Chapter 34

Ransom

"Thanks for picking me up," I tell Cutter as I get into his truck weeks later. It's been a lot of the same old, same old between Stelle and I. She's attending school during the day, taking care of me at night, while I'm rehabbing my shoulder and preparing to go back on duty. I'm still not cleared to drive, so today Cutter's offered to pick me up and take me to what I hope is my last doctor's appointment.

"Not a problem, everyone else has had their turn. Now it's time for mine."

"You know if I could drive myself, I would." I flick at his arm.

He pulls from within my reach and then hands me a coffee. "This is for you, although if you're gonna be a dick, you're not getting it."

"I'm always a dick to you, we're brothers," I joke with him. "And we've got a couple hours ride ahead of us, so we might as well get the picking on each other out of the way right now."

"You know this has kind of always been a dream of mine. You always took care of me as a kid, this time I get to