Mirror Image. Laura Scott
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As much as it made sense that Simms might want to attack her, the build of the guy who’d grabbed her had seemed to be much bigger.
Jenna swept a glance over the waiting room, noting with dismay that every available seat was taken. Despite her lieutenant’s plan to be in and out quickly, she suspected there would be a long wait time. No way did she want to sit here all night.
“Maybe we should wake up one of the crime-scene techs to swab my hand,” she said to Griff. “This place is packed and we’ll end up waiting forever.”
Griff didn’t even look at her, his gaze focused on the triage nurse who was practically drooling over him. “Excuse me. Is Dr. Gabriella Hawkins working tonight?” he asked.
The smile on the nurse’s face faded a bit as she clearly wondered if his interest in Gabby was personal. Which was crazy, since Gabby had recently married Deputy Shane Hawkins and the two of them were giddy with happiness. “Yes, actually, Dr. Hawkins is on call tonight.”
“Will you page her for us? We just need five minutes of her time.” Griff’s stern expression softened when he smiled at the nurse. She nodded and quickly accessed the computer to respond to his request.
Jenna sucked in a breath and turned away to stare blindly at the patrons in the waiting room. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen Griff smile, and the simple gesture changed his entire face, making him even more attractive.
She gave herself a mental shake. She needed to get over herself already. Maybe it was a good thing Griff had never smiled at her like that. She was sure she’d babble like an imbecile if he did.
“I hope Gabby’s not in the middle of surgery or something else equally important,” Griff said in an undertone. “I’d like to get out of here before sunrise.”
His dry tone made her smile. “Yeah, no kidding. This place is crazy busy.”
For a moment their gazes clashed and clung, the space between them sizzling with awareness. Jenna felt powerless to break the bizarre connection, so she was grateful Gabby chose that moment to arrive and interrupt them.
“Hi, Lieutenant. Jenna. Is something wrong?”
Jenna found the strength to look away from Griff and acknowledge Gabby. “Hey, Doc, how are you?” She strove for a carefree tone, when in reality she felt anything but.
She seriously needed distance from Griff. Now.
“I’m fine, but what on earth happened to you?” Gabby reached out to lightly touch Jenna’s aching jaw. “This must hurt.”
“Nothing major, just a little run-in with one of the bad guys,” Jenna replied, sneaking a glance at Griff’s stone face. What was wrong with him? Had he felt the weird attraction that flashed between them, too? No, most likely it was just her overactive imagination working against her. She smiled at Gabby and lifted her hand, still wrapped in the brown paper lunch bag. “We need some evidence and hoped you would sneak us in to get my wounds swabbed.”
“Absolutely. This way,” Gabby said, gesturing for them to follow her through some double doors leading back into the emergency department. “We can use a room in the minor-care area.”
Jenna nodded and followed Gabby into a small exam room. “I caught the perp in the mouth,” she explained as she carefully removed the paper bag. “We’re hoping to get saliva for DNA evidence.”
“Understood,” Gabby said, pulling supplies out of the cabinet located in the corner of the room. “When I’m finished, I’ll wash the wounds out for you, too.”
Jenna grimaced. “I can wash my own hands,” she said, feeling as if the doc was making way too big a deal out of a few scratches that she barely felt compared to her jaw, which continued to throb painfully.
“Thanks. We’d appreciate that,” Griff interjected as if she hadn’t spoken. “The human mouth is full of germs.”
Jenna tried not to roll her eyes at his comment. Griff had hired her almost two years ago and she wanted to believe that he’d made that decision based on her abilities. But sometimes she couldn’t help wondering if she was nothing more than the token female.
Would she ever be taken seriously as a cop? Granted, the guys on the team knew she could shoot, but as far as other tactical situations were concerned, she often felt as if her teammates were trying to protect her.
She sighed and took a seat on the edge of the examining table, waiting patiently as Gabby pulled out the necessary supplies. Swabbing her wounds didn’t take long, and when Gabby had finished, Jenna quickly jumped down to her feet, crossed over to the sink in the room and thrust her hands beneath the stream of water. The antibacterial soap stung on her open cuts, but she ignored the pain while making sure she thoroughly cleansed the wounds.
Getting an infection would only make things worse.
She could tell Griff wasn’t happy, but he didn’t push the issue, either.
“I have a colleague who works at the state lab in Madison,” Gabby said. “I’ll ask him to put a rush on this for you.”
“Great—thanks for your help,” Griff said, as Gabby finished labeling the swab samples. “I owe you one.”
“No problem.” Gabby’s gaze was curious when she glanced at Jenna. “How’s your head? Maybe we should take an X-ray, make sure nothing is broken.”
“I’m fine,” Jenna insisted in a curt tone. “Trust me, I’ve been hit much harder than this.” She turned toward Griff. “Are you ready to get out of here?”
Griff’s fierce scowl didn’t faze her in the least. She didn’t care if he was all tough and growly. He was being ridiculous, and he must have realized that, too, because he finally nodded. “Yeah. Thanks again, Doc,” he said.
“Anytime, Lieutenant.”
Jenna walked out of the ER and headed straight outside, wishing she’d brought her own set of wheels. Griff easily kept pace with her, reaching out to open the passenger-side door for her before she could do it herself.
The gesture was polite, but she couldn’t help spinning around to glare at him. “What is up with you, Lieutenant?” she demanded querulously.
Griff raised his eyebrows, obviously caught off guard by her uncharacteristic spurt of anger. “What are you talking about?”
“This,” she said, waving an impatient hand toward the passenger-side door. “As if you’d do this for Nate, Deck or Isaac.”
The corner of Griff’s mouth twitched as if he found her amusing. “Hate to point this out, Reed, but you’re not Nate, Deck, Isaac or any of the other male deputies who report to me. Now, will you please stop making a big deal out of nothing and get in? We still need to review those mug shots.”
She bit back another retort, knowing she’d only make things worse if she continued to harp on his chivalrous behavior. She slid into the car and buckled the seat belt as she waited for Griff to get in behind the wheel.
To be honest, she shouldn’t take her bad mood out on Griff. Being attacked and then finding the bracelet, so much like her own, had put her on edge. In addition, Griff’s innocent act of opening her door had reminded her of Eric. Eric had seemed like such a nice guy at first, polite, charming. A facade that hadn’t lasted long.
She didn’t know Griff very well, and that was just fine with her, since she obviously couldn’t rely on her instincts when it came to relationships. She knew better than most that men were not to be trusted. Even cops, like Aaron Simms. Far better to keep her distance from the lieutenant. As soon as they’d looked at mug shots, they’d go their separate ways.
Besides, she needed to focus on getting her life back on track. On helping the women at the shelter. On making sure her father didn’t violate the no-contact order that was still in place.
But