Page 29 of Two Favors Repaid

Rob’s eyes went dark. He’d already been to the school, and there was no sign of Emma’s attacker—or of Joe, the supposed maintenance man.

“It’s okay, Barbara. He’s not here to question me. I’m staying with him until this is over.”

“I see.” The doctor’s tired eyes softened a bit. “She can’t go home yet. I’d like her to rest a bit first. So don’t stay too long. I’ll be back in a little while, Emma,” she said.

Rob stepped further into the room, feeling a moment of uncertainty as he walked over to Emma. He wanted to hold her but was afraid of hurting her. She opened her arms and beckoned him to her, and just like that he’d covered the distance and held her in his arms.

“God, Emma, I was so afraid. I left you and—”

“That’s not how we’re going to do this, Rob,” she said, shaking her head.

“What do you mean?”

“We’re not going to second-guess everything we did since waking up this morning.”

“I’m so glad you’re okay.” His arms were still around her body. He was careful not to squeeze too hard, but he couldn’t make himself let go.

“I’m okay,” she said, soothing him. He felt a moment of shame. He should be the one making her feel better, not the other way around. But when he’d gotten the call from Jessy, his heart had almost stopped.

“I didn’t get a good look at him,” she whispered. “He started shooting, and I just … ran.”

God. I’m going to kill that bastard.

“You did the right thing, Emma.”

It was his phone that finally pushed them apart. He picked it up on the third ring, growling his name into the receiver as he moved away from Emma. He didn’t want her overhearing this conversation.

“Lorraine? Ford’s partner is in town. He lured Emma to the school and attacked her. Shot her in the arm. Just grazed her. She’s okay.” He closed his eyes as he recalled Emma’s heavily bandaged bicep.

“James and I are in Alabama, Rob. We’re working on a different case. We won’t be able to get back to Sharp’s Cove until tomorrow evening at the earliest.” She paused for a moment. “I can find someone else to be there with you until then.”

Rob thought for a moment. Somebody who didn’t know anything about Ford or about the case would be absolutely useless to them.

“Don’t bother. We’ll wait for you. I won’t let Emma out of my sight in the meantime,” he promised.

“Okay. He must know you’re onto him. That should make him more cautious.”

“Did you get anything from Ford or his lawyer, Lorraine? Any ideas who this man might be? We have a lot of tourists here for the summer, and Emma didn’t get a good look at him. Just an impression of an average-size man, dressed in black.”

“It was a dead end. The lawyer didn’t know anything about it. We think somebody has been intercepting legal mail after the lawyer has sent it. We’re monitoring that now, but Ford is clever. He might not use the same method again.”

Rob sighed in frustration.

“We’ll be there as soon as we can, Rob. I’ll contact you with our flight details.”

“Thanks, Lorraine.”

Rob hung up the phone and pondered his options for a moment. Keeping Emma safe was top priority, but he needed to go back to the crime scene again. They needed to find out more about this man.

He picked up his phone again. “Susan, where are you?”

“Just got to the hospital now, boss. I’ll be at the ER in a minute.”

“Good. I’ll be here.” He walked towards Emma again. “Emma, Susan is on her way here. She’ll stay with you until you’re released.”

“This is a hospital, Rob. I’m perfectly safe here. I’m sure Susan has—”

“Please,” he said, lowering his voice. “As soon as the doctor releases you, I’ll come back and pick you up. But until then, I need to know you’re safe.”