Bear Claw Lawman. Jessica Andersen

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СКАЧАТЬ came in, puffing from the climb. At the interruption, Nick’s expression flattened and he straightened away from her. “You need to let these guys have a look at you.”

      She tried to wave them off. “I’m fine.” Which would’ve sounded more convincing if her voice hadn’t broken. But she wasn’t fine. She was down and hurting. And, worse, she had lost crucial evidence in the Death Stare case…otherwise, why else would the killer come back for it?

      The killer, she thought, and closed her eyes as it started to penetrate. She’d been attacked, knocked out. Logic said that was what’d happened, but when she tried to remember, all she could picture was her and Gigi gossiping about Nick. Who was here, hovering over her with a gruff protectiveness he’d never shown while they were together, probably because she had been careful to never let him see her be anything but breezy and self-reliant. Now, she was anything but. She wanted to cling, wanted to cry. She had been attacked, knocked out, robbed.

      Why couldn’t she remember any of it?

      The paramedics dumped their gear and moved in, asking questions and starting to tug at her clothes.

      She tried to fend them off. “I don’t—”

      “Just let them have a look at you,” Nick said. “You were unconscious for a good five minutes, and there’s blood.” She would’ve kept arguing, would’ve kept trying to brush them off when they tried to look in her eyes and feel the growing lump on her skull. But then he leaned in closer and said, “Please.”

      She stilled, caught in his eyes and the low-voiced request. Had he ever asked her for anything before? She didn’t think so, and the impact was palpable. He was still holding her hand, she realized. He followed her eyes to where their fingers were twined together, but he didn’t pull away. Instead, he tightened his grip.

      Warmth kindled, making her want to lean into him, lean on him. Her head hurt; her eye and the whole side of her face hurt. More, her heart ached at knowing she had lost the evidence. Maybe even the key to the whole case.

      Damn it. She needed to let go for a few minutes, needed to know she could trust someone else to handle things, needed… She needed exactly what he was offering right now, she realized with a sudden cold-water dose of reality. Which meant it wasn’t real; it was just a means to an end, just like all the other roles she’d seen him play over the past month.

      Stiffening, she pulled away, even though it took effort. “Whatever it takes to get the job done, right?”

      He frowned. “What?”

      “Never mind.” Going numb now, she submitted to the paramedics, no longer trying to fight them off as they asked her to follow a pen with her eyes and answer stupid-simple questions about what day it was and who was the President.

      Nick stood, moved to the back of the room and took a good look around. Moments later, he and Tucker had their heads together and were conferring in low tones, with lots of looks in her direction. She was so busy trying to focus on them that it took her too long to notice that the paramedic working on a small scalp laceration—which had started bleeding when she began to move around—was tossing bloody gauze into the spatter pattern from the murder vic.

      “The scene,” she protested, reaching for his arm. “Please!”

      “Forget the scene,” Tucker said, more to the paramedic than to her. “A living victim gets priority.”

      It was protocol, and normally she agreed wholeheartedly—the emergency responders needed to do their jobs without worrying about evidence. But she wasn’t critical—a headache and some memory gaps weren’t going to kill her—and this was the Death Stare case. “Not here. Not now. Not with me.”

      His expression darkened. “Stow it. You’re damn lucky to be alive, you know. If Nick hadn’t come in when he did, the bastard could have—” He broke off, cursing under his breath as he turned away to take a long look out the window.

      Nick, though, didn’t seem to have nearly as much of a problem with the prospect. He stared at her, expression unreadable and nothing like the gentleness that had been on his face when she was first waking up.

      In a way, she was grateful, because the irritation she wanted to aim at him helped her steel herself against the picture Tucker had painted in her aching head. She hadn’t thought about it, hadn’t really questioned why or how Nick had gotten there. Now, though, she was forced to admit she was damned lucky to be alive. It wasn’t like the Investor made a habit of leaving witnesses. Exactly the opposite, in fact.

      Nick had interrupted him before he could finish the job. He had saved her life.

      What was she supposed to do with that?

      “Yes, I am lucky,” she admitted, struggling to keep her voice from wavering. “I’m grateful Nick got here when he did, believe me. More grateful than I can

      really say right now. But that doesn’t change the fact that I’m not seriously injured.”

      “You were unconscious for way too long,” Nick said flatly, “and you’re still out of it.”

      “I’m fine.”

      He raised an eyebrow. “Describe the attack.”

      She glared at him, but the reality was that she wasn’t frustrated with him anymore—she was mad at herself. Why couldn’t she remember what happened?

      “You want the scene preserved? Then get out of here,” Nick said with maddening logic. “Let the paramedics take you to the hospital for stitches and make sure that hard head of yours is fully intact.” To Tucker, he said, “We’ll want guards on her, starting now.”

      “Who did you have in mind?” The question seemed more pointed than it should’ve been, though Jenn couldn’t be sure. Things were getting fuzzy all of a sudden, like a gray mist closing in on her.

      “Send a couple of uniforms with her,” Nick said flatly. “And have Alyssa or one of the others meet her there. I don’t want… Hell, she should have a friendly face waiting.”

      Jenn didn’t know why he sounded angry but couldn’t worry about it just then, as the paramedics transferred her to the waiting stretcher. She moaned as the world around her began a big, sickening spin.

      Nick took a couple of steps toward them. “Damn it, don’t—”

      “It’s okay.” She waved him off, gritting her teeth and forcing herself to cling to consciousness and not give in to the nausea. “I’m…I’m fine.” Or she would be fine once she got out of here, got someplace dark and quiet, where she could be alone and process everything that had happened—and chill out enough to remember the rest. The memories had to be in there, they had to be.

      She didn’t know whether she had seen the Investor himself or one of his underlings, but it was an important break, a crucial turn in the case…if only she could remember what her attacker had looked like, what he had said. Had he asked her about the evidence? He must’ve come back for something specific, but what?

      “Go on,” Tucker said to the paramedics. To her, he added, “I’ll have Alyssa meet you there. Gigi, too, if she’s free.”

      “Thanks,” she said softly. But it was Nick she reached out toward, though she didn’t make СКАЧАТЬ