10. Chapter Ten
Chapter Ten
H e refused to let anything happen to her.
Parker reached into his pocket for his pickup keys. His other hand reached out for her hand. When their fingers touched, he noticed the slight tremor in her hand. He couldn’t blame her. It had to be unnerving to have someone intrude into your inner sanctum. Not once but twice.
It didn’t matter how annoying she could be at times.
He wouldn’t let anything happen to her. It was more than just his job.
There was something about Belle. Something in the way she cared about her puppy—about the way she cared about her friends and attended a Christmas party when he knew it was the last place she wanted to be, but she hoped her presence would help bring her puppy home safely.
He couldn’t help but wonder if he got to know her better, what else he would admire about her. He halted his thoughts. He wasn’t going to get to know her better. Once this case was over, they’d go their separate ways.
He opened the passenger side door for Belle. After she got in, he closed the door. He rushed around to the driver’s side and jumped in. He started the pickup and pulled out.
“You turned the wrong way.” There was an urgency in her voice.
“I didn’t. This is the way to my parents’ house.”
“What?” Her voice rose. “We don’t have time to go visiting. We have to find out why that man or woman was in my house again.”
He slowed to a full stop at the intersection and put on the turn signal. “You’re going to stay at my parents while I check things out at your place.”
“No. Absolutely not.” Her voice was firm with a note of restrained anger.
He still had a couple of blocks to convince her that accompanying him could be dangerous. His deputies were on the other side of town from her house. They were en route, but it was still going to take them ten minutes. He was closer but dealing with Belle was taking time.
He proceeded through the intersection and continued toward his parents’ place. “You don’t understand.” His phone vibrated in his pocket. Every time there was movement detected in the house, his phone alerted him. “They are still in your house.”
“Then turn around. Hurry up.”
“No.” He refused to put her in danger. The whole time he was trying to clear the house, he’d be thinking about her and that would be dangerous. “I can’t do what I need to do if I’m worried about you.”
She crossed her arms. “You don’t have to worry about me. I can take care of myself.”
He pulled to a stop in front of his parents’ place. “Please, get out. My parents are expecting you.” When she didn’t budge, he said, “Belle, you’re wasting time.”
“Just go. I’ll stay in the car.”
He had a feeling this was the best deal he was going to get from her. Time was ticking, and his phone kept vibrating with alerts. “Do I have your word that you will stay in the car?”
There was a slight hesitation. “Yes. Go. Go!”
Just then his parents’ front porch light came on. He’d have to explain it to them later. He stomped the accelerator. He waited for Belle to point out that he was speeding, but she was utterly silent. He had a feeling that if she were driving, she’d be doing the exact same thing.
A five-minute drive took him just under three minutes. When they pulled up, his deputies had already arrived. He didn’t say a word as he jumped out of the pickup. He left the engine running so Belle wouldn’t get cold.
He crouched down and pulled his backup gun from his ankle holster. Then he rushed toward the darkened house. A flash of light streaked across a window on the first floor. He wondered if it was from one of his deputies or if the suspect was still inside.
With his gun in hand, he stepped through the open front door. He paused and listened. He heard a couple of footsteps.
“Clear” came a female voice.
“Clear” came a male voice.
The familiar voices came from upstairs. So, then why did he hear some sort of shuffling coming from the living room?
Parker took quiet, sure steps toward the darkened living room. Luckily, it was a clear night. The moonlight shone through the windows, allowing him to see the outline of someone.
Parker’s body flooded with adrenaline. He took quiet, measured steps. He glanced around to make sure there weren’t any other intruders. He didn’t see anyone else.
“Sheriff’s Office!” He squinted into the dark with his hand on the gun. “Hands up.”
The next thing he knew, something hard hit him in the side of the head. The unexpected impact made him see stars as he lost his balance. He went down hard.
When he regained his senses, he heard a jingling sound. Then something crashed to the floor. This was immediately followed by the shattering of glass. A frigid breeze smacked him in the face. Parker gave his head a shake before scrambling to his feet.
With his gun still in his other hand, he moved toward the suspect. “Stop. Police.”
The dark shadow of a person escaped through the broken window. Parker rushed to the window. With each footstep, he felt something crunch beneath his feet. Whatever it was, it appeared to be all over the floor. He didn’t have time to investigate. He had a criminal to catch.
