Page 99 of Capture My Heart

Amy’s fingers linked with Trey’s. The connection charged up his arm, sparking something deep in his chest.

He opened his mouth, words backed up in his throat. His jaw moved.

One eyelid cracked open and she licked her lips. “What’s with the guppy bit? Are you thirsty, too?”

Jim chuckled and refilled her glass. Trey took it and held the straw out for her.

A moment later, Liz came back followed by a short, dark-haired woman in a lab coat. “I’m Doctor Chu. If you would all step out for a moment, I would like to examine Officer Larson.”

Jim and Liz both patted Amy’s arm in encouragement. “We’ll come by later.”

Trey leaned down and brushed a kiss to her forehead. His chest tightened. The war between staying by her side and working feverishly to find who did this to her was raging in him. It pained him to see her like this. His strong, courageous Officer Larson. His playful sassy Amy. She needed rest and he wouldn’t be doing any good sitting here watching her sleep.

The doctor flipped open her file. Yup, time to go.

“You need your rest. I just needed to see…” He cleared his throat. “I have to work. I’ll swing by tomorrow. And Amy… I’m glad…”

What could he say? Glad you aren’t dead? I would be sad… upset… lost? Not good, He’d lost his ability to form cohesive thoughts.

“I’m glad you’re okay.” He squeezed her hand then slipped from the room.

Of all the stupid, lame things he could say. Damn woman made him tongue tied.

As he beat himself up, Bob Peterson headed towards him. “How is she?”

“The doctor is with her now. Sounds like she will recover.”

Bob put his hands in his pockets, rocked back on his heels, and blew out a breath. “That’s good.”

“You were first on scene, weren’t you?”

“Yeah, I was going to relieve her so she could go get some sleep.” He shook his head. “I pulled up and the place was in flames. If I’d only been a few minutes sooner.”

“There was nothing you could do. If you had been there, you could have been caught in the blast.”

“Yeah.” Bob’s head dropped as if he was picking his next words carefully. He did a quick canvass of the room then gestured to a corner of the waiting room.

Trey followed.

“We all know you’re here investigating corruption in the department. And I don’t know if this incident is related, but…”

Trey relaxed his shoulders when the only thing they wanted to do was brace for impact. Why Peterson’s news would be a blow, he didn’t know, but every cell in his body prepared for the worst.

The detective continued, “It seems like too much of a coincidence that with her father’s accident and now Amy’s that maybe there was more to the rumors.”

“Rumors?”

“That Officer Thomas Larson was on the take.”

Trey internally jerked back. There it was––a seismic blow. “I hadn’t read anything in his file of corruption.”

“Really? They investigated him for being on the take. Rumor had it his old friend Gardiner was paying him to make sure his deliveries got through with no police interference if you know what I mean.” He used air quotes on the word deliveries. Who does that these days? Apparently, Bob does.

It all sounded like speculation. “If it was a rumor, why would you think it has a bearing here?”

“It might not, but the fact that her father was rumored to be on the take, then was suddenly killed, and now Larson was hit by a bomb…”

“Bomb? I hadn’t heard the fire investigator ruled the explosion to be intentional.”