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She didn’t need to be asked twice. She hurried over and pulled up a chair to sit beside him. He clicked play to unfreeze the section of video he had up on the screen.
The video wasn’t great, but she caught a brief glimpse of the shooter’s face seconds before he merged into the crowd. “That’s him,” she said with certainty. “Can you pick him up in another part of the video?”
“Let’s see.” Joe shut down that video and picked up the next one. She realized each video was from a different camera.
It wasn’t easy to sit there, watching how people ran every which way. There was no sound, but she could tell by the open mouths of several parade attendees that they were screaming.
“This isn’t the right angle,” she said. “He’s already gone by now.”
“Okay, I’ll try another.” Joe clicked on the next video. This was from a camera mounted at a busy intersection. When a dark pickup truck drove through the intersection, Joe hit the stop button. “Do you think this could be him?”
She waited as he backed up the video and ran it again, slower. The truck rolled slowly past, but while she could see there was a dark shadow of a driver behind the wheel, it was impossible to identify him as the shooter.
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “What about the license plate?”
“Let’s see.” Joe manipulated the video again and was able to capture the license plate. “Looks like this matches the truck found near the precinct.”
She nodded. “Call it in to Steele.”
Joe did so but was forced to leave a message. She sat back in her seat, doing her best not to let the images of the chaos on the screen get to her.
“I hope Kyle’s wife never has to see this,” she said in a low voice. Then she turned toward Joe. “When I saw him lying in the street, bleeding, I had a horrible moment when I thought he was you.”
Joe’s blue eyes darkened. He was close enough to kiss, but she managed to refrain. They still had work to do. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
“We all went through it.” She forced a smile, remembering her overwhelming relief at discovering Joe wasn’t injured.
Then she frowned. What had Kyle said when he looked up at her? He’d called her name, Elly. Then he tried to say something more but only managed to say the beginning of her name, El. She’d thought he was still referring to her, but now she couldn’t help but wonder if Kyle had been trying to say his wife’s name. Eloise.
Sadly, she wished he had been able to give his wife a message. Maybe one last declaration of love. It might have helped ease her pain and anger just a bit.
Unfortunately, whatever Kyle had wanted to say died with him.
* * *
“Wait,did you say Kyle said your name?” Joe asked. This was the first he’d heard of Kyle saying anything after being shot.
“Yes. He recognized me.” Elly’s expression was one of grief. “I felt so bad for him, Joe. I tried to reassure him that I’d take care of him, but he was bleeding so much. There wasn’t anything I could do.”
“Try to remember the lives you saved, Elly, rather than those you couldn’t.” Easy to say, he knew, but not as easy to believe. “This perp shot ten people in cold blood. There’s nothing either of us could have done to prevent that.”
“I know.” She shook her head and sighed. “I just feel bad for his wife, that’s all.”
Joe forced himself to tear his gaze from hers. Having her sitting this close where he could still breathe in her enticing scent made it extremely difficult to resist the temptation to kiss her again. Especially after the way she’d basically told him she had no regrets over their embrace. He had not anticipated the way her kiss had rocked him back on his heels.
Okay, if he were honest, he didn’t regret their kiss either. Well, except for the thought of Rhy finding out about it. Just the idea of his boss walking in on them was enough to cool his desire.
Elly was an adult, almost twenty-five years old. But Joe knew full well that making a pass at Rhy’s little sister was a sure way to get fired.
And pummeled by Rhy’s fists.
Steele was right about not getting emotionally involved. Cool professionalism was the best way to keep Elly safe.
Unfortunately, it was too late. He already was emotionally involved, despite his best efforts to keep her at arm’s length.
His phone rang, startling him. Glancing down at the screen, he saw Steele’s name. Clearing his throat, he answered. “What did you find in the truck?”
“It’s been wiped clean, which is suspicious. There is a little mud in the back of the truck bed, though, so the lab is going to test the sample to see if there’s a way to match it to the area near the parade.”
