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Blood everywhere.
Smeared on the floor and pooled around the woman I loved.
Kneeling over Grace, one hand pressed to her throat and the other to her chest, was Ezra Mendel. Duke lay curled against her side, panting and barely conscious.
My gut turned over. I’d assumed that what we’d discovered about Ezra, combined with the fact he’d provided evidence he wasn’t in town during Grace’s first problems, meant he’d been set up, but it would seem I’d made a fatal mistake.
“Get away from her,” I snarled. “Put your hands on the back of your head and move away.”
He glanced over his shoulder. “She’s still alive.”
Relief rushed through me. I’d gotten to her in time.
“Her pulse is weak,” he continued. “She might not have long.”
“Back off,” I ordered, wondering if he was playing some kind of mind game. I didn’t understand whether he was helping her or hurting her. Damn, I never should have let him leave the station alone. I should have ignored Mehrtens or instructed Patton not to let him go without one of us accompanying him.
“I can’t,” he bit out. “If I stop putting pressure on her wound, she might lose too much blood.”
I kept my gun leveled at him with one hand while I reached for my radio with the other. “If you try anything—”
“I won’t.” He gave me a look. “You know I won’t.”
“I’m not sure I know anything when it comes to you.” He may be trying to help, as he’d said, but the situation was very incriminating, and it was better to be safe than to let Grace’s attacker get away.
I used the radio to get a hold of Officer Mehrtens. “I need backup and an ambulance at Grace’s house,” I told her. “Immediately. She’s sustained trauma to the chest and is bleeding heavily.”
“It’s a stab wound,” Ezra said.
“Possible stabbing,” I informed Mehrtens. “Person of interest on the scene.”
Ezra paled. “You think I did this?”
“It doesn’t look good, does it?” I glanced at Duke and spoke into the radio. “Call Summer too. We need a vet.”
“Yes, sir.” Mehrtens disconnected.
I removed my shirt and folded it. “I’m going to take your place.” I didn’t trust him to be the one to care for Grace, no matter what he’d revealed to us earlier. After all, if he wasn’t responsible for this, then who was?
I shouldered him aside and pressed the folded shirt against the seeping hole in Grace’s chest. I had to agree with his assessment. It looked like a knife wound, but not a clean one. Whoever had done this had either stabbed her at a strange angle or twisted the blade to inflict maximum damage.
Grace’s eyelashes fluttered.
“Come on, Gracie,” I urged. “You’ve got to live.” I glanced up at Ezra, who hadn’t tried to run. “Handcuff yourself.”
He blanched. “Excuse me?”
I narrowed my eyes. “If you want me to believe you didn’t do this, then handcuff yourself. I can’t care for Grace properly while I’m worried whether you’ll attack me.”
He stared at me for a long moment, and I half-expected him to turn and leave. It wasn’t as if I could stop him. But then he came closer, unhitched the cuffs from my belt, and slowly put them on.
I turned back to Grace, grateful to be able to give her my full attention. Her eyelashes fluttered again, and I caught a glimpse of her hazel eyes before they closed.
“You’ve got this, baby. Keep breathing.” I checked her pulse. It was rhythmic but weak, as Ezra had said. Feeling that faint throb, it struck me how close I’d come to losing her. Emotion burned at the back of my throat. Grace meant everything to me. I didn’t know how I’d go on without her.
“I love you, Gracie,” I choked out. “I know I’m an idiot, and it took me too long to realize it, but I love you with my whole heart. Please be okay. I need you to be okay.”
Sirens sounded outside, and I was vaguely aware of people entering the house. They surrounded us. Ezra was guided away, and someone knelt beside me and tried to move my hands.
