“What in the tarnation…?” Steve asked as he marched in the house and closed the door. “What is going on? Where are his pants?”
All Willow could think of saying was, “Steve, I didn’t think I’d see you tonight.”
“Obviously.”
She sighed then asked, “What are you doing here?”
Steve repeated her question to Alex. “Yes, what are you doing here?”
Alex turned and gave Steve a devious grin.
Steve glared at Alex. He then returned the grin and asked, “What happened? That looks nasty.” He came closer and studied Alex’s butt. “You get bit? Gonna blame Clover again?”
Willow dumped some alcohol on Alex’s wound.
Alex screamed. “Was that completely necessary?”
“I would say so. Wouldn’t want you getting infected and having to go back in the hospital where you’ll pull another disappearing act.” She poured more on and he screamed.
“I know that wasn’t necessary.”
“Nope, you’re right. That was for making the nurse believe I abused you when we were married.”
“Oh, that. I guess I deserved it. I didn’t mean it. I was just trying to get her to let me go, you know, make her feel sorry for me.”
“Yeah, I got it.”
She put another capful of alcohol on his butt. “Don’t let it happen again.”
She applied the ointment and the bandage then left while Steve helped him put Ed’s sweat pants on, the same ones Willow had borrowed earlier. Once he was dressed, Willow returned.
Alex returned to the floor, stomach side down. He laid his head down on the pillow and was sleeping within ten seconds.
Willow sat on the couch. Steve joined her. They held hands. She asked, “So, back to my question. What are you doing out in this mess?”
“I was worried about you. I know you didn’t prepare. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
She whispered. “That was sweet of you. I was going to call you as soon as I got him fixed up.” She motioned to the snoring man on her floor. “He’s lucky he only got a dog bite out of the deal. I had my gun fixed on him.”
“I’ve got Deputy Tucker doing back ground checks on Betty Lou and Jennifer Thomas, as well as our photographer friend, Murphy McCoy, Teddy Braxton, our delivery man, and of course, Alex. Perhaps he’s hiding something he shouldn’t be. Let’s face it, we’ve got more than enough on him to consider him at least a suspect for the murders. He had opportunity.”
“He was in the hospital for Ed’s murder.”
“Are you sure? Do we know exactly what time he escaped? It’d be nice if that nurse would talk. We may march him down there, sore butt and all, to get the truth out of her. When she hears what he’s been doing to dogs, and how he lied about you, maybe she’ll spill all she knows. If not, I’ll arrest her.”
“That could work. She won’t want to be marched out of her job in handcuffs. She can talk the easy way, or the hard way. Her choice.”
If he’s innocent of both murders we still know he’s been involved in dog fighting, perhaps even breeding dogs for fighting. If convicted, he’s going to see jail time.” Steve paused, “Do you think Embry can handle that?”
“She won’t have much of a choice. What her father has done is a horrible crime, even without the murder. She won’t easily forgive him of this crime.”
“I better mention, Clover really did bite him this time. I saw it with my very own eyes.”
“Was Alex on your property?”
“Yep, and she was chasing him and took out a chunk of his retreating backside.”
Steve chuckled. “He can’t do a thing about it.”
“I know. I just thought I’d better mention it.”
They held hands a little while longer. “I’m going to take him in to the police station and put him in a cell. I’d hate for him to wake up and take off again. We don’t need another man hunt on our hands.”
She stood up and looked outside. “Are you sure you want to risk it? It’s a mess out there.”
“Yeah. I need to be accessible in case of an emergency. We’ll be fine. I’ve got chains on the truck tires and I’ll take my time.”
“I really don’t think he’ll be able to sit on his backside anytime soon. I think you should wait out the storm here. I’ve got a small backup generator that my grandfather kept around so we can keep our phones charged. If you can get it started. You’ll be accessible and safe. What do you think of that?”
“Hmm…I don’t like the idea of spending the night here. A single woman…”
“Steve. It’s an emergency. Unless you’re going to call an ambulance to transport him, or put him on his stomach in the back of your truck, I don’t think leaving is going to work.”
He sighed and looked down at the still snoring form in front of the fireplace. “I suppose you’re right. And I don’t feel comfortable leaving him here with you all alone. My only choice is camping out here on the couch. I’ll keep the fire going.” He kissed her. “You better take Clover in with you…she’ll help keep you warm.”