Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
kole
I stormed out of the woods, my fingers numb from the cold.
It only took me a second to get my bearings as I spotted the back wall of the café.
I rounded the brick building, striding down the snow-covered sidewalk.
I cursed under my breath, anger washing through me.
I lost the masked bastard in the dark. I hoped he fucking froze to death.
Pain was radiating down my arm for some reason, but none of that was on my mind.
My heart clenched with panic when the police station came into view. There was a huge crowd, and Harry’s truck was halfway on the sidewalk. This suffocating fear was something I hadn’t dealt with since my childhood. All I could think about was laying eyes on Dani.
One of the guys who worked for Harry was standing at the door, and he put his hand up as I got closer. “Sorry, Kole. It’s a closed crime scene, you can’t—”
“I know what it is,” I growled. “I was there. Chased the fucking asshole through the woods. Get the hell out of my way, Matt.”
Matt swallowed thickly, shuffling to the side.
I swung the door open, hearing Harry’s voice.
I followed it to the back of the room, stopping in my tracks at the bloody sheet that was covering a body.
Someone who worked at the clinic was taking pictures of the room.
My mouth went dry as I stood there. Dani was alive when I left. But what if…
“Kole,” Harry said when he spotted me. “Dani told me you went after him. He got away?”
“I lost him.” I stared at the sheet. “Who is that?”
He sighed. “Natalie. Miles survived. He’s at the clinic. What a shit night. The town is going to be in a panic.”
I didn’t give a damn about anyone in town except one. “Dani?”
“She ran to the bar for help,” he explained before lighting his cigarette, not caring that he was inside. “She wanted to go into the woods to find you, but I made her go get checked for injuries. She left with Miles in the ambulance. I had no idea it still had a working engine.”
The weight on my chest dissipated once I knew Dani was alive and okay. I scrubbed a hand down my face, realizing for the first time that I was lying to her. And to myself. Whatever it was that I was doing with her—it wasn’t just sex.
“You’re bleeding.” Harry nodded to my arm as he blew out a cloud of smoke.
I glanced down, tugging up my sleeve to see a deep gash. Blood was steadily trailing down my skin as Harry walked closer to inspect it. My gaze drifted to the hundreds of papers scattered over the floor. I narrowed my eyes, reading the thick, black text. Danielle? The name wasn’t familiar to me.
“You need stitches,” Harry said, pulling my focus back to him. “Looks like a bullet nicked you. Come on, I’ll drive.”
I scowled, holding out my good arm. “Keys. You’ve been at my bar all damn day. You shouldn’t have even driven here.”
I hated hospitals, and would have fought him more about going, if I didn’t know Dani was there. He reluctantly handed over his keys, mumbling something under his breath. He began following me to the front entrance and I paused, turning to face him.
“I can go by myself.” I scanned the destroyed room. “You have a lot going on.”
He shook his head. “No, no. I’ll come with you. I need to get a statement from everyone who was here.”
I didn’t comment. He had a dead body in his police station, and he was trying to do as little work as possible.
I wasn’t sure how that would work when Natalie helped do the bulk of everything.
The four men he employed did what they were told, but none of them had the experience to work a case like this.
Hell, Harry didn’t even have the knowledge to deal with this.
We exited the station and were greeted with a wall of people.
At least half the town was here. I searched the faces I’d known for years, wondering if the killer was here.
Anger licked down my spine. Whoever I chased in the woods was familiar with the area, which was how he was able to get away.
There wasn’t a soul in Winterlake that I didn’t know—meaning I’d met the murderer at some point.
“What happened?” some called out from the crowd.
“Who died?”
“Was it another murder?”
Harry raised his hands, and everyone fell silent. “The case is still ongoing. Once we can share more, we will. Please—everyone go home.”
No one moved, fear thick in the air. Some eyes darted to me, and I turned my attention to Harry’s truck, not wanting anyone to start asking me questions.
Harry stood there, uneasily shifting on his feet.
He opened his mouth only to close it again.
He’d never been in a position where he had to be a calm voice for the town.
“Let’s go,” I said gruffly, opening the truck door, cursing under my breath when I moved my bad arm. A throbbing pain was radiating down my arm now that the adrenaline was wearing off.
