The Sheriff's Secret. Julie Lindsey Anne

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СКАЧАТЬ out with your hands up.”

      A blinding pain split the back of his head and loosened his grip on the weapon. Flashes of light splintered his vision. His knees buckled and he tumbled forward against his will. One palm landed against the floor in support.

      The back door swung wide and a figure dressed in black bolted into the yard.

      “Damn it.” West shoved onto his feet and forced himself through the door. He slid in the wet grass on uncooperative legs. “Freeze!” he hollered.

      A fresh blast of pain punched through his skull at the sound of his booming voice. He pressed one hand to the back of his head and groaned. The goose egg was already forming, and his palm slid against something warm and slick. A quick look confirmed the substance as his blood.

      West angled between the next set of homes, hoping to get a glimpse of the getaway car or a look at the man’s face. The figure had doubled the distance between them, clearing the next hill and vanishing before West could manage to gain any speed.

      West holstered his sidearm and radioed Dispatch. “Suspect is fleeing on foot, moving southwest toward Main from River Park Estates.” He’d be lucky if a deputy was anywhere near his location. The Cade County Sheriff’s Department was small, just six including himself, and not everyone was on duty. Those who were had their hands full with the shooting.

      He paused to curse and allow his vision to clear. What the hell had he been hit with? And what was the dog barking at if not the intruder?

      West climbed the steps to Tina’s front porch slowly and with a little effort. “He got away,” he said, sliding inside and forcing his posture straighter. “Got any ice?” He scanned the empty living room. “Tina?”

      Ducky jumped at his feet, a leash in his mouth. “Now you want to go out?” He sidestepped Ducky and fought an irrational wave of fear. “Tina?”

      “West.” Her trembling voice sent him in the direction of her kitchen.

      He cut through the living room, taking in as many details as possible. Everything smelled like Tina. Vanilla and cinnamon, warm and inviting. There wasn’t much in the way of furniture, but the baby seemed to have more than any one child could ever need. Infant seats, swings and play sets dotted every inch of space he passed, accompanied by a barrel of stuffed animals in the living area.

      Tina stood alone in the kitchen’s center. The table had been set for two, complete with hot pads in the middle, as if standing in anticipation of a meal yet to come. She shook her head, clearly baffled. “I didn’t do this.”

      West’s muscles tightened. “Don’t touch anything.” He dialed Cole as an icy swell of fear rose through him. West knew exactly the kind of person who’d break into a woman’s home and stage a scene like this. A dangerous one. Maybe even someone capable of shooting a man right in front of her just to get her attention. He turned away from Tina as he relayed the situation to his brother. The pain in his head grew by the second. West checked again to see if the blood flow had slowed.

      Tina gathered ice into a dish towel and pushed it his way.

      He gave her a sour face, but accepted the offer. “This is the opposite of not touching anything.”

      “Yeah, well, you’re hurt,” she said. “Don’t bleed on my carpet.” The attempt at levity was lost with the crack in her voice.

      Tina was scared, and West needed to fix that.

      He cleared the rest of the house, room by room, then took a break to let the ice do its work. “Any idea who’d pretend to make you dinner?” He winced as the towel slid against his hair.

      “None.”

      “Are you seeing anyone?”

      “No.”

      “I think you’d better pack a bag. I need to get a team out here to pull prints off the dog’s crate, your doors and everything in the kitchen.” He gripped the back of his neck. “As soon as they finish at the medical center parking lot.”

      Tina followed him into the bathroom and retrieved a first-aid kit from under the sink. “The house is clear. Now hold still and tell me what happened.”

      “Ducky was barking at the closet door, and someone jumped me while I was distracted.”

      The pup appeared at the sound of his name. “Woof.”

      Tina took the lead from his mouth and set it aside. “We keep his leash in the closet. I take him for a walk when I get home.”

      West rolled his eyes and regretted it. “Ow.”

      “Here.” She tossed a bloodied cloth into the sink and handed him a bottle of aspirin. “I don’t think you’ll need stitches.”

      “Great. I wasn’t planning on getting any.” He tossed a pair of pills into his mouth and scooped a handful of water from the bathroom sink.

      He led her to her bedroom and made a slow circle through the room. “We know someone has been inside. We don’t know for how long or how often.” West peered through the curtains into the back and side yards. “Crimes like this are predominately orchestrated by men. Are you sure there isn’t anyone you can think of who might have some fixation on you or infatuation you weren’t aware of?” He ignored the fire burning in him at the thought. He couldn’t let this get personal. Couldn’t afford to have clouded judgment.

      “I haven’t dated since I met Thomas. That was two years ago. There was nothing serious before that.”

      West ignored the strike to his chest. He thought that they had been plenty serious once, but then again, she’d already made it clear he was wrong.

      Tina wrinkled her nose. “There was a man at the hospital who asked me out a few times while I was pregnant. I thought that was weird, but he eventually took no for an answer.”

      “Who was that?”

      “Chris something. He worked at the pharmacy on the main floor.”

      West released the curtains in favor of his cell phone. “Go ahead and gather whatever you need,” he instructed, tapping the tiny screen. “You can shower and change at the station if you’d like. Your soiled clothes will need to be bagged as evidence. We can come back for Ducky once we finish there.”

      “How long will I be gone? How much should I pack?” Her mind raced with questions. Where should she and her daughter go? Was anywhere safe?

      “Take enough to last you a couple days, Lily, too.”

      Tina braced her hands against the bed’s edge. “Do you think the shooter did this?” Her ivory skin whitened further.

      West sent a quick string of orders to his deputies via text message before turning his attention back to Tina. “We can’t know for sure. Not yet.”

      “Was it him?” She choked. “Could the shooter from my office have been here? Inside my home?”

      “That’s what we’re going to find out.”

      “Damn it, West!” A flush of СКАЧАТЬ