by Dana Mentink
Penny touched the abrasions on her throat, which had been pronounced minor. Bradley insisted on her being examined by a doctor, and she hadn’t had the strength to argue. When Bradley’s jaw was set, there was no use trying to change his mind.
Detective Nate Slater was engaged in an intense conversation with Sarge, who held Dusty’s leash. The dog twitched forlorn eyebrows, watching every new arrival eagerly for signs that someone would take him to Tyler. Murphy, Nate’s yellow Lab, was sprawled nearby in sharp contrast to Bradley’s Malinois, King, who appeared as agitated as Bradley. Her brother bobbed his knee so violently that Penny wanted to shout at him to stop.
The digital clock read a few minutes after 10:00 a.m. No coffee, she thought with a start. She usually went into work early to be sure the coffee was properly prepared for the officers along with a plate of snacks on Wednesdays, if she’d had time to bake. It was her small way of helping them over the Wednesday hump. But she had not made it to the office, not today.
Don’t be silly. The Brooklyn K-9 officers and staff were fully capable of providing for themselves, but it pained her that she’d not performed her self-appointed duty. The simple routine soothed her, reminded her that the world was still turning and she had a place in it. “You had a good reason to miss work,” she whispered to herself.
Fear pricked her skin again at the memory of Randall’s green eyes, the clench of his calloused hands on the rope he’d looped around her neck. Any moment she felt she might wake up from a nightmare and find out none of it was real.
“He could be coming after Lucy again, too,” Nate said.
Nate had even more motivation to see Randall caught than the other officers. He and his new wife, Willow, had adopted the orphaned Emery child.
Lucy, Penny thought with a shiver, the little chubby-cheeked innocent. If Randall really was the one who’d executed Penny’s parents, not a copycat killer, would Lucy be in danger again, too? Then an image of another girl popped into her mind—petite, wild-haired Rain, Tyler’s daughter.
That stopped Penny’s thoughts cold. Penny was fine, Lucy was fine. Tyler was the one in the hospital bed, unable to go home to his toddler.
She knew all the cops in that waiting room were praying right along with her that Detective Tyler Walker would be okay. “Lord, please—” It was all she got out before the doctor shuffled in.
THREE
Everyone bolted to their feet, even the dogs, as the doctor approached.
“Detective Walker is going to be fine,” she said, removing her green paper cap. The group all seemed to exhale at once.
Penny’s knees almost buckled in relief.
The doctor continued. “The blow hit at an awkward angle instead of a direct impact to the temple, which would probably have killed him. He’s escaped a serious concussion. We’ll keep him for observation today and if his morning exam goes well tomorrow, we’ll release him.”
Gavin nodded. “Best news I’ve heard all day. Can I talk to him?”
She jotted something on a clipboard before nodding. “Yes, briefly. And he’s asked to see Penelope and Dusty. I can show you to his room.”
Gavin laughed as Dusty surged from the floor and yanked at the leash. “I think Dusty already knows where her partner is.” He spoke to his officers, directing one to provide a ride to the hospital for Tyler’s mother and Rain and dispersing the others back to their duties. “I will let you know if I find out anything helpful.” He turned to Bradley.
“You’ll wait here for Penny, I assume?”
“You assumed right. We have to discuss safety measures we’re going to put in place.” He narrowed his eyes. “And this time she’s not going to argue.”
Meekly, Penny followed Sarge down the hall to Tyler’s room.
Entering the tiny hospital room, her stomach jumped. It was so strange to see the strong and competent Tyler Walker prostrate and swaddled in a clean white sheet. His right temple was bruised, the eye blackened and puffy.
Dusty immediately got up on hind legs, front paws on the mattress, and began to lick whatever parts she could reach on her partner.
Tyler laughed and scratched his dog behind the ears. “I’m all right but couldn’t you have warned me about the baseball bat?”
Gavin shrugged. “She probably tried to, but you were going pedal to the metal.”
