Those couple of minutes crawled by, and it didn’t help that Caroline had broken glass all over her. A reminder of the attack. God, when was this going to end? For over a year she had been fighting for her life, and now she’d apparently brought that fight straight to Jack.
Jack didn’t slow down until his truck screeched to a stop in front of the sheriff’s office. Kellan must have already called ahead, because another of Jack’s brothers, Deputy Owen Slater, was in the open doorway, and he had his gun drawn. As soon as Kellan arrived he took Owen’s place, and Owen drove off in the cruiser. No doubt in pursuit of the shooter.
“I called a medic,” Kellan said as they all hurried inside. “He’ll be here soon.” Another of the deputies, Gunnar Pullam, immediately took hold of Lucille’s arm. Caroline knew him, and had never gotten any criminal vibes from him, but she still kept her distance.
“Move away from the windows,” Jack snapped.
Caroline didn’t need a reminder of the danger or another slam of adrenaline, but Jack’s words gave her both anyway.
Jack turned to Gunnar. “Do you want to take Lucille to the break room to wait for the medic?” he suggested.
“And after she gets checked out, take her statement,” Kellan added.
When Kellan looked at Caroline this time, his face wasn’t so poker ready. His mouth was tight, maybe because she hadn’t remembered his father’s killer. Or perhaps he just thought she hadn’t wanted to tell him.
Caroline was certain there was some tightness in her mouth, too. Was she looking into the eyes of a killer? Maybe not. But it was possible that Kellan was covering for one.
With his hand still on her arm, Jack led her across the squad room that was jammed with desks and equipment and took her inside Kellan’s office.
“Stay here,” he told her and immediately went back out into the squad room, where Kellan waited.
The brothers were only about ten feet away from her, but Jack didn’t exactly broadcast what he was saying, keeping his voice barely louder than a whisper. Still, Caroline caught a word here and there.Three days ago, she said. Dirty cop. You. Yeah, she thinks that.
The last one caused Kellan to huff and then scowl, but when he glanced over Jack’s shoulder at her, the scowl disappeared. The look he gave her riled her to the core. Because it was pity. Kellan thought she was too damaged to think straight. He was dismissing her concerns that a lawman had been the one to help Eric in the attack a year ago.
Jack also glanced back at her, frowned and then mumbled something else to Kellan. She didn’t catch a single word of that, but Jack started toward her. Not hurrying, but with every step he took, he kept his eyes on her.
When he reached her, she was about to blast him for spilling all to Kellan, but Jack stopped her with a touch. He pushed her hair from her face, examining her. Or so she thought until he extracted a blob of the safety glass, then another, from the top of her head.
Dragging in a weary breath, he closed the door, and in the same motion, he turned her to check the back of her hair. “Shake your clothes,” he instructed. “Even safety glass can cut if you sit or lean back on it.”
Her mouth got tighter, but she shook the dress and glass bits pinged to the tile floor. “You told your brother that I don’t trust him,” she snapped, “that I think he’s a dirty cop involved in his father’s murder.”
Jack continued to pick off glass bits. “He would have figured it out. He’s a lot better at body language than I am.”
“You’re fine with body language,” she grumbled, but Caroline wished she’d kept that to herself.
She whirled around just in time to see him smile that damnable smile, and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to throttle him or kiss him. Caroline didn’t do either, but it did cause her to freeze.
His next breath wasn’t so much one of weariness as it was of relief. The long, lingering look he gave her made her think he was about to touch her again. He didn’t. Instead, Jack crammed his hands into the pockets of his jeans.
“If you need to fall apart or cry, go ahead and do it,” he offered. “You’re shaking,” he pointed out before she could insist she didn’t intend to do either. She didn’t know what she was stewing over more—Jack telling his brother her deep, dark fears or Kellan brushing it off as Jack had done to the glass.
But she was indeed trembling.
Her hands, her mouth. Heck, her legs. She was probably a breath away from both falling apart and crying.
“I nearly got Lucille and you killed,” she said, and Caroline cursed her own voice. It was shaking, too.
Jack lifted an eyebrow. “Funny, I thought it was the shooter who nearly killed us.”
“The shooter wouldn’t have been firing those bullets if it hadn’t been for me.” She expected him to give her some sugarcoated answer, but she’d obviously forgotten this was Jack.
“That’s true.” With that hanging in the air, he waited a heartbeat. “And since I’d rather not have any more attempted murders, that means you’re going to have to let me help you.”
“You mean I’m going to have to trust Kellan,” Caroline blurted out. She was feeling a lot less shaky now.
Jack shrugged, took his hand from his pocket so he could tap the badge on his belt. “Every lawman in Texas isn’t tainted, and if you dig beneath all the anger, fear and whatever else it is you’re feeling, you’ll remember that I’m the best shot you’ve got at keeping us both alive.”
