Hailey released a soft chuckle, followed by a quiet groan.
He sobered immediately. “You okay?”
“Yeah. I’m just starting to feel everything now that the adrenaline’s wearing off.”
He quickened his steps. “I’m sorry I let this happen to you.”
“Stop apologizing for what’s out of your control. You didn’t ‘let’ anything happen. If you hadn’t been with me, I’d probably be dead.”
Once again, she was probably right. But he couldn’t shake the feeling he’d missed something. His gut had been right. Something had been very wrong. Yet he’d still been caught off guard. What warning sign had his subconscious picked up on that he’d missed? What was it he should have seen before the first shot rang out? Or had it really just been anxiety that turned out to be right? There was no way to know. But he couldn’t let anything like this happen again.
HAILEY HAD NO IDEAhow far they’d run, especially since they hadn’t been going in a straight line. They’d been walking back—or rather, Peter had—for about ten minutes when she saw movement ahead of them. A second later, the silhouette of an armed figure came into view. She sucked in a breath. Was that the shooter? But before she could warn Peter, the man spotted them too.
“Peter, Hailey, that you?”
She almost wilted with relief when she recognized Officer Titus Gibson’s voice.
“It’s us,” Peter confirmed.
“Thank God.” He grabbed his radio and spoke into it as he continued their way, but he wasn’t close enough yet for Hailey to catch his words. When he reached them, he gave them a quick once-over, his eyes stopping on her makeshift bandage. “Detective Thornton said you were hurt. How bad is it?”
“Just a graze. I can walk.” She gave Peter a pointed look, which he ignored.
“I think she’ll be fine, but she’ll probably need stitches. And sheshouldn’tbe walking,” Peter clarified.
Titus glanced between them and apparently decided to side with Peter. “You’re still about a quarter mile from the ambulance. Do you need me to take her?”
“No, I’ve got her.” He started walking again, and the officer fell into step beside them.
Hailey sighed, but there was no use arguing. In reality, her leg was throbbing, and dizziness had hit her when she’d stood up from the thicket. And if she were being really honest, she’d admit that being in Peter’s arms wasn’t all that bad.
Her cheeks flushed at the thought. She absolutely wouldn’t be admitting that.
At Titus’s prodding, they gave him an overview of what had taken place. The young officer’s eyes widened at their story. By the time they finished, his shock seemed to have faded and been replaced by indignation. But he didn’t comment except to mutter how glad he was they had survived and that the police force would do all they could to track down the shooter.
She hoped they did, and soon. But she also knew that it probably wouldn’t be that easy. She knew enough about police work from Eric to know that if they could figure out where the shooter had been shooting fromandif there were bullet casings left behind, then they might be able to pull prints from them or track down who owned the weapon. But neither of those were guaranteed. Nor could they confidently assume the shooter had usedhis own gun. And unless there had been a witness, that might be the extent of the clues left behind.
Still, she could hope one of those would pan out or that the shooter had been sloppy and left something else behind.Please,Lord.
A wave of nausea passed over her, and she rested her head on Peter’s shoulder. Suddenly, she was very glad he was carrying her. With every step and every beat of her heart, pain pulsed through her wound, but she knew her queasiness was more than that. Besides the adrenaline crash, she was probably dehydrated, and she hadn’t eaten since the scone and coffee she’d let count as her lunch.
“You still doing okay?” Peter asked softly.
“I’ve felt better, but I’ll be fine,” she gritted out. Without lifting her head, she glanced ahead. They had to be getting close to their destination. The sirens had certainly gotten louder.
For the next several minutes, she focused on taking calming breaths. That helped a little. Soon, the flashing lights of emergency vehicles became visible through the trees.
As soon as they stepped into the open, first responders descended on them. Peter brushed off their queries and carried her straight to the ambulance, where he relinquished her to the care of an EMT. But even then, he stayed close. She’d asked them to keep the doors open as long as they could, and from her elevated position on the gurney, she could see him hovering just outside as the EMT, who’d introduced himself as Ron, checked her over.
Eric joined him, and the two spoke in low tones. She wanted to call for them to talk louder so she could hear, but she decided yelling so close to the EMT’s ear while he inserted an IV probably wasn’t a good idea.
“You look like you’ve had a rough day,” Ron said.
“You could say that.” She didn’t want to be completely rude, but she didn’t feel like making conversation. She was tired andqueasy and miffed that she was going to have to make a trip to the emergency room for stitches. Normally, she would have insisted on just going to the local urgent care. She knew she looked banged up, especially with her two-day-old black eye, but most of her injuries were small lacerations from briars and shattered window glass. Her only significant wound was the graze on her calf, and that was still relatively minor. But she’d checked the time. They’d spent quite a while out in the woods, and by the time they’d be able to reach urgent care, it would be closed.
Eric looked her way, and she offered a wave. He nodded, spoke a few more words to Peter, then leaned inside. “Okay if I talk to your patient?” he asked the EMT.
Ron glanced at her. She nodded, and he shrugged. “Sure thing.” He finished hooking her up to a bag of IV fluids, then stepped outside to give them space.