The moment he reached the broken window, the bright overhead lights came on. He was momentarily blinded. At the same time, he heard a motor start, and then someone gunned it as they made their getaway. It sounded like a snowmobile. Wait. No. An ATV.
He squinted into the night. All he saw was the red glow of the taillights fading into the night. When his gaze lowered, he noticed blood on the broken shards of glass. Gotcha!
“Parker!” Belle’s voice held a worried tone. Her beautiful blue eyes were rounded with fear. “You’re bleeding.”
“I am?” He raised his hand to his face and pressed it to the area that hurt. When he lowered his arm, he saw his fingertips were covered with bright red blood. That wasn’t good.
“Boss, I’ll call the ambulance.” Deputy Luke Williams’s voice held a shocked tone.
“No. The suspect went out the window. I think he took off on an ATV. See if you can track it.”
“On it.” Deputy Williams turned and jogged out the door.
Belle reached for her phone. “I’ll call the ambulance.”
“It’s not necessary.” Parker retraced his steps. When his head began to pound, and the room tilted to the side, he came to a stop. He closed his eyes and lifted his hand to his temple. He willed the pain to go away.
Belle stepped up to him. She reached out and touched his upper arm. She gave him a reassuring squeeze. “You need to sit down.”
“Not here.”
“The couch is right over there.”
When his vision cleared, he said, “You can’t be in here.”
“I know you hit your head, but this is my house.”
When he began to shake his head, it amplified the pain. He stopped. “Right now, this is a crime scene.” He gestured toward the front door. “Let’s go.”
Belle’s lips formed an O .
After they were out in the snowy driveway, there were footsteps, and then Deputy Paula Stark said, “Boss, you’re bleeding.”
“I’m fine,” he said.
“No, you’re not.” Belle grasped his arm and drew him toward the pickup. “What happened to you?”
As she opened the door and pushed him down on the passenger seat, he said, “The suspect threw something at me. I didn’t duck in time. It felt like a concrete block.”
Belle was quiet for a moment. “Perhaps a book?”
“If it was, it was a big book.”
“I have a copy of War and Peace in the living room.”
He went slack-jawed. He never would have guessed she would read something like that. He quickly regained his composure. “You’ve read War and Peace ?”
“Not a chance. It’s not my genre. It was my father’s, and I thought it would make a good decoration.”
He turned to Deputy Stark. “Start collecting evidence. I’ll go see if there are some footprints in the snow that we can cast.” When he went to stand, Belle’s hand pressed down on his shoulder. He frowned up at her. “What are you doing?”
“You aren’t going anywhere.” Belle’s voice brooked no argument. “You’re injured.”
He let out a frustrated groan. He had been so close to catching the suspect, and still the guy got away. Parker was angry with himself. He should have caught them by now.
“Hey, Parker. You okay?” He glanced up to find his brother Michael stepping up to him with a worried look on his face. Michael’s newly adopted puppy, Tank, was standing quietly by his side.
“I’m fine.” A note of exasperation came through in his voice.
“You don’t look fine.”
Belle turned to his brother. “Make sure he doesn’t move. I’ll be right back.”
“You can’t go in there,” Parker said.
“But I have to. You need something for that cut.”
“You can’t go in there,” he said sternly. “It’s a crime scene.”
She turned to him and pressed her hands to her hips. She pursed her lips as though she were getting ready to launch into him, but it didn’t matter what she said, he wasn’t going to let her in the house until it was fully processed.
Then she stomped off. He watched her unlock her car. She leaned down and appeared to open the glove box. When she returned, she had a fist full of napkins.
She looked at him. “These are far from sanitary, but you can’t just sit there with blood dripping down your face.”
He grabbed the napkins and pressed them to the wound. He grimaced at the pain, but he wasn’t going to let it stop him. He just needed a bandage, and he’d be fine.
The sound of approaching footsteps had Parker glancing down the driveway. Parker inwardly groaned when he saw his other brothers Colin and Justin headed in his direction.
“Parker, what happened to you?” Colin walked over to him and knelt down next to him. He removed the napkins that were quickly becoming soaked with blood.
