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“Always thought you’d make a better cop than ranger,” he said. “Coffee, Jonas, now!” he then roared into the phone, while winking at Bailey. “Important they fear me a little bit, Miss Jones, even if everyone knows I’m a teddy bear.” He turned to his computer. “You go on and tell me your story now.”
She did, with as much detail as she could.
“And you say the second shot came as you dismounted?”
“Yes.”
“Did you hear it hit something near you?”
“I d-don’t know, I-I just wanted to reach Jack.” Bailey laced her fingers through Maggie’s, glad of her friend’s support. Funny, she’d never reached for someone before returning to Ryker.
“Now there might be something else you remember, Bailey. Anything, and you call me.”
She took the small white rectangle of cardboard he handed her.
“What you did today took courage, Bailey, especially as we don’t know what was going on out there on Trainer land.”
“I think it’s fair to say someone was shooting at Jack.”
Fin had been quiet until then, but she’d felt his anger, just like she’d felt Maggie’s.
“Now, Fin, I understand your anger, but we have to follow a process here to come to the correct conclusion.”
“Process, my ass! Jack was shot, then Bailey heard the second shot nearby. No one makes that mistake twice. And let’s not get started about someone shooting on private land. What the hell would they be shooting at anyway? Bailey said she saw no elk, or anything else, did you?”
She shook her head.
“Like I said, Fin, I’m not jumping to conclusions until I’ve checked all the facts. First off I’m heading out to the Trainer land to look around myself. Can you tell me exactly where you were, Bailey?”
She could and did, as she knew the land intimately. “My family owned that land fifteen years ago, Chief Blake.”
“Must have been just before I arrived here, then. Nice piece of dirt.”
It was, and it now had Jack’s blood on it. The thought that what happened could have been much worse made Bailey shiver.
Chapter 15
Joe looked down at his sneakers. Beside him Luke and Piper sat silently, all of them thinking about what was happening somewhere in the hospital.
“He’ll be all right,” Joe said for the fifteenth time. He was the oldest, and meant to reassure his family, but it was a hell of a job—because while his brother had been talking before he was taken away, maybe he wasn’t now.
Fear was so thick in the room, he could taste it. Fear, rage, and helplessness.
“Motherfucking son of a bitch!” Luke got to his feet and started prowling again. He’d been doing that on and off for the last two hours. “I’m gonna kill someone.”
Luke was the gentle Trainer—until he was riled, then he was mean.
“No one is killing anyone,” Joe made himself say, when deep inside he was in total agreement. “Get your shit together, and stay calm. We don’t know anything yet, so let’s focus on Jack.”
Luke stalked to where Joe sat, his eyes narrowed, and Joe stood. He saw the fear and pain, and simply wrapped his arms around his little brother.
“It’s okay, Luke. He’s going to be okay.”Christ, let him be okay.
He felt Pip’s hand in his, and clenched it hard while he held his brother.
“I brought coffee.”
Joe let Luke go as Angie walked in. She had a tray of coffee and bag of food.
