Still, she just wanted her brother to wake up.
What if he never did?
Lomar strode past the window, leaving his post and making his way toward the nurses’ station.
The woman in blue scrubs held a phone receiver in his direction.
Something was happening. Rita inched silently toward the glass.
Lomar stood at the nurses’ station, phone to his ear. His back was to her. What was he saying? Who was on the line? Cole? Had he found something on the surveillance video?
Lomar whipped his gaze up to meet Rita’s. He lifted a finger, as if to say that something would only take a minute. “Stay there,” he said. His stern voice warbled through the glass.
She nodded.
Lomar ran off.
Rita’s heart hammered and ached.
“Not good,” she whispered. “If that call had been to announce the bad guy’s capture, Lomar would’ve come in to tell me. Something’s wrong again,” she told Ryan. “I wish you’d open your eyes and tell me what to do.”
Rita scanned Ryan’s room for the nearest weapon.
She scooped up the paddles on a crash cart stored in the room’s corner and rolled the cart into position behind the door. If anyone forced their way in, they wouldn’t know she was there until she sprang on them.
She flipped the switch on the cart and watched the lights and gauges hop to life. A low hum vibrated through the room.
Business outside went on as usual.
Nurses carried clipboards and knocked on patients’ doors.
Was she wrong? Could everything be fine? Rita lowered her hands to her sides. Maybe the killer had been captured. Or Cole found the janitor and he’d given him all the information Cole needed to put an end to this madness. Maybe Cole caught the janitor but he wasn’t talking and he’d called Lomar to help question him. Good cop and bad cop.
There were endless possibilities, and until this week, it hadn’t been like her to assume the worst.
She flicked the power switch on the crash cart to the off position and returned the paddles to their bases. The nurses weren’t worried. She probably shouldn’t be, either.
She gave the hallway another look. Where were the nurses?
Rita tugged the curtain wider in search of anyone on the floor. Maybe the woman who’d handed the phone to Lomar knew what had drawn him away.
The elevator across the hall opened for the first time in hours, and a new deputy appeared in its center.
She squinted for a better look at his face. Was he Lomar’s replacement? A new shift?
Her heartbeat skittered as his thin lips curled into a sinister smile.
The killer raised his right hand, two fingers extended like a gun, and he pulled an invisible trigger.
Chapter Fifteen
Lomar’s earlier call to Dispatch had sent backup to the parking lot before Cole could make it to the ground floor. That covered, he turned on his heel and headed back to Rita. Much as he wanted to be the one to capture the shooter, he hated leaving Rita alone. It seemed as if every time he took his eyes off her, things got exponentially worse.
Cole climbed the stairs as quickly as possible, struggling to move as fast as usual. The cuts and burns on his back and shoulders had begun to scream the moment he’d woken in the uncomfortable hospital chair and they hadn’t stopped.
“Anything you want to tell me about the redhead?” Lomar asked, keeping pace at his side.
“No.” Cole angled for position in the narrow space, eager to reach the second-floor entry.
“Really? Because you looked pretty uncomfortable in there last night.”
“So?” Cole picked up the pace, injuries searing and aching with each swing of his arms.
“You don’t do uncomfortable,” Lomar said, “and you sure as hell don’t spend the night anywhere you don’t have to. Don’t say it’s your job,” he warned. “I was right outside the door, and another deputy could have relieved you at any time. Plus, I see the way you look at her. What’s that about?”
Cole yanked the door to the second floor open and waited for Lomar to pass. “Can you blame me? She’s beautiful.”
“Sure, she’s beautiful, but she’s not your type. This one doesn’t seem like the kind of woman who will put up with your shenanigans.”
Cole snorted. “Leave my shenanigans alone.”
He smiled at the thought of Rita’s prolonged presence in his life. What would that picture look like? Would there be a ring and a big white dress in their future? She was definitely the type to wear the big dress.
Cole missed a step in the long hallway as their earlier conversation rushed back to him. Had she really implied she was a virgin?
A virgin. The words rattled nonsensically in his mind. Was that even possible?
And if it was, what did it mean for them? For starters, he’d have to take things slower than he was used to. Help her explore her sexuality. Discover what made her pant and what made her scream. A number of fun possibilities rushed to mind and damn! He’d never been in such a hurry to take it slow.
He shook the thought away and forced his feet to move faster, eating up the space between himself and Rita.
The first rays of sunlight had drifted in through the wide glass windows while he was away. The nurses standing behind the desk had also changed in that time. Apparently, dawn had sent the night crew to ground.
All but Stacy.
Stacy had zipped a Rivertown hoodie over her scrubs and taken a seat in the chair Lomar recently vacated. “She’s locked in,” Stacy told Cole, pointing at Ryan’s closed door. “She knows I’m here, but she’s not opening up until she sees you.”
The door cracked open. Rita peeked out. “Thank goodness.”
She shoved a chair away from the door and pulled Cole inside.
The crash cart had been moved near her chair at Ryan’s bedside.
“What happened?” Cole raised a hand toward the cart, but Rita intercepted it, wrapping his arm around her back instead.