“What are you doing?” Parker didn’t like his younger brothers fussing over him.
“Here.” Belle handed Colin some fresh napkins. “This is all I have because Parker won’t let me back in the house.”
Colin immediately grabbed the napkins. He dabbed at the wound.
“Ow…” Parker jerked away from him.
Colin frowned. “I forgot what a wimp you can be.”
Parker glared at him. Now was not the time for one of their juvenile spats, especially when his deputies were close by, and Belle was looking on.
Parker swallowed hard and attempted to keep the frustration out of his voice. “Maybe you should get a gentler touch. Just put a bandage on it. I have work to do.”
Colin shook his head. “A bandage isn’t going to be enough. You need stitches, some ice, and to be checked for a concussion.”
Parker’s jaw clenched. He didn’t have time for this. The suspect evaded him this time, but next time would be different. He lowered his head and noticed the blood that had dripped onto his coat. He supposed his brother was right.
He lifted his gaze to meet Colin’s. “Then just do it.”
“Do what?”
“Put in the stitches.”
Colin shook his head as he held up his palms. “Oh, no. I’m not doing that.”
“Come on.” Parker really needed to have his head taken care of so he could get back to work.
“No.” Colin’s voice was firm as he straightened. “I’m an animal doctor, not a human one.”
Belle spoke up. “And it’s your face. You want a specialist to do the stitches so there’s minimal scarring.” She glanced over at Colin. “Sorry. I don’t mean that you aren’t a great vet—especially since you’re Odie’s vet.” The mention of her missing dog immediately brought a frown to her lips.
Colin nodded. “You’re right.” He turned his attention to Parker. “I just have one question: what hit you?”
“A book.”
Justin arched a brow. “That must be some book.”
“It is huge,” Belle said. “It’s a copy of War and Peace .”
Justin let out a whistle. “You’re lucky your head is still attached.”
“Tell me about it,” Parker muttered.
“Wait till Mom hears about this.” Michael reached for his phone.
Parker frowned. “Don’t call her.”
“I have to. I promised I would after I checked on you. Of course, I don’t have to call, and then she can drive over here to see you for herself.”
Parker hesitated. “Fine. Call her.”
Just then Parker’s phone buzzed. He pulled it from his pocket to find it was Deputy Williams. Parker pressed the phone to his ear. “What did you find?”
“There’s an abandoned ATV just off of Dancer Lane. The engine is still warm.”
This was the break he’d been waiting for.
Parker took the napkins from his brother.
He dabbed at his head and then lowered his arm.
He went to get to his feet, but Belle reached out and pushed him back into the seat.
He frowned at her. At the same time, he felt a cool trickle make its way down the side of his face.
Belle lifted his arm and pressed his hand with the napkins back against his temple. “We need to get to the hospital.”
He ignored her. “Williams, secure the ATV. Call Daryl’s Garage. Have them haul it back to the shed.”
“Yes, sir. I’m on it.” Deputy Williams sounded excited to be on the case.
Daryl’s ChainUp and Go was the only tow service in town. They had a contract with the sheriff’s office. And honestly, they hadn’t needed anything towed since Williams got his SUV stuck in the ditch last winter.
When Parker wrapped up his phone conversation, Belle said, “Now we’re off to the hospital.” When he went to disagree, she held up her hand. “Don’t even think of arguing.”
His eyes momentarily widened. She’d done a good impression of his mother. It was very impressive or scary. He wasn’t quite sure which.
He didn’t know how he was supposed to do his job from the hospital. But by then, Belle was flanked by all three of his brothers. Parker expelled a sigh.
“Hey,” Michael said, “you have to do this if you’re going to charge him with assault.”
Parker had never thought of himself as a victim. He had always been on the other side of the badge. He didn’t like being a victim. Then again, he was quite certain no one wanted to wear the title either.
In the past, he’d been the one convincing victims to go to the hospital to be checked out. Now here he was fighting the thought of going to the ER.
It wasn’t the smell of antiseptic or the needles that had him fighting the trip to the hospital. It was the fact that he would have to acknowledge to himself that the suspect got the best of him. It was a blow to his pride. He wouldn’t make the mistake of underestimating this criminal again.
“Fine. Let’s go.”