Witness Pursuit. Hope White

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СКАЧАТЬ style="font-size:15px;">      Cassie couldn’t believe it. Nate had listened to her. He’d respected her fear of going back into the hospital and found an alternative.

      Nate drove her to the urgent care, where Dr. Spencer was on duty. He was a good friend to both Nate and Aiden, and he’d done his share of triage with search and rescue. Cassie knew she wasn’t suffering from anything serious, but she did need medical attention for the gash in her arm.

      Closing her eyes, she relaxed under the heated blanket in the examining room. She appreciated the warmth that finally drove the chill from her bones.

      “Cassie?”

      She blinked her eyes open. A frown creased Nate’s forehead.

      “What’s wrong?” she said.

      “I thought you passed out.”

      “Why, because I stopped talking?” she joked.

      Instead of smiling, he glanced down at his hands, holding his Echo Mountain PD cap. He seemed regretful, and she couldn’t understand why.

      “Thanks,” she offered.

      He looked at her. “For what?”

      “Bringing me here. Listening to me, I guess. Not many people do that, especially not my brother.”

      “I almost forgot.” He pulled her cell phone out of his jacket pocket. “Your cousin found it in the ambulance.”

      “Awesome, thanks. Where is my bossy brother, anyway?”

      “He went outside to call your mom.”

      “Oh boy, now the whole town is going to know.”

      “Maybe that’s not a bad thing,” Nate said.

      “You’ve got to be kidding.”

      “People will be on the lookout. They’ll keep an eye on you.”

      “Right, because I’m so fragile and incapable of taking care of myself. They should consider the fact that I escaped this guy—” she hesitated “—twice, and the first time with a dog in my arms.” She sat up. “Speaking of which, what happened to Dasher?”

      “Relax, your sister and my sister are fighting over custody.”

      She sighed and lay back down. “Thanks, I’ll pick him up after I get out of here.”

      “You should worry more about yourself than some scruffy dog.”

      “I have lots of people to support me, but Dasher? He’s got no one. And besides, he’s not scruffy, he’s got character.”

      She thought Nate smiled but couldn’t be sure.

      The door slid open and Dr. Spencer poked his head into the room. “Sorry, had an emergency. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

      “Thanks,” Cassie said.

      Dr. Spencer smiled and shut the door. Cassie glanced at Nate. “When my brother comes back, you can go. I know you should be figuring out what happened to the dead woman, instead of hanging around here.”

      “Detective Vaughn is leading the investigation.”

      “Why?”

      “I delegate in order to keep a broader perspective on things. I hope you don’t mind me asking, but—” he pulled his stool close to Cassie’s bedside “—do you think you can identify the man carrying the shovel?”

      “Absolutely, and I wanted to call you with that information, but I’d lost my phone.”

      “I’ll try to get a forensic artist to come by tomorrow. Where will you be staying?”

      “You know where my apartment is, over the tea shop.”

      He straightened. “It would be wiser if you didn’t go back to your place for a few days. The perpetrator knows who you are.”

      “I still don’t understand how.”

      “Where’s your wallet?”

      “Back at the cabin. Oh...so you think he went through my things?”

      “It’s likely, yes.”

      “But I did a good job of playing a daft property manager who runs from the sight of blood. I was pretty convincing that I didn’t see him at the cabin.”

      “Cassie, he came after you in the hospital and knocked out the orderly who was supposed to take you to imaging.”

      “Wait, what? Is he okay?”

      “He’s fine. That’s not the point.”

      “I feel so bad since it’s my fault that—”

      “Cassie, stop talking, just for one minute.”

      She bit back more questions she wanted to ask about the injured orderly. At least she’d like his name so she could add him to her prayer list.

      “We can’t take chances with your safety,” Nate said. “You need to be in the most protected environment possible until we solve this case.”

      “Well, I could always leave the country. I have enough money saved to travel for a while, not as long as I’d originally intended, but a few months should work, right?”

      Nate didn’t answer at first. He clenched his jaw and his green eyes darkened. “I’d rather you not.”

      “You said I’m in danger here, so the most logical choice is to—”

      He stood abruptly. “You’re a witness. I need you to stay in town.”

      “Oh, okay.” She glanced at her fingers in her lap. Arguing with Nate was pointless. He was the police chief, after all, and his primary concern was the murder case, nothing more, nothing like...

      He actually cared about Cassie.

      Nope, Nathaniel Walsh was all business. He wanted to get his man, and Cassie was a means to that end.

      “You’re upset with me,” he stated, studying her.

      “I want to go home.”

      “To your mother’s farm. Good idea.”

      She cocked her chin. “When did I say that? I never said that.”

      “But you agree that it’s a good idea?” He sat back down beside her.

      “No, I don’t want to stay at the farm. Mom will hover and forbid me from leaving the house.”

      “It’s probably a good idea to lie low for a while, stay at your mom’s and do your blogging stuff.”

      “Hey, СКАЧАТЬ