The moment Harry got in, I shoved the truck into reverse before taking off down main street. Harry lit up another cigarette, and I noticed his hand shaking slightly. “I’m too old for this shit,” he grumbled. “Wanna take over for me?”
He chuckled as if he was joking when I didn’t give him a response. He would hand it all to me in a heartbeat. It wasn’t my damn job. Something people forgot far too often. But with this? I was already involved. And for once, I was happy about it. I wanted this bastard caught.
A minute later, I pulled in front of the clinic, staring at the ambulance ahead of me. The thing was so old, the paint was littered with patches of rust, and half of the emergency lights on the roof were busted and broken.
After pocketing the truck keys, I headed for the entrance.
My heart rate escalated, and I sucked in shallow breaths when the sterile smell all hospitals seemed to have hit my nostrils.
My mother’s beaten and battered face flashed through my mind, and I shook my head, shoving those memories away.
I couldn’t count the number of times I’d sat in a waiting room with my sister, waiting for my mom to get stitched up, or fitted with a new cast, because the current man she was with used her as a punching bag.
That was when I was still young—when I believed my mother would choose her kids over the assholes she kept moving into our home. By the time I was eleven, I realized how wrong I’d been. Even during the rare times she was clean from drugs, she never chose us.
“You can’t smoke in here, Harry,” someone chastised, pulling me back to the present. “Put it out or leave.”
I glanced up, seeing Martha sitting behind the small desk in the reception area. Her curly, gray hair was short, just covering her ears. Wrinkles lined the skin around her mouth and her blue eyes. She looked like someone’s sweet grandma but had a sharper tongue than anyone else in town.
Harry stubbed the cigarette out on the side of his boot before pushing the door back open and tossing it outside.
“Both patients are in the back,” Martha informed us. “Is it true? Was Natalie murdered?”
“Yes,” Harry grumbled, clearly still annoyed about being forced to put out his cigarette.
“Fix this,” Martha said, her curls swaying as she shook her head. “This town will be ruined if we don’t catch the bastard who’s doing this.”
Harry strode across the room to the other door. “What do you think we’re doing, Martha? We’ll get him.”
I followed him through the doorway, entering the large room.
It was separated by curtains, creating five separate rooms. The clinic was so small that there were no private rooms for patients.
If surgery was needed, they were flown out by helicopter.
Harry headed for the only closed set of curtains where quiet voices were coming from.
He cracked it open, and I peered over his shoulder.
I wasn’t prepared for the instant weight that left my chest when my eyes fell on Dani.
She was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed tightly.
Her gaze was on Miles, who was laying on the hospital bed, but her face revealed absolutely nothing.
Her eyes were blank. No worry or pain. No fear.
I had a feeling she wasn’t mentally in the room right now. Her mind was somewhere else.
“How is he?” Harry asked, looking at the doctor on the stool as he stitched up Miles’ stomach.
“He’ll survive,” Nolan answered without looking at us as he continued his work. “He was lucky the blade was short and didn’t hit anything vital. He was in a lot of pain, so we gave him something to sleep.”
I glanced back at Dani to see her staring right at me. The vacant look was gone, replaced with concern as she let her eyes trail down me. Was she honestly worried for me or was she pretending? I wasn’t sure I’d ever know when it came to her.
“You didn’t get him, did you?” she asked quietly.
“No.” I strode across the tiny room, halting right in front of her. She watched me, tensing slightly when I placed my knuckles under her chin, tilting her head back as I inspected her face. “Are you hurt?”
“Just a little bruised up from dodging his bullet,” she muttered, not making a move to push me away. “I’m fine.”
Someone cleared their throat, and Dani’s gaze cut behind me as she ducked away.
I turned to see Harry staring at me, curiosity burning in his eyes.
I didn’t give a shit what he thought. If people in this town thought Dani and I were more than roommates, then so fucking be it.
Nolan finished up the stitches, using a pair of small scissors to snip the remaining thread.
“Might want to keep those out,” Harry said, pulling out his cigarettes before remembering where he was and shoving them back in his pocket. “Kole needs his arm done.”
I shook my head. “Just give me something to wrap it.”
“You’re still bleeding.” Dani moved closer, concern sweeping over her features. “Did he shoot you anywhere else?”