considered his logic and shook her head. “You’re one stubborn man, Ryan Oakes. I’m going to love seeing God deal with your thick-headedness. He’s going to set you right.”
His eyes softened. “I’d say He’s already begun.”
“And I intend to be here until He does.”
Ryan drew her into his arms. “Even if takes a lifetime?”
She moved closer into his embrace. “Even then.”