The Sheriff's Secret. Julie Anne Lindsey
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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 frustration bled across her pale cheeks. “Stop dancing around and just tell me what you really think happened here.”
West wedged his hands against his hips, struggling to deliver the impossible truth. As if playing witness to murder wasn’t enough horror for her to experience today, the psychopath had to invade her home and do who knew what while she was trying to save the life of her patient. “I don’t think this is a coincidence.”
She nodded her head, an expression of disbelief on her brow. “So, this is about me? The shooting, too? Steven died because of me somehow? It’s insane! He’d barely begun his recovery.” She stopped. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
“You’re probably in shock.” West offered a hand to help her onto the bed. “Sit back. Put your head between your knees and breathe.” He waited for her to comply. “You okay now?”
“No.”
West turned to lean against the bed at her side. “None of the things that have happened today are your fault. None of them. Whoever’s doing this is unstable. Deranged. He could’ve picked anyone to unleash his anger on. It had nothing to do with you. It could just as easily have been the neighbor, or the grocery clerk, or the librarian. Understand?”
She sobbed against the back of her hand, but nodded her agreement.
West stepped away from the bed. He needed to get her out of there. “Do you want me to pack the bag?”
Tina slid onto her feet. “Don’t you ever get tired of bossing people around?” she grouched.
“No. Where are your bags?”
“Oh, my gosh! Lily!” She dug into her purse and brought out her phone. “I have to call the sitter. If this is about me, then Lily’s in danger!”
West moved into her line of sight. “That’s not a guarantee, and I’ve already sent a deputy to check on her.”
“How did you know where she was?”
He smiled. “There’s a giant pink heart on the refrigerator with Lily’s schedule and Mary’s contact information. I saw it when you got me the ice.”
Her lips lifted into a small smile. “Right. Thank you.” She adjusted the phone against her cheek. “Mary? This is Tina. How’s Lily?” Tina’s voice cracked on the last little word. Tears rolled over her cheeks as her smile widened and turned to laughter. “Thank you. Okay. Thank you.” When she disconnected, Tina looked weightless, as if everything awful in her day had been forgotten. “Lily’s okay. Mary saw what happened on the news. She’s been worried about me, but they’re both fine. They’re eating applesauce and blowing bubbles. She said I should take as long as I need. She knows I have things to sort out, but I just want to end this awful day and pick up my baby. The sooner I have her back in my arms, the sooner something might make sense again.”
She stuffed her things into a bag from the closet then looked at the bathroom door. “Should I bring a towel for the shower?”
“No.” West marveled at the way the promise of seeing her baby had rejuvenated and refocused her. “We have towels at the station.”
“Okay.” Tina rolled her shoulders back and hiked the bag over one shoulder. “Let me grab Lily’s things, and we can go.”
Tina touched her hair nervously as she entered the bustling sheriff’s department. West hadn’t made a big deal out of her appearance, but she knew exactly what she looked