Page 36 of Playing With Temptation

“Because I’m stupid, that’s why. So freaking stupid.”

She snatched her purse off the chair, rounded my bed, and was practically jogging to the door. Before I thought better of it, I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the bed. My shoulder screamed in protest, and I felt the tug of the IV keeping me tethered to the goddamn bed.

Fuck.

“Rainy, wait.”

She turned slightly and I didn’t miss the concern etched in her beautiful face.

“I’m being an asshole,” I admitted. “Stay and⁠—”

“You’re right, you are but I deserve it. I did this to us and what I should’ve told you Saturday night was that I’m sorry. I should’ve explained.” Rainy paused and a fresh wave of pain engulfed her entire body. The kind that hurts to witness. The kind that fills a room and makes it hard to breathe. “But there’s too much… my head’s not right. No, my heart’s not right. Nothing’s right. But none of that is your problem. I should’ve apologized right away. I should’ve explained. But I didn’t and now this.” She swept her arm in a wide arc indicating the room. “But this isn’t about me or what I deserve. You were shot. You don’t need me here making it worse for you. I should’ve stayed away but I didn’t, because I’m stupid.”

With horrible fucking timing, the door opened, and Ethan appeared.

He took one step in and rocked to a halt.

“I’ll come back⁠—”

Rainy whirled around to face Ethan and shook her head. I could no longer see her face but whatever he saw it made him frown.

“No. Stay. I was just leaving.”

And she moved around Ethan to do just that.

“Rainy,” I called out but she didn’t stop.

Ethan gave it a beat before he made his way across the room.

“You probably shouldn’t be sitting up. You’ve got enough pain meds in you to put down a horse.”

Don’t I know it.

I ignored his concern.

“What’s happening?”

“If I tell you, will you lie back down? You’ve already got staples in your head. You don’t need to fall out and get a matching set on your forehead.”

With a sigh I eased back into the bed, found the controller, and adjusted the bed. Once it was in its most upright position, I went back to Ethan.

“What’cha got?”

Ethan scrubbed his hands over his face in frustration.

“Nothing. Wendy, Frank, Everette, and Cody scoured the woods. Grant and Marie hit their patrol car and searched Fraiser Acres. Every available uniform in the area drove the neighborhoods around the park.”

Fraiser Acres was the development that was directly behind the park and abutted the woods. There was another neighborhood to the west—it would mean the guy who shot me would have to run through thick, dense forest to get to it but it was doable, especially if someone was desperate not to get caught.

“Doe Run Estates?” I asked.

“Wendy and Frank are there now, knocking on doors to see if anyone saw anything and asking for doorbell camera footage. Same with Wendy and Frank at Fraiser Acres.” He took a breath and finished. “I called my dad.”

That was big for Ethan but not surprising. Ethan’s dad, Lenox, was retired but he still owned Triple Canopy along with three of his Army buddies, Jasper Walker, Levi McCoy, and Nolan Clark. TC had a compound on the outskirts of Hollow Point which included their offices along with a large training facility. Officially, TC offered tactical training, something the Hollow Point PD and the county sheriff department took advantage of. They also offered private security and investigations. It was also known they had government contracts. Seeing as those were confidential, I didn’t know how deep those ran. What I did know was, it wasn’t unheard of for Ethan to call TC for help, but it was rare.

It could also fuck our case, if TC’s hacker Dylan Welsh handed us intel that was not on the up and up.

“Fruit from the poisonous tree and all that,” I reminded my partner.