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“Then you might be dead.” Nick draped a comforting arm around her shoulders and drew her close. “It wasn’t your fault, uh...”
“Lucy. Lucy Brookes.” She stiffened at the brief flash of unexpected sensation at his touch and stepped away as footsteps approached.
Officer Lee reappeared, his face grim. “We’re going to need statements from both of you. The station is just a short walk away. Would you follow me, please?”
He wasn’t just asking, and Lucy’s heart fell. “Did one of those men die?”
The officer’s mouth pressed into a grim line. “Let’s go.”
CHAPTER TWO
Her “statement” hadfelt more like an interrogation by the time she and Nick walked out of the police station at eight o’clock.
No one had answered her questions about the man who had been shot, but she was pretty sure he was either critically wounded or dead.
Everything about her story had checked out, of course. Her flight arrival information on her cell phone. Her steady answers. The darkening red finger marks around her neck.
They’d probably checked a criminal database to see if she had a criminal record, but that would have been clean.
“I just wish I could’ve given the officers a description of the guy who came after me. Unless they find enough evidence to arrest him, he’ll still be out on the streets.” She shivered. “And if he identifies me...”
“But if you couldn’t see his face at a distance, he couldn’t see yours. And it was dark when he came up behind you.” Nick looked down at her as they walked along Kalakaua Avenue. “So he probably didn’t get a good look at you then, either.”
“Maybe when I twisted around to jam my elbow into his nose, but he doubled over right away. It all happened so fast.”
“You and the pup are a formidable team.” A quarter-smile deepened the long slash of a dimple in his tanned cheek. “I imagine you two could hold your own, but do you mind if I walk you to your door? I’d feel better if I did.”
Grateful for his offer, she nodded. “I would, too. From just a lightning-fast glance before I took off running, I think both of the man’s ankles were bloody, but what if he still tries to follow me?”
“It sounds like you and your dog disabled him for a while, but he might have had buddies close by. I think we should take a meandering route to wherever you’re staying, and lose ourselves in the crowd, if that’s okay. Just look relaxed. I don’t want to lead anyone straight to your door.”
She drew in a shaky breath. “Absolutely not.”
They strolled down the avenue in the opposite direction of her Airbnb, past one high-end shop after another. Rolex. Tiffany. Gucci. Yves Saint Laurent. Chanel. Tod's. Prada.
At any other time she would have enjoyed looking at the luxury items. Now, she studied the large, plate glass windows for the reflections of anyone behind her who might seem out of place. Anyone too...intent.
