“Alyssa!” Half an hour later, Melody dashed into the waiting room with Casey close behind her. “Oh, my stars. Are you okay? How is Everett? What can we do to help?”
“Maybe we could start by asking one question at a time?” Casey suggested. “Beginning with, can we get you anything?”
“Some water would be good.” Alyssa gestured to the machine in the corner of the room. “I worry about disturbing Kennedy if I try to move.”
Although she was happy to see them, their arrival triggered a change in Alyssa. It was like a dam had burst inside her. Until now, she’d been numb, able to function because of a curious lack of feeling. Now the old fear found her, pouncing on her with glee. Its cackling voice whispered in her ear, telling her knees to go weak, her stomach to lurch and her heart to pound. In response, she bowed her head.
“Hey.” Melody came to sit next to her, then rubbed her back with a circular movement. “He’ll be okay.”
“You didn’t see it.” Her throat felt like she was trying to swallow dry breadcrumbs. She waited until Casey handed her a glass of water. After taking a long slug, she started again. “There was a knife...” She gestured to her own arm. “Sticking out of his skin.”
Casey closed one fist and smacked it into his other palm. In that moment, Alyssa could see her own feelings reflected in his eyes. They both wanted to shout, have a tantrum and beat their hands on the ground like a toddler. They also wanted to run away and hide.
It occurred to her that this could all be a nightmare. So far, she had been playing along with the bad dream. What if she refused to comply from now on? Would it be over faster? Or would it get worse...?
“The doctors know they need to preserve the knife for evidence, right?”
“I think they are more concerned about saving your brother’s arm.”
Casey swung away, every line of his body rippling with tension. “They may be able to do both. I need to speak to someone.”
He stalked from the room and Melody placed an arm around Alyssa’s shoulders, drawing her close. “He doesn’t mean to be insensitive. He’s worried about his brother and is dealing with it the only way he knows how. And he had to call his parents with the news. That was hard.”
“It’s okay.” Alyssa said. “Everett and I were together for four years. His default setting in a crisis was law enforcement as well.”
“Everett is in the hands of a medical team, but I’m worried about you right now.” Melody’s kind voice almost tipped Alyssa over the edge into tears. “You’ve had a terrible shock.”
Those words set the scene for the next three hours. The time they spent in that waiting room took on the quality of water. Sometimes, it passed slowly, a drop at a time. Now and then, it rushed past with the speed of a river in flood. Once or twice, it froze and refused to move. Yet the clock on the wall showed it was constant, moving with a regular, unfailing tick-tock.
No matter how the time passed, Alyssa’s insides grew increasingly hollow, and her skin became colder. A nurse wheeled in a portable crib and blankets. Placing Kennedy in it relieved the ache in Alyssa’s shoulder muscles but did nothing for her heart. Casey paced up and down like a caged tiger and she couldn’t decide whether she wanted to join him or throw something at him.
“He should be out of the OR by now.” Casey checked the time on his cell-phone screen, clearly mistrusting the clock. “I’m going to see if I can find out what’s going on.”
As he marched from the room, Kennedy gave a soft whimper in her sleep.
“She’ll wake up soon and be hungry.” Alyssa bit her lip. “When I dashed out, I didn’t think to bring her nighttime bottle with me.”
Melody patted her hand. “Let me see what I can do. The staff here must be used to dealing with families in every kind of emergency.”
As she went in search of a nurse, Alyssa leaned over the crib. Family. The word had the power to ground her.
“We’re his, and he’s ours,” she whispered, watching Kennedy’s rosebud lips puff in and out. “It’s scary but true.”
A movement caught her attention, and she looked up, thinking Melody or Casey had returned. Instead, there was a hooded figure standing just within the room. Alyssa’s gaze dropped to the distinctive sneakers.
Just like a row of alligator teeth...
Instinct replaced rational thought. Acting fast, she snatched up her water glass and threw it. Although the intruder ducked, the glass shattered against the wall at the side of his head. At the same time, Alyssa screamed for help with all the power she had in her lungs. The stranger spun around and sprinted from the room.
Seconds later, Casey and a security guard almost collided in the doorway.
“What happened?” Casey was in uniform, but he still showed the other guy his badge to establish his seniority.
“He was here.” Alyssa was trembling so hard she could barely get the words out through her strained airway. “The guy who attacked Everett was right here in this room.”
Casey didn’t waste time questioning how she knew it was the same person. “Get someone on the security cameras, then start a search,” he told the guard. “He may still be on the premises.”
The guard set off to follow his instructions while Casey made a call to the sheriff’s department and got someone to clean up the glass. Kennedy, disturbed by the loud noises, started to cry. Alyssa lifted her from the crib, then rocked the little girl in her arms.
Inside her stomach a snowball was building, gaining layers in time with the machine-gun fire that was her heartbeat.
“Why did he come here?” she demanded when Casey finished his call.
“Isn’t it obvious? He came to the hospital in search of Everett.” Casey gave a short bark of laughter. “The knife is already on its way for processing, but the guy either wants it back, or he’s planning to finish the job he started back in the parking lot.”
“No.” The negative thoughts were coming hard and fast, like waves pounding on rock. She started pacing, holding Kennedy with the baby’s head tucked into her shoulder. “If that was the case, he had no reason to come to this room.”
Casey stifled a curse. “You’re right. There’s a good chance he came looking for you and Kennedy.”
Luckily for Alyssa’s overwrought brain cells, Melody returned carrying a bottle of Kennedy’s usual formula. As the baby drank, she gazed up at Alyssa with trusting blue eyes. Determinedly, Alyssa channeled all her concentration into making sure her little girl was okay. Kennedy was going to grow up strong and confident. Alyssa was not going to pass her own fears onto her. Kennedy would know she was loved, no matter what had happened in her parents’ lives. This night would become a horrible memory, not a defining moment.
Having finished drinking, Kennedy sat up and gazed around her with interest. Clearly having decided that Melody and Casey had come to this new place to see her, she entertained them with wide, new-tooth smiles and chuckles.
“At home, she would go straight back to sleep after her nighttime bottle.” Alyssa smiled as Kennedy bounced up and down with excitement. “Tonight, she’s ready to party until dawn.”
Melody held out a hand to the baby, who grabbed her finger and tried to bite it. “At least she hasn’t picked up that there’s anything wrong.”
“And she doesn’t seem to be missing Everett.” Alyssa cast a longing look in the direction of the door. “Not yet.”
“I have to ask this, even if you tell me to mind my own business,” Melody said. “But why aren’t you and Everett still together?”
“This.” Alyssa leaned back, resting her head against the hard cushion of the chair. “Knives, hospitals, bad guys hiding in the shadows. Those are just a few of the reasons why I can’t be with him. It’s what split us up last time. It’s just too hard for me to see him in danger.”
Casey looked perplexed. “So the reasons were all on your side?”
She frowned at him, confused by the question. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, nothing. It’s been a long night and I’m talking nonsense.” She could tell he was embarrassed, was instantly backtracking and trying to cover up for what he’d just said.
Alyssa wasn’t fooled. There had always been a nagging doubt at the back of her mind. How many times had she tried to figure out what was behind Everett’s emotional disconnection? Whenever he became tongue-tied about his feelings, hadn’t she sworn there was a cause he was hiding from her?
“Are you trying to say Everett had his own reasons for why he couldn’t be with me? Was it about something that happened in his past?”
Casey held up a hand in a backing-off gesture. “Hey. That’s something you’d need to speak to Everett about.”
“What is?” They all turned at the sound of Everett’s voice from the doorway.
He was seated in a wheelchair, watching them. A porter wheeled him right into the room, then activated the brake before departing. Everett’s right arm was in a sling and his face was pale but, otherwise, he appeared healthy. His gaze went from Alyssa to Casey and back again, missing nothing in the process.
“Oh, thank goodness.” Overwhelmed with relief, Alyssa hurried toward him. “What did they say? Can you come home?”
He gripped her shoulder with his good hand as she kneeled beside him. “First things first. What does Casey think you need to speak to me about?” Looking past her, he gave his brother a challenging stare.
“I was wondering whether you, Alyssa and Kennedy should come and stay at my place for a few days.” The idea may have been on Casey’s mind, but Alyssa thought his response was a little too smooth. And if she thought that, chances were his twin could see right through him.
“Thanks, but we’ll be fine at home.” Everett’s smile encompassed them both. “And, although that was a nice try, I’d still like to know what you were really talking about.”
The surgeon who had done the procedure on Everett came into the waiting room to see him. “Luckily there was no nerve or blood-vessel damage and no fracture of the forearm. I removed the knife slowly, then repaired the muscle that had been injured by the stab wound. After that, my concern was the flesh surrounding the penetration site.” He gave a small, tight smile. “Even after my best efforts, you will have quite a scar.”
“But I can go home, right?” Everett asked.
Before the doctor arrived, Casey had briefly filled him in on the details of what had gone on while he had been in the operating room. Since then, his brain had been working on two levels. One was in this room, responding to the conversation that was going on around him. The second was in basic caveman mode. He had to protect his family. Injured or not, that was his only job.
“I see no reason to keep you here,” the doctor said. “The procedure was lengthy, but it was successful. The range of movement in your hand and elbow should be back to normal within two weeks and I’ll arrange for you to see a physiotherapist. Don’t overdo it, but don’t rest, either. Keep the arm movements undemanding but regular and try to rebuild your strength gradually.”
After Everett had thanked him again for his help, he left.
“Before we get into the conversation about how I drive you home when I don’t have a baby seat in my cruiser, how about I take your statement?” Casey regarded his brother with a touch of sympathy as he reached into his shirt pocket for his notebook.
Intense weariness washed over him, and Everett was tempted to tell his twin in no uncertain terms exactly what he could do with police procedure. But he knew as well as Casey did how important it was to get a witness’s statement as soon as possible after the event. Although he wanted to get Alyssa and Kennedy back to the apartment, where he could keep them safe, he also wanted his attacker caught.
“Okay.” He shot Alyssa an apologetic glance. “Let’s get this over with.”
His account of the attack was factual and concise. He’d taken enough witness statements to know exactly what Casey needed from him. Although his brother had a series of questions to go through, he raced ahead, anticipating each one and answering it before Casey had even begun to ask it. Scribbling frantically to keep up, his twin frowned as Everett finished his account.
“It was late. Why had you gone outside at that time?”
Everett glared at him. He had hoped they could dispense with supplementary questions. “I needed some air.”
Casey tapped his pen against the page. “You were at the exit to the parking lot, almost on the road itself. Yet you weren’t wearing a jacket, or even a sweater. On one of the coldest nights of the year, after a rare heavy snowfall. You want to tell me more about that breath of fresh air?”
“I was thinking about going for a run.” Could Casey tell he was gritting his teeth? Everett sure as hell hoped so.
Tilting his head to one side, his brother glanced at his worn sneakers without comment.
So help me, Casey, I hope I get to interrogate you in similar circumstances one day. It wasn’t true, but the thought allowed him to release a little frustration.
“Tell me about your impressions of the guy who attacked you.”
Everett shrugged. “It happened so fast. The only real sense I got was that he was small and slight. He was also fast and nimble. It could even have been a woman.”
Alyssa raised frightened eyes to his face and cradled Kennedy closer. “You don’t think—?”
“That it was Georgia?” He took her hand. “How could it have been?”
Her shoulders slumped. “You’re right. I know you are.” She returned the pressure of his fingers. “But who else would be waiting in the dark? With a knife?”
“Probably the same person who tried to run me down. And the list could include any number of people I’ve put behind bars. My job as an FBI agent doesn’t win me many friends among the criminal community,” Everett said. “Sorry. But it’s the truth.”
Casey flipped through his notes. “You said you think this guy was waiting specifically for you.”
“That was how it felt. He made no attempt to rob me. Just came out of the darkness, straight at me, and tried to stab me.”
Casey appeared lost in thought for a moment of two. “How long do you think he was there before you came out?”
“I’m not a mind reader.” Everett rolled his eyes in Alyssa’s direction. “And it didn’t occur to me to start a conversation while he was trying to gut me like a fish.”
“You’re missing my point, smart guy. I don’t know why you went out for a ‘run’—” he put air quotes around the word “—on a snowy night in sneakers and a T-shirt. Since you are my brother, I trust you and believe it wasn’t for any villainous reason, so I don’t care. But think about it from the attacker’s perspective.”
Everett looked down at his arm resting in its sling. “Any particular reason why he gets to have a point of view in all this?”
“He, or she, was also out tonight. By the targeted nature of the assault, it seems likely he was waiting for you. But he couldn’t have known you’d come out when you did. It’s not like you went for a regular ‘run’ at that time. I’m not a gambler, but I’d say the odds of you emerging from the apartment at all in the snow, and at that time, must have been close to nil.”
“You can stop with the air quotes.” Everett gave his brother a warning look. “Just get to the point.”
“Unless he was there tonight, and every night, waiting around in the hope you’d show, he had another motive for being outside your apartment with a knife.”
Alyssa gave a little cry as Casey’s meaning became clear.
“He wasn’t waiting for me to come out.” Everett’s lips tightened into a thin line. “He was planning on coming in.”
Kennedy studied her bowl of fruit with all the interest of a food critic about to deliver a scathing review. Picking up a piece of banana, she carefully rubbed it between her thumb and forefinger. Holding out her hand to Everett, giving him her sweetest smile, she offered him the slimy mess.
“You know what? I think I’ll stick with coffee.”
Undeterred by his lack of interest, Kennedy found an orange segment and began to suck on it noisily.
“She’s the only one who got any sleep.” Alyssa smothered a yawn as she spoke. “It doesn’t matter to her whether it was in her crib or in my arms.”
“Why don’t you take a nap now?”
She could hardly believe the guy with the face the color of curdled milk and the black bags beneath his eyes was telling her to get some rest.
“Uh, because one of us has to watch Kennedy, and you need sleep more than I do?”
He hunched a shoulder. “I have too much to do.”
“You’re on a leave of absence.” As soon as she said the words, their irony made her flinch.
“Right.” He carefully flexed the fingers of his right hand. “Tell the guy who left his knife in my arm about that.”
“What will you do?”
“Probably exactly the same things Casey is doing right now.” He gulped coffee like it was his lifeline. “Look for similar crimes. Search the databases for anyone matching our suspect, even though we don’t have much to go on. Check out the weird alligator sneakers and see if they are sold in any local outlets. Go through my arrest list, see if any of them are carrying a grudge, then cross-check that with who is out of jail free and likely to be in this area. Find out if any of Georgia’s associates are mixed up in this.”
“You said you planned to visit Ray Torrington again.”
“Are you okay with this?” He shook his head. “What a dumb question. What I mean is—”
“What you mean is ‘why aren’t I freaking out in typical Alyssa style?’”
“That’s not what I said.” His voice was gentle. “I know what you went through when your dad died.”
She bowed her head, taking a few moments to stir her own coffee. “When we were together, your job was there, but it was distant. I never had to face its consequences. In my imagination, that made it grow into some kind of beast that was lurking on the edge of our lives just waiting to pounce. I couldn’t rid myself of fear—even the certainty—that you would be killed in the line of duty. Since we’ve started to care for Kennedy, I’ve been plunged into the reality of what you do.”
“I wish it didn’t have to be this way—”
“So do I. But now I’ve been forced to confront your world, I see it for what it is.” She looked up to find him watching her with a puzzled expression. “You mentioned the positive side of your job. Although I don’t know if I’m there yet, I do know your training and experience are what Kennedy and I need to keep us safe. The reason I’m not freaking out is because the things I once hated are the very things I now appreciate.”
Everett placed his hand over hers. “Is that what you were talking to Casey about at the hospital?”
“Partly. I told him we broke up because I couldn’t bear to see you in danger.” She held his gaze. “It was funny. He seemed to think there could be another reason. He said I needed to talk to you about what that was.”
Watching him, she glimpsed everything she was hoping for. Momentarily, his expression was stripped of all pretense—the armor he wore was gone, and his fears and vulnerabilities were on display. Her breath caught in her throat. Was she about to find out a truth she had barely been aware of?
Then the light in his eyes changed. It pained her to see the battle taking place inside him. His dilemma was clear. He could let go of the defenses he’d worked so hard to build and risk being hurt, or leave his armor in place and never rebuild their relationship.
Four years ago, she’d reasoned that, if he loved her enough, he would one day tell her what had hurt him. Although she’d speculated about the cause of his emotional distance, he had never given her even a glimpse behind the walls he’d put up. Now, she decided he needed a prompt...
As she reached for his hand, the security buzzer broke the moment and Alyssa—the mild-mannered third-grade teacher—muttered a curse. “One of these days, I swear I am going to rip that thing out.”
Everett raised an eyebrow at her. “Really? I’ve never heard you use words like that before.”
“Long night.” She pressed the backs of her hands to her burning cheeks.
He spoke into the speaker system and returned looking slightly bemused. “It’s two of my FBI colleagues.”
Alyssa’s heart rate kicked up a notch. “What do they want?”
“I guess we’re about to find out.” Everett went to open the door. A tall, competent-looking woman and a younger stocky man entered. “Alyssa, meet Agents Karen Hayes and Shawn Heath.”
They nodded a greeting. Although Agent Hayes glanced at Everett’s arm in its sling, she made no comment. “I’ll get straight to the point. You submitted a report expressing your concerns that Sean Dodd didn’t commit suicide and kill his wife at the same time, but that both were murdered. The senior special agent saw enough merit in that to have it investigated. Since you are on a leave of absence, the case was assigned to us.”
“There have been a few developments you should know about,” Everett said.
The two agents exchanged a glance. “That’s exactly what I was about to say to you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Georgia Dodd escaped from her prison cell yesterday,” Agent Hayes said. “I don’t know if she has a reason to stay in the area—”
A loud hiccupping noise from the direction of the high chair drew their attention. Kennedy, having tired of eating her fruit, was now dropping it piece by piece onto the floor. Finding she had a new audience, she clapped her hands and waved.
“Georgia has a very powerful reason to stick around,” Everett said. “I don’t know why she would want her niece, particularly if she murdered her brother and sister-in-law, but she won’t leave Cactus Creek until she gets what she wants.”