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Her eyes were swollen and a long laceration crossed her forehead, reminding him of the severity of her crash. She was lucky to have survived. The temptationto take her hand and assure her he was there to help grew stronger. Would her touch still affect him as it once had? There was a time in his life when he couldn't keep from touching her.
“Chase?”
Those same beautiful, deep brown eyes studied him. Their intensity made his heart skip a beat. “Yes?”
“Go!”
“Right.” He hurried down the stairs, taking them two at a time, and followed the hallway toward the rear of the building then shoved through the back door and into the parking lot. Not a blue truck in sight. Circling the building, he headed out front but saw no sign of the vehicle anywhere. Was it possible it was the same truck?
The thought that whoever did this to her was still around was concerning—he could return and maybe next time, he would succeed in his attempts. He made a note to check with security for camera footage. Both for last night and this morning. He went back in and hurried up to the fourth floor, hoping she would be open to answering a few questions about what happened last night. The sooner they got to the bottom of this case, the safer she would be.
Chase hadn't seen Aiden since they left the Army, but he had a hard time believing his brother would carve up the woman he once loved and leave her on a bathroom floor to die. But how well did he really know Aiden? As a kid, before the night their dad died, Aiden wouldn’t have hurt anyone or anything. But the events of that night were traumatizing. Who knew how much damage was caused because of them, or how much being active in the Army contributed. Chase had enlisted with Aiden, but once they were through bootcamp, they were separated.
The sad truth was, he had no idea who or where his brother was now.
The sound of voices reached him as he approached Jacquie's room. He stopped to talk to Ronnie. “Have you seen anything?”
Ronnie shook his head. “Other than her brother the sheriff, only a nurse came in. I checked his credentials.”
“All right. Ms. Halloway thought she saw the older model blue pickup that ran her off the road last night, so there's a chance whoever did this will be back.”
“I’ll keep watch.”
“Thanks, Ronnie.” He paused at the sound of Jacquie's raised voice.
“I’m a cop, I'm trained not to trust. I don't, and I won't. Not Chase. Not ever.”
Jacquie was a cop?Her words stunned him. He couldn’t imagine Jacquie carrying a gun, and chasing down criminals.
Josh being the sheriff of Granite Falls was enough of a surprise, but Jacquie also went into law enforcement? He would never have guessed that, but then again, he'd shut the door on Jacquie Halloway a long time ago and never opened it again.
He gave a quick knock on the doorframe to announce his presence, then walked into the room.
Josh turned to him, then stepped forward, his hand outstretched. “Chase, it’s good to see you.” He gestured toward Ronnie. “I appreciate the help.”
“That makes one of us,” Jacquie muttered from her hospital bed, tucked in tight and looking as if she'd never left.
Chase wondered if Joshknewabout her little adventure down the back stairwell. “Glad to help. I’d like to question Jacquie about what happened last night.” He glanced her way.
Josh took a step back. ”Absolutely.”
Jacquie glared at her brother. Chase smothered a smile. Shestill had herfire and was just as beautiful as he remembered. Even more so. Her cheekbones were more defined, and the wild curls that had attracted him the first time they met framed her face.
He stepped toward the bed. “Fill me in, if you will. Don’t leave anything out.”
Jackie stared at him, her jaw set, her eyes narrowing. “Did you read the police report?”
“Yes, and I listened to the 911 calls, but I'd like to hear it again from you now that you’ve had a chance to sleep on it and process what you saw.”
She repeated her story about finding Sylvia and the accident on the highway but left out a few things. “Everything is still a little fuzzy,” she admitted.
He pulled up a chair and sat so he was at eye level. “That’s all right. Yousaid the room was dark when a sound woke you up.”
“Yes, I sensed someone in the room moving near Sylvia's bed and saw a shadow.”
“So, you didn't get a good look at the person?”
“No. Notthen,but once he moved closer to me, his face was clear through the light coming in from the door.”
