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“Across the way.” He nodded toward the nurse’s station set up as the hub of the department. “I had a feeling you’d demand answers, so I went by there first. She asked about you, too.”
“She was unconscious.”
He nodded. “My guess is, they’ll want to keep her overnight, but that’s no reason to worry. I had the impression she was flirting with the nurse or orderly or whatever he was who brought her back from having an MRI.”
Her fingers bit into his. “They could find something. Like…like a blood clot.”
“They could, but they probably won’t.” He smiled at her with warmth and humor. “Were you like this when she was younger? Sure she had the plague if the school called to tell you she was sick?”
Beth stuck out her tongue before conceding, “Of course I was. Especially the first year because I didn’t have a driver’s license and couldn’t rush to her school. And, yes, when she got older, I freaked whenever she was five minutes past her curfew, too.”
He laughed, lightening an expression that had been grim. “Is that how you learned to be a wild woman?”
“I sort of was, wasn’t I?” If anger hadn’t been part of the mix, would she have been able to fight back as effectively? “I really wanted to kill him. I’ve never felt anything like that before.”
She saw understanding in his brown eyes. “Thank God you did.”
“It was partly seeing what he’d done to Emily.”
“But if not for Emily, you wouldn’t have opened your door.”
Indignation had her trying to pull her hand free of his. “So now it’s her fault?”
He laughed again, white teeth flashing. “No, Beth. Sharing everything she knew with the world was her fault, but nothing else is.”
“Well.” Her momentary pique couldn’t last. “Did he talk to you?”
“No, he lawyered up right away.” He frowned. “I hope we can get him for your mother’s murder, but I can’t promise. I know he admitted to you what he did, but a defense attorney will claim you’re lying. It would be good to have physical evidence to support your word. There’s a chance his fingerprints, now that we have them, will match one on the inside of that wallboard, for example.”
“He told me he was careful.”
“Tonight?” Tony said in surprise.
She nodded.
“It’s next to impossible not to leave a little piece of yourself behind. At the very least, we have him cold for attempted murder.” Satisfaction hardened his expression again. “We got a warrant for his house. Another detective is executing it right now. He called to tell me he found a baseball bat in the garage. No glove or ball. His wife didn’t remember seeing it before.”
“But I didn’t bleed on it.”
He explained why techs were likely to find flakes of skin, invisible to the naked eye, embedded in the wood. “Not that we need that,” he added, “except to add a charge for the first assault. This time, I caught him in the act.”
Beth shivered. “I was so afraid you wouldn’t come in time. Or that you’d have gotten another call and decided talking to me could wait.”
“Hey.” He half sat on the edge of the bed, a foot braced on the floor. “You’re thinking about my mother and sisters.”
She didn’t answer. Didn’t have to.
“I swear to you that I will never break a promise to you without talking to you about it first.” His eyes had darkened again, and his voice was deep, serious. “When I say I’ll be there, you can count on me.”
Beth searched his face. He had come to her rescue tonight. He’d rushed to the hospital the other time, scared for her. He’d moved in with her to keep her safe.
Well, and for sex.
Yes, but he would surely have gone home afterward had he not been afraid for her. Essentially moving in was…above and beyond.
She nodded at last. “Will you go check on Emily again? And…has anyone called Matt?”
“I did a few minutes ago.” He stood, looked imperturbably at her for a long moment, then walked out.
The next footsteps she heard coming fast were her brother’s. His hair was wildly disheveled, and she saw that he hadn’t stopped to put on socks with his athletic shoes. The sight of his bare ankles made her eyes sting.