She clung to him then, curling her fingers deep into the material of his shirt. “The shooter was in the elevator when the doors opened. He didn’t get out, but he pointed his fingers at me like a gun.”
Cole’s body went rigid. “When?”
“A minute ago?” she squeaked. “Two?”
Cole swore under his breath. “We were sure he was in the parking lot, maybe even off the premises by now.”
Lomar was already on his way out the door. “I’ll let backup know.”
Cole was torn once more. He wanted to help look for the guy threatening Rita, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave her. “Listen.” He lowered his mouth to her ear. “I think it’s time we get you out of here. I say we go to the station and see what Tech has recovered from that thumb drive. Put some distance between you and the killer’s most recently known whereabouts.”
“But Ryan...”
“Hey.” Cole cut her off. “I know you’re worried about him, but the way that note reads, whoever’s doing this isn’t going to go after you or him again until they have that pen. As long as there’s a chance you’re complying with their request, they’re going to watch and wait.”
“I can’t leave him alone,” she said, pushing out of Cole’s grip.
“And I can’t leave you.” Cole worked to sound more supportive and less frustrated. Just because he didn’t think someone would kill her immediately didn’t mean he wasn’t afraid she’d be abducted and forced to tell what she knew about the pen’s whereabouts and content. “You have information they want,” he continued. “Ryan doesn’t. He’s safe. You aren’t.”
Rita turned her attention back to the bed.
Cole’s jaw locked and his shoulders squared. “You’re coming with me because it’s the right thing to do. Staying here will only keep me from helping West and
the others find this guy. The longer you keep me here, the longer West is down a man, and there’s only six of us to start with.”
Rita gripped Ryan’s fingers. “I hate this.” Anger burned in her voice and eyes. “It’s not fair.”
“It’s not,” Cole admitted, “and I’m sorry.” He forced himself into her line of sight. “But we can’t afford to forget that you’re the target. Not Ryan. Being here puts him at an added risk. He’s made it through the worst. There’s nothing you can do for him right now, and if he wakes while you’re gone, I promise to tell him I dragged you away kicking and screaming.”
Stacy climbed onto the uncomfortable chair in the corner where Cole had slept. “I could call you,” she told Rita. “If you give me your number, I can send text updates. Even if there’s nothing to update, I can check in periodically to say he’s still okay.”
Rita slumped. “My phone’s in the river.”
“I could text Ryan’s phone.” Stacy’s small smile seemed to loosen Rita’s shoulders. “If he had it on him before, it’s probably in the envelope.”
Rita’s hand went to her pocket, covering the telltale outline of a cell phone. “It was. You have his number?”
“Yeah.”
Rita stared at the locked screen, entered her mother’s birthday, and the lock disappeared.
Lomar arrived a moment later, palms raised. He leaned against the doorjamb, defeated. “No sign of the killer.”
“What do you think?” Stacy asked Rita.
Cole owed Stacy something big for calming Rita’s heart. “Your shift’s over,” he said. “How long can you stay?”
“I’m not leaving.” Stacy’s smile turned sad. “I’m off for the next two days, and I plan to be here until someone kicks me out.”
Rita sucked in a long breath and exhaled it slowly. “Okay. I’ll keep his phone on. Promise to text me.”
“Promise.”
Rita kissed Ryan’s cheek goodbye, then hugged Stacy before stopping at the open door and staring up at Lomar with worried and fearful eyes.
“I’ll keep him safe,” Lomar promised. The words rumbled low in his chest like a solemn vow. “Whatever it takes.”
She flung her arms around his middle and pressed her cheek to his chest.
Lomar’s eyebrows flew up. His hands hovered in the air at her back.
A long moment later, he managed to lower his arms around her narrow frame and return the embrace. He caught Cole’s attention and smiled.
Seeing Rita wrapped around another man, even a man he literally trusted with his life, made Cole twitchy. Lifelong friend or not, Lomar’s big mitts belonged at his sides, not on Cole’s woman. He tugged the back of Rita’s shirt. “Come on. Before you get him all worked up.”
She released Lomar with a soft, “Thank you.”
Cole twined his fingers with Rita’s and led her into the parking lot, free hand on the butt of his sidearm.
* * *
RITA MADE CALLS with Ryan’s phone as they motored across town in Cole’s cruiser. Her neighbor had too many questions, but ultimately said Rita’s cats were fine and she didn’t mind watching them another day or two. Cyndi, from her office, was curious but eventually said no one else had come looking for Rita and that she should stop worrying about work and get some rest. Their dad didn’t answer his phone. She left another voice mail, this one with Ryan’s current status and room number. She didn’t bother filling him in on the rest. It wouldn’t matter, anyway.
She dropped the phone onto her lap and gave Cole a long look. He was what a man should be. Strong and steadfast, yet patient and willing to bend. “Thank you for giving me the choice to come with you.”
He slid his eyes briefly in her direction. “Did I have another option?”
“You could have demanded I come and not left me any freedom of decision.”
He furrowed his brow, a look of disgust on his handsome face. “Well, that’s a load of manure.”
