Her Christmas Protector. Geri Krotow

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СКАЧАТЬ She’d admitted she was a licensed counselor, not a minister, and had lived in Silver Valley for almost two years.

      And had never contacted him or any of their high school acquaintances.

      Whatever.

      “Yes, Zora Krasny. Any reason why you’ve taken such an interest, other than for your operational needs, Bryce?”

      “Yes, sir. We went to Silver Valley High School together.”

      Superintendent Todd’s eyes narrowed and Bryce realized he’d never seen the superintendent taken aback by anything. He’d surprised him with that one, though.

      “Is that so?”

      “Yes.” He shrugged. “She went to the naval academy, I went to Penn State, and I never heard from her again.”

      “Sounds like a broken-heart issue. Not my problem, Bryce.”

      “No, sir. We still have a killer out there.” He said that as much to remind himself. Zora’s presence was distracting to say the least.

       Damn it.

      “Yes, and I fully trust you’re going to flush him out, Bryce. We came close last night.”

      “We did. Zora told me she caught a good glimpse of a male vendor at the game who she believes was suspicious.”

      “Any chance whoever shot her saw her wig come off?”

      “No, sir. I only noticed it because she was lying on the ground.”

      “I don’t like that she was ambushed at her house.”

      Bryce didn’t, either. Especially since he’d followed her home, and hadn’t noticed any other vehicles tailing and none in the surrounding area. That meant the shooter had been waiting at her house before they got there, and that the shooter most likely wasn’t the same person they’d tracked at the football game. But they couldn’t even be certain of that. Anyone who knew the local farm roads could have beaten the SVPD units to the scene.

      Whoever the shooter was, he knew where Zora lived. Whether he thought she was Colleen Hammermill the minister or not was irrelevant.

      Zora was in danger.

      * * *

      “What do you mean I can’t work out for a couple of weeks?” Zora hated how weak and squeaky her voice came out. She felt stronger than that, save for the pain that radiated through her rib cage. Whatever medication the doctors had prescribed last night hadn’t been strong enough. She’d barely slept during her mandatory overnight stay for observation at Silver Valley Regional Hospital.

      “You took a bullet to your chest, Zora. Your heart stopped momentarily from the blow—if you hadn’t had your vest on we wouldn’t be enjoying this conversation, and you wouldn’t have another workout to look forward to, ever.” Dr. Mark Lassiter eyed her over his reading glasses, his expression uncompromising. They’d met when she did her hospital rotation as part of her counseling degree and struck up a decent rapport—enough that he’d asked her out on a date. She’d politely refused. Luckily, he hadn’t harbored any ill feelings about it.

      She’d had top-notch care at the Harrisburg area’s new hospital, which sat on a sprawling medical campus known for its trauma expertise.

      “I’m grateful to be here.” She winced as she struggled to stand. “I don’t mean to be a pain in the ass.”

      Mark’s hand touched her shoulder and she sat back down.

      “Trust me, in a few weeks you’ll be back in your yoga classes or whatever you’re so fired up about missing. But for now you need to rest.”

      “Fine. And yoga’s not as easy as you think, by the way.” Since she’d left the navy she’d found a lot of joy in yoga, as it balanced her more than her running routine did.

      Mark smiled.

      “I’m in a power yoga class and I know what a good workout it is.” He held up his hand. “And guess what? You’ll be relieved to know I moved on—I’m engaged.”

      “Mark, that’s wonderful! I’m so happy for you. Really.” Pain twisted through her torso as she took too deep a breath in her exuberance.

      “Thank you.”

      “This is going to hurt when the drugs wear off, isn’t it? That’s what you’re not telling me. I won’t want to work out for a while, will I?”

      “It’ll be uncomfortable, yes. About the time your bruise turns yellow, you’ll be ready to ease back into your fitness routine.”

      Mark turned at a sharp knock right before Bryce walked through the hospital room door.

      “Detective. Just in time.”

      “In time for what?” Zora asked. “Wait—no. I don’t need any more help.” No way was Bryce going to help her home. He’d seen enough of her vulnerability in the past twenty-four hours.

      “Trust me, I don’t want to be the one to take you home but it’s Silver Valley PD policy—we take care of our own. You took a bullet from a criminal in our territory. That makes you one of us. I’m grateful you agreed to the bulletproof vest before you said the invocation last night.”

      Nice save, Bryce. He left nothing undone. Mark wouldn’t suspect what she did in her hours away from counseling. To him, she’d been a lucky victim, not a willing participant in the effort to take down a murderer.

      “That was a good call on your part, Bryce.” Mark looked at his watch, then back at Zora. “I’ll leave you now—remember what I said. No cheating.”

      “Got it.”

      Mark left the room and Zora’s skin prickled at her excruciating awareness of Bryce’s proximity.

      It had to be the narcotics. They’d wear off as soon as he got her home.

      “You look like hell.” His gaze assessed her with practiced attention to detail.

      “Why, thank you. You’re as charming as I remember.”

      “And you’re as untrustable as ever.”

      “That’s not even a word. You mean unreliable.”

      “No, I meant it the way I said it. I don’t trust you any more than I did when you stood me up.”

      “Really? We’re going to discuss something as silly as a prom, something that happened fifteen years ago?”

      “No, we’re not. And if it wasn’t so important, why do you remember exactly how long it’s been?”

      She wouldn’t let him make her feel pretty, despite the way he was looking at her.

      Nor would she let him make her feel desirable.

      “Let it go, Bryce.”

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