“At least two, driver and passenger. They were wearing masks.”
He looked at my temporary partner. “Did you catch anything different?”
In the flickering streetlight, it was easy to see the color drain from Matthews’s face. A face that suddenly resembled a deer caught in the headlights.
I could’ve let him flounder for a few seconds, but I didn’t. “The woman caught in the fake complaint was shaken. He was escorting her to her car.”
I didn’t include that the simple task had taken a lot longer than it should’ve since he’d likely been shooting his shot with her while whoever was shooting shotsatme.
Captain Talbot jerked his head toward the bar entrance. “Matthews and Murdoch, see if patrol has any witnesses yet. And see if you spot any security cameras aimed this way.” He beckoned more officers over as he stabbed a finger toward the other side of the street. “I want every piece of footage we can get our hands on.”
The older detective didn’t look happy about canvassing the party crowd, but he went as Cap kept doling out orders to others, taking control of my scene.
I used the opportunity to glare at Murdoch’s retreating back like I could give him a nasty case of jock itch telepathically.
Matthews took a step before hesitating. His gaze was aimed my way.
If you fess up and tell him I withheld details, I’m going to kick you in the shin.
But he wasn’t trying to clear his conscience. “You…” He gestured to my forehead just as blood reached my eye. “You really need to get that looked at.”
Fuck.
If glaring is going to reopen the wound, this sucker is never going to heal.
“Later,” I said, opting to press the shirt back against it until it slowed again.
He lifted his chin and jogged over to Murdoch, leaving me to follow after the captain as I walked him through the night again, going slower than before.
CHAPTER FIVE
INCONVENIENT
LUNA
When we reached the techsprocessing the scene, it was Cap’s turn to glare. His was aimed at the droplets of blood marring the sidewalk before he transferred it to me. “Thought you said you weren’t hit?” The vein exposed by his receding hairline seemed to throb like something out of a cartoon as his face grew red. “This doesn’t look like the damn scene of someone who wasn’t shot.”
It was more blood than I expected, but that didn’t change the truth.
I pointed at the form of the splatter. “If I was shot, the drops would be going toward the wall. They’re angled away from it. And since I can feel a few flecks under the skin, I’m guessing I got caught with a tiny shard from the brick exterior.”
I was underplaying it.
It felt like I had boulders inside the wound, not flecks. Jagged boulders that were growing more painful with every minuscule movement.
One of the techs glanced over from where he was inspecting one of the holes in said brick exterior. “That seems likely.”
My captain still didn’t look happy, but I knew his pissy attitude came from a place of concern. Concern he’d have for anyone, not just me. Because unlike some other people—namely that dick, Murdoch—he didn’t think I was somewhere I didn’t belong. He didn’t act like I was an enemy infiltrator.
Or worse, treat me with kid gloves because I was young and a woman.
The tech kept talking. “And it likely would’ve been worse if they used something other than a handgun.”
“Thank God for poor planning,” Cap muttered before the tech ran him through what he had so far.
I should’ve been listening.
I hated that I couldn’t get my brain to absorb any of the words he said.