A sudden smile slid over her lips. “Why?”
He glanced her way again. “Why? What? Why’s it nonsense for anyone to give you orders?”
Rita shook her head. “No. You’re right.” Her smile widened. Cole was one of the few men who’d ever been in a position to make demands of her and he refused. He valued her opinions, choices and decisions, unlike her father, bosses, teachers and so many other men who had not. Given her current situation, Cole had every right to insist things be done his way. The fact that he didn’t only made her respect him more. She turned back to the astounding autumn day blurring past her window. A cloudless blue sky played backdrop to endless multicolored mountains, thick with changing leaves. Hard to believe awful things could happen in such a beautiful place.
The sheriff’s department came into view, and her heart skipped a beat. This was it. Once she delivered the pen to Memorial Park, her brother would be safe again. Hopefully the pen had already been processed for prints, the thumb drive for content, and it was ready for her.
She’d unbuckled before Cole shifted into Park.
He ran around the front of his cruiser and opened her door for her. “Ready?”
He offered her a steadying hand, then gave her fingers a squeeze.
“Yep.” Rita was more than ready to finish the mess she’d started by taking that pen from the docks. What she wasn’t ready for, on the other hand, was losing Cole from her life once his job was done. She’d actually like to keep him around a while if she could, but no woman held on to Cole Garrett for very long.
Though, horrific circumstances aside, she’d probably already spent more time alone with Cole than most women. Of course, the other women had probably spent a portion of their time with him naked. Ridiculously, she envied that.
Cole Garrett could undoubtedly teach her a few things.
Her cheeks flushed at the thought. Why had she told him she was a virgin? She’d never told anyone. The fact was deeply personal, and not a thing that should have been unloaded on an unreasonably attractive man she wasn’t even dating. She blamed Ryan’s wallet condom.
Cole opened the front door for her.
Rita tried, unsuccessfully, to untangle their fingers. They couldn’t go walking into the sheriff’s department holding hands like a couple. What would people think? Surely that wasn’t normal. Inexperienced or not, she knew that public displays of that caliber were unofficial announcements of relationships and intimacy. Neither of those things described what she had going with Cole. A one-sided infatuation fueled by too many emotions and time spent in close quarters. She tried and failed to imagine him holding hands with other women. Maybe he was just an affectionate guy. Maybe he went through all the pretenses with them, too. At least until morning. “We probably shouldn’t.” She lifted their joined hands and wiggled them.
“Why?” Cole released the door and stepped aside. He leaned against the building’s stone exterior and pulled her against him, spreading his feet to make room for hers. “You don’t want to hold my hand?” He released her then, allowing her to back away.
She didn’t. “It’s not that.”
A measure of concern lifted from his forehead. “Am I making you uncomfortable?”
“No.”
He frowned. “Are you worried about what people will think?”
Silly as it was, given the much larger things she was worried about... “A little, yeah.” She didn’t want to be seen as some naive woman who thought she was something special to Cole Garrett. She wished it was true, but people didn’t need to know that.
“Right.” Cole peeled himself off the wall and straightened to his full height. He swept a hand out, indicating she should go ahead of him as they marched through the sheriff’s department door.
A sharp whistle burst through the busy room almost immediately. West waved a hand in the air, motioning for Cole to join him outside the office door. Had he bee
n standing there waiting for their arrival?
The open door beside West had his name and title painted on it.
“Have a seat.” West motioned to a pair of chairs stationed across from his desk. An open bottle of antacids sat beside a massive cup of steamless coffee near his keyboard.
Behind them, a printer rocked and grunted in the corner, spewing sheets of paper into a nearly full plastic tray.
Cole passed a small black figure to West, then hung in the doorway as Rita entered. “That’s a thumb drive with hospital footage of the man we believe left the note in Ryan’s things. I’m hoping our tech team can clear up the picture and identify this guy.”
West curled his fist around the little ninja. “I’ll get it over there.”
“Thanks.” Cole folded his arms and scowled at West’s busy printer. “What’s all that?”
“This—” West made a face at the still belching printer “—is everything from that pen you gave me. I asked Tech to fax over what they’ve retrieved.”
Rita slid to the edge of her seat. “All of that was on the pen?”
West flopped into his chair. “Yep. And do you know how long it’s going to take me to sort through it?” He answered his own question after three long beats. “Forever.”
Cole approached the printer and slid a handful of pages onto his palm.
Rita rewound West’s words. “So, you don’t have the pen with you?”
“No,” West answered. “Tech needs a couple days to make sure they have everything. I’m also hoping to find a fingerprint on it that doesn’t belong to you or Minsk.”
“But I need the pen,” Rita said, desperation clawing at her throat. “I’m supposed to take it to the park. Show him the note, Cole.”
“He’s seen the note,” Cole grouched. “You’re not making that drop.”
“Yes, I am.”
His cranky face morphed into a mask of disbelief. “There is no way I’m letting that happen. How can you even think that right now?”
“What happened to letting me make my own decisions?” she asked. Hadn’t he just told her not to put up with treatment like this?
Shadow Point Deputy Page 14