Tyler finally quieted the dog and glanced at Penny. “Are you okay?”
She blushed, hot to the roots of her hair. It was the curse of the ginger, the flush that stained her face at the slightest discomfort. “Yes. Perfectly fine. The doctor says you’ll be okay, too,” she said brightly.
“Yep,” Gavin said, “and he’ll have a restful couple of days while he’s off duty recovering.”
Tyler frowned. “No way.”
Gavin straightened. “It’s protocol. Don’t fight me.”
“Randall is close. You need every cop on this.”
“We’re covering all the major transportation systems and bringing on extra cops for overtime. If he’s out there, we’ll get him.” He raised a palm as Tyler struggled up higher on the bed. “Two days. You can spend your off time with your daughter.”
His eyes blazed azure fire. “What about protection for Penny?”
“Bradley and I are working that out. I’ll take Dusty with me. You’re here until tomorrow and back on duty Friday, if the doctor approves. Copy that order, Detective?”
Tyler opened his mouth, then closed it. “Yes, sir.” He heaved a sigh that seemed to come from his toes. “What am I supposed to do lying here in a hospital bed?”
Gavin offered a cheerful smile. “I’m sure there are some great cooking shows on TV you could watch. Your culinary skills are deplorable. We’re all still recovering from the meal you provided at the last potluck. What was that called?”
“Spaghetti Surprise,” Tyler said glumly.
“It was a surprise, all right.”
Penny hid a smile as Tyler grimaced.
Gavin looked at his phone. “I’ll check in with you soon. By the way, your mom and daughter should be here within the hour.”
Tyler shot Gavin a dark look as he exited.
An awkward quiet unrolled between them. Penny pulled in a bolstering breath. “Umm, I am sorry. That you got hurt, I mean. I should have tried harder to get away.” Her pulse went all skittery, the way it usually did when she tried to talk to Tyler.
“I was doing my job, that’s all. Not your fault.” He went silent.
She felt her flush deepen. Had she said something wrong? Again? “Well, anyway, if there’s anything I can do...”
“There is, as a matter of fact.”
She brightened. A task was just what she needed. “What?”
“Can you please keep Rain from seeing me like this?” His blue eyes were pleading. “I know my mom is going to charge in with tears flowing, and I don’t want my daughter to be part of that.” He paused. “I was hurt once before, clipped by a car when Rain was an infant. My wife, she’s my ex now, freaked out when she saw me in the hospital all banged up. She almost dropped the baby. Understandable, I guess. She was young, like you.”
Penny felt the sting of that statement. She was young, but capable and mature. Wasn’t she? It wasn’t the time to try and change his perception. “I’d be happy to watch Rain while your mother visits,” she said. “I’ll just wait to intercept her in the hallway.”
“Cops there? You shouldn’t be alone.”
“My brother is lurking with King.”
“Don’t go anywhere by yourself. It’s too dangerous.”
She tipped her head to one side and fixed him with a look. “You don’t have to tell me that, Tyler,” she said quietly. “I know better than anyone what Randall Gage is capable of.”
Two spots of color rose on his face. “I apologize. I didn’t mean to talk to you like
—”
“Like I am a child?”
He sighed. “Yeah. Real sorry. Sometimes I lack tact, to put it mildly.”
“It’s okay. I’ll go look out for your daughter.”
“I appreciate it.”
A moment or two of babysitting wasn’t much to offer, considering the detective could have been killed trying to run down Randall. She let herself into the hallway. At least it was one small thing and perhaps Tyler might begin to see that she wasn’t a helpless child herself if she could take care of his daughter.
Helpless child.
The flashback exploded in her skull—her parents lying on the floor, so terribly still. And she’d stood there completely vulnerable while Randall pressed a toy into her hand.
For twenty years she’d worked hard to convince herself she was not helpless, like she’d been at four years old, but now a deep well of uncertainty had opened up again inside, black and cold.
