Pierce stopped writing and lifted his head, his jaw setting. “Seriously?”
Bosco nodded, crossing around him into the hallway. “Yep.”
Pierce stepped next to him, walking to the next examination room. “Who knows who’s after Anna now? Somehow, that woman is a magnet for trouble.”
Wasn’t that the damn truth? “You need to interview her about her current cases,” Bosco said, striding into Marlie’s room.
“No kidding,” Pierce muttered, right behind him.
Bosco stopped short. Marlie sat on the table, a bandage on her neck and a larger one on her upper arm. She looked small and delicate on the table with her legs hanging off and not coming close to touching the tiled floor. Her hazel eyes were wide with fear and pain, and shock sat on her fragile face.
Anger slammed into him again, and he shook it off, striding inside and pausing right next to her. “You okay?”
She swallowed. “The doctor just left to get my discharge papers.” She sounded dazed.
He gently slid her silky hair out of her eyes. “You did a good job defending yourself.”
She looked up at him, her gaze finally focusing. “I, well, thank you for coming in. You saved my life.” Her eyes filled with tears.
“You saved yourself.” He wanted to gather her into a hug but didn’t want to break her, so he left her in place. For now. “This is Detective Pierce. He has a few questions for you.”
“Right.” She took a deep breath and looked over at the detective. “I was asleep, heard a noise, tried to call 9-1-1, and then he was on me. He had a knife and some duct tape.” She paled and trailed off, her gaze going to the window and the storm outside.
Bosco cut Pierce a look.
Pierce nodded. “So he initially wanted to bind you?”
She paled even more. “Yes. I think so?” She looked at Bosco again. “But the front door crashed open before he could use it, and the guy said something about a Plan B. Then he tried to stab me.” Her eyebrows drew down into a frown.
“Did you recognize him?” Pierce asked.
“No,” she whispered. “He wore a mask. I think his eyes were blue, but I’m not completely sure. It was so dark. And when he spoke, there was no accent. I didn’t recognize his voice, either.” She shivered, looking small in her little tank top and shorts.
A nurse with thick gray hair and squeaky tennis shoes bustled in with discharge papers to hand over.
“We need a blanket,” Bosco said.
The woman reached into a drawer, bringing out a wrapped blue blanket. “She was hot earlier, probably from shock. It’s abating now.” The nurse took off the plastic and placed it gently on Marlie’s legs. “You can stay the night here at the hospital if you’d rather,” she said kindly.
Marlie shook her head. “Thanks, but I want to go home.” She shivered again.
Pierce scribbled in his notebook. “Is there anybody you can think of who’d want to kidnap you?”
She shook her head, pulling the blanket up farther to her waