RUNNING THROUGH ABBY’S MIND in those few moments after the shooting stopped and she picked herself up off the ground was Bandit. Her ruined door and the violent nature of the men who’d violated her house made her fear the worst.

“You okay?” one of the officers asked as she started for the door.

“My dog,” she said as she ran for the door, the officer on her heels.

“Ma’am, we have to clear the house!”

Abby didn’t care. The only thing she wanted at that moment was the little furry body. If they’d hurt him . . . She couldn’t think of it.

“Bandit! Bandit!”

Nothing. Then she heard a muffled squeal coming from the kitchen and rushed in there. When she didn’t see him, fear began to cascade through her.

The cabinet! He was in the cabinet; she could hear him scratching. A chair had been thrown against the door. Abby pulled it aside, and relief flooded her as Bandit jumped into her arms.

“Thank you, Lord,” she whispered into his fur.

Her composure returned quickly. She was certain she’d done everything she could do regarding her assailant. He wouldn’t stop. She knew he’d meant to kill her with the crowbar and that knowledge kept her from second-guessing her actions. She figured that the second man was a lookout for the first, and she chastised herself for not being more aware, more attuned to her surroundings.

She blamed that on Luke. If I hadn’t been thinking about him, I would have noticed trouble sooner.

The walk-through went smoothly, and as a matter of routine, her gun was surrendered to the range officer. The same was true for the three uniformed officers who’d fired as well. All in all, a total of fifteen shots had been fired, but it would take an autopsy to determine how many hit the big guy. The rounds that had missed impacted her garage door. There was nothing in the garage to be damaged, so she’d deal with that problem later.

As the DA shooting investigator left, Jacoby approached her, concern in his features. “I want you to take the rest of the week off.”

She started to protest. “I’m fine, really.”

“Right now, maybe. But take the time off just in case.” He gave her a look that brooked no disagreement, and she was too tired to argue.

Since it was Wednesday, that meant she would not have to be at work until the following Monday. The state of her house helped her decide she was thankful for Jacoby’s order. It would take at least three days to clean up the damage. If she wanted to head into the station on her own time over the weekend, she would.

“You okay?” Bill asked.

“I’m fine, just tired and hungry. It’s been a long day.”

“I second that. I meant to ask you earlier: are you keeping your friend?”

“What?” Abby frowned and then realized he was talking about Bandit. “Oh, I guess so. The governor didn’t want him.” Her adrenaline high crashed all at once, and she nearly sagged against Bill, as fatigue slammed down like the crowbar.

Jacoby saved her telling Bill that Abby was officially off duty. She let them talk shop while she sat on the porch steps. It looked as if public service would finish soon. But she wouldn’t be alone until the coroner came to remove the body.

Luke finished his phone call and flashed her a smile. Her heart fluttered in spite of the anger she was trying to feel toward him. He was easy on the eyes, and having him this close and this helpful strained all of Abby’s hard-layered self-control.

“I just got a call from my mom at the hospital. Nadine is awake.” He knelt next to her.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Abby said. Was Nadine the key to what happened here at her house? Was she the she the big guy mentioned? “I hope we can talk to her soon.”

“Maybe in the morning.”

“Good.” She noticed his gaze travel to the door repair going on behind her. “They work fast. Glad I’ll be able to stay in my own room tonight.”

“You sure you want to sleep here tonight? Maybe you should stay at a friend’s or something.”

“This is my home. I —” She almost explained that she had bounced around too many times to strange beds and homes when she was in foster care. It would take an army to pry her out of this place she’d called home for the last five years. I really am tired, she thought, to almost share stuff with him I’ve only shared with Ethan.

“Yes? You were saying?” Luke asked.

“Nothing —just that I want to stay in my own home.”

“Well, will you at least let us help you clean up?”

“Yeah.” Bill joined them as Jacoby left the scene. Most of the black-and-whites had left as well. The chaos was winding down. “We have the time to help.”

Abby looked from one man to the other, on the verge of being rude. Mess or no mess, she just wanted the peace and quiet of her own house and her own thoughts. The sound of a car squealing to a stop on the street kept her from answering and turned everyone’s attention toward the noise.

Woody pushed past the tape and rushed toward her at a jog, concern creasing his face.

Cool relief flooded Abby like honey and chased away the rude. She needed Woody and his calm strength to center her.

“Don’t tell me this was because of the Triple Seven.” He stopped in front of Abby, eyes roaming from public service working on the front door, to the tarp covering the dead guy, to Luke and Bill, then coming to rest on her.

“No, it wasn’t. I don’t know what exactly it was about.” Abby paused, realizing Woody wasn’t alone. Slowly walking up her drive in his wake was Asa. “I think it was about that runaway girl.”

Asa had never returned her phone call, and now here he was. Funny, she thought. So much has happened, I forgot what I was going to ask him.

“The girl?” Woody was thoroughly confused. He looked at Bill. “That straight up? This isn’t related to the new ripple in the Triple Seven invest?”

“I don’t think so.”

Asa reached them, and Abby worked to keep shock from her face. He looked worse than the dead guy under the tarp. His nose had been red and bulbous from drinking when he retired, but now it looked twice as bad. And his skin was an unhealthy, waxy color. He’d moved to Idaho to enjoy a quiet retirement. Obviously he hadn’t been outside much. As she looked from Woody to Asa, a sick feeling slapped her: Woody had called Asa and told him about Abby breaking her silence.

“Asa,” she said, “I didn’t know you were coming for a visit. Don’t tell me you came back because of me?”

Woody spoke up. “I just picked him up at the airport. Got a call you were in trouble when we pulled out of the lot.”

Both ignoring a direct response. They had been partners for years and could finish each other’s sentences. Abby knew there was more going on between them than she would ever be privy to.

“Nearly killed us getting here,” Asa said in his booze-roughened voice before he popped a breath mint into his mouth. “Glad you’re okay.”

Abby felt an uncomfortable twinge, realizing he was probably drunk. She’d seen him drink enough liquor to put most people under the table without even developing a slur or a hitch in his step. But the faraway gaze in his eyes gave away his physical state.

“Let’s take a look at this guy,” Woody said to Asa. The coroner had arrived and knelt beside the body to inventory the man’s property. Bill walked with them to the body.

Abby turned to see Luke watching her, and suddenly exhaustion and hunger socked her like a one-two punch.

Luke followed. “Everything hitting you about now?”

He always reads me. But she was too tired to be angry. She said nothing. She held Bandit close, loving the feel of his rough tongue as he licked her hand.

Woody, Asa, and Bill were arguing about something while the coroner loaded up the dead man on the gurney.

“I just want to help,” Luke said softly.

Abby didn’t trust herself to look at him. She realized at that moment that she’d rather face ten men armed with crowbars than this one man she felt an attraction to. She needed to call Ethan.

When Woody and the others finished arguing and walked to the porch, and when they’d all decided they were going to order pizza and help her clean up, she had no strength to protest.

Everything in her life was spinning out of her hard-fought universe of control. Did she really want to fix it all herself? Could she?

“I guess I can use the help,” she said and let Woody pull her to her feet.