A warm palm stroked her forearm and she snapped out of her reverie.
“Lost in your thoughts?” Bradley said.
More like drowning in her nightmares. She didn’t bother to force a smile like she would have with the rest of the world. Bradley would know. He always knew.
“I am telling myself that you all are going to catch Randall before he hurts anyone else.”
“We are.” Bradley’s tone was clipped. “And while we’re working on that, Eden Chang is hopefully going to extract the evidence to determine whether or not he’s responsible for the Emery killings also. He’ll go to prison for life.”
Instead of comfort at his words, she felt the prickle of a panic attack starting up in her stomach. Randall was still at large. He’d promised to kill. Would they find him in time? Teeth set, she did a quick round of controlled breathing. Lord, help me to be strong, she silently prayed.
Because deep down she knew the nightmare was beginning all over again.
* * *
It took a good half hour for Tyler to calm his agitated mother. Francine Walker was a high-strung woman. It probably hadn’t helped that her younger son had decided to enter into a dangerous profession after her older committed to a life in the military. She’d been a widow for two years, since Tyler’s father died of a heart attack. She watched Rain for him faithfully and never wanted to take a day off from her babysitting duties, even when he practically strong armed her.
“Mom, I don’t need anything, really.”
She glanced around the hospital room and poured him water, anyway.
The concept of relaxation was completely lost on her, and unless she was performing some kind of service, she wasn’t content. One time he’d paid for a weekend stay at a charming Brooklyn bed-and-breakfast for her birthday. She’d returned in a cab within three hours of her departure.
“I am sorry, Ty,” she’d said. “I just can’t lie there in a feather bed when I know you and Rain need help.”
After straightening the tissue box and refilling his water pitcher, she shoved her silver chop of hair behind her ears and pushed her glasses up her nose. “Are you sure you don’t want me to bring in Rain? She’s just outside in the hall,” she said, fretting. “It will help cheer you up to see her.”
Nothing would help cheer him up except Randall behind bars. His head ached and his lower back twinged. “No,” he said firmly. “She shouldn’t see her daddy with all these hospital trappings and his face all banged up. I don’t want her scared. I’ll be home tomorrow.” He softened his tone. “Thanks for coming, Mom. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Tyler wasn’t sure his father ever did love him or want him, but God had blessed him abundantly in the mother department.
She squeezed his fingers. “If only I’d been able to talk you into being an insurance agent or something.”
He smiled. “I worked in an office for four interminable months before I went to the academy, you will remember. Believe me, everyone was happy I decided to pick another career. They told me I scared the clients.”
“That’s because you glower when you’re irritated.” Her tone was playful, but he could see the tightness around her mouth. He pressed a kiss to her fingers.
“I’m okay, Mom. Really.”
“It’s just that I know you’re not going to stop.” She shoved again at her hair. “You’re going to keep after this killer, aren’t you?”
“I have to. He gunned down Penny’s parents and maybe another little girl’s, too. I have to get this guy off the streets.”
She sighed and moved away. “Since I would be wasting my time trying to cajole you into another career choice, I’m going to go talk to the doctor. Make sure he ran enough tests.”
“The doctor is a woman, and she’s done MRIs and X-rays of every square inch of my brain, what there is of it.”
“Well, I’ll just stop at the nurse’s station and ask if we can have a nice chat, your doctor and me. She can tell me all about how to take care of you after you get sprung from here.”
Before he could stop her, she’d scooted out of the room. As the door slowly closed, Tyler caught sight of Penny sitting with Rain in a chair. He heard a few bars of high-pitched singing.
Gingerly he got out of the bed and opened it a crack, comforted by the sight of Bradley and King standing close. Bradley was absorbed in a phone conversation, but his eyes didn’t miss a thing. He winked at Tyler and continued talking.
