Tess opened her eyes. He was leaning over her, a different kind of anguish darkening his eyes and making his voice shake.
“I...got scared. I’ve never felt anything like this before. Please,” he repeated. “Maybe I don’t deserve it, but I need you to forgive me. I...figured out a lot of things after I left you.”
“Because I could have died?”
“No. God. I was already plotting what to say to you.”
“What were you going to say?” Tess whispered.
“I love you,” he said hoarsely. “That’s what I needed to tell you.”
Relief and an astonishing feeling of joy filled her until she wondered if she was still touching the bed at all or had floated upward. Her head still hurt, but, for this minute, her awareness of pain became unimportant. “Oh.”
Zach’s laugh was shaky. “Oh? That’s the best you can do?”
“I love you, too.” Looking up into his very blue eyes, she remembered the first time she’d done so, when she’d felt an instant, powerful connection. If that had been the beginning, it had only gained strength.
“I kind of hoped so,” he admitted. He leaned over and pressed the softest of kisses to her lips. “I don’t want to let go of you,” he murmured, “but I think your dad needs to see you, too.”
She did want to see her father but... “You’ll come back, won’t you?” Begging made her feel a little pathetic.
“Yeah. I’m not leaving you tonight.”
Tess fumbled for the button and pushed it again, sighing at the relief. “Wait,” she said when Zach stood. He hadn’t released her hand, but he was leaving. “Hayes. Has he been arrested?”
“Not last I heard, but he will be.” His voice had hardened, reminding her that he was a cop.
“Good.”
He smiled, bent, kissed her again and then said, “I’ll be back.”
* * *
BRAN CAME BY the hospital midmorning the next day to let Zach know that both Andrew and Tyler Hayes had been arrested and were still being questioned.
“Lieutenant MacLachlan joined Easley. They let me observe. Christine Campbell was there, too,” he added.
Tess was sleeping, so Zach had taken a break to grab a bite in the cafeteria. Her doctor had decided to keep her for another twenty-four hours, to be sure the blow to the head didn’t have further consequences, and until she was breathing better.
Zach had piled the food on his tray, while Bran had only taken a cup of coffee and a pastry.
“We’ve got him for attempted murder, when he might have dealt down the Alvarez killing to manslaughter,” Bran said with obvious satisfaction. “Idiot.”
Zach could think of a few stronger words but left them unsaid. “The manslaughter would have kept him from ever working as a cop again, though.”
“Sheriff Brown stopped to ask me how you are.” Bran’s mouth quirked. “Wanted me to tell you that the entire department is behind you. Take as much time as you need, he said, but they’ll be glad to have you back at work.” Grinning at his brother’s expression, he added, “He held a press conference. I recorded it for you. His sincerity is deeply moving.”
Zach snorted.
“Delancy is keeping his head down and not saying a whole lot. I’m seeing some chagrin on a few other faces. Everyone else is genuinely concerned.”
“Somebody put that threat in my mailbox.”
“I’m with you. Somebody else is involved in this.” He drained his coffee. “Easley and MacLachlan are leaning hard on both the Hayeses. One will crack.”
Zach pondered that and agreed. Poor impulse control seemed to be a familial trait. “Hayes has a big mouth when he’s mad.”
Bran made an acknowledging noise. “The brother is backtracking frantically. Claims he had no idea his brother was going to assault Tess and set the fire. He thought Andy was just going to try to scare her again. ‘Something harmless.’ I quote,” he said dryly.
“Hard to buy that when Andy had a bundle of newspapers under his arm and a candle and stand.”
“Yep. Even harder to argue with camera footage. Plus, he still had a book of matches in his pocket when he was picked up.”