Penny’s long red hair was down, mingling with his daughter’s fine blond curls that defied any type of containment. She had Rain facing away from her, guiding her chubby hands to clap the rhythm to some song about wheels and buses. Rain’s grin was toothy and wide.
His heart lurched. An innocent passerby might have mistaken Penny for Rain’s mother.
But Rain’s real mother, Diane, had decided before her baby was even born that she didn’t want to be a parent, not then, not to his child.
I made a mistake. I wasn’t ready for marriage and I’m certainly not ready to have a baby.
They’d talked, fought, cried and talked some more, but Diane didn’t love him or the baby growing inside her enough to stay. Diane was emotional, volatile, restless, a rolling stone—all the things Tyler wasn’t. Those differences had been fascinating to them both at first. Gradually, he’d come to accept that he wasn’t what she wanted, but he could never understand how Rain wasn’t. His Rain, his beautiful daughter with the dazzling grin and the naughty disobedient streak that exasperated him, was worth dying for.
In the back of his mind, he’d been so sure Diane would have a change of heart when she held their baby for the first time. She hadn’t, and he’d become mother and father to a squalling newborn who cried more than she was ever quiet.
Mostly he figured he was doing a pretty decent job of it, but often at 3:00 a.m. he would wake up worrying about all the mysterious things he didn’t understand about women. Why did they cry when they were happy? How come they marched into the restroom in groups instead of alone? How could they be so incredibly strong and tender at the same time?
And most of all, how would he ever manage to teach Rain how to be a woman when he had no clue what made them tick? So absorbed was he in his thoughts, that it took him a moment to realize Penny had noticed him.
She smiled, blushing that cotton-candy hue.
He nodded, mouthed the words thank you and quickly closed the door again.
The sight of Penny cradling his daughter did not leave his mind as he climbed back into bed, pain throbbing through his skull. He felt more determined than ever to catch Randall before he could harm Penny, or Lucy, or any other person ever again.
God would give him what he needed to succeed. He was sure of it.
FOUR
Penny settled into her chair behind the front desk of the Brooklyn K-9 Unit on Friday morning. The beautiful three-story limestone building, with its neatly arranged w
ork spaces, soothed her. Officers milled in and out on official tasks or guided their dogs to the training building next door, which also housed the kennel runs. The scent of her personally ground coffee mix perfumed the air.
She typed with machine-like precision, ruthlessly determined to keep her mind off what had happened two days ago. No, she would not be taking any more time off, she’d told her boss, Gavin “Sarge” Sutherland. Work was what she needed, what she craved. Trying for some sort of normalcy, she’d gotten up early, baked a pan of soft ginger cookies and ridden with Bradley into the office. It had been a long, quiet drive. Though she’d heard Tyler Walker was still off duty, she wondered what she would say to the serious cop when he returned. It had never seemed as though he had much interest in talking to her. What, after all, did they have in common? He was a cop, a single father, and she was a twenty-four-year-old desk clerk without even a niece or nephew to care for. What’s more, he probably came from a normal, two-parent family, unlike her dysfunctional situation, scarred by violence. No wonder they had so little to talk about.
Gavin called to her from an open doorway. “Penny, would you come here a minute? There’s someone I want you to meet.”
To meet? Puzzled, she made her way to the conference room, where her boss stood, bending to scratch a fawn-colored dog with two enormous ears that flopped over at the tips. The dog immediately scuttled over and sat at her feet, tail thumping.
“Well, look at you,” she said, kneeling to stroke his head. The dog whined, crowding closer, and she cupped his muzzle between her hands. His eyes were riveted on hers as though she was the only person on the planet.
“This is Scrappy,” Gavin said. “He’s some sort of German-shepherd mix, though we haven’t done any DNA testing to see what the other part is. We found him scrounging for food, no collar, tags or microchip. You could practically see right through him he was so skinny.”
An orphan, Penny thought, massaging the dog’s ears until his eyes rolled in pleasure. A soft whine escaped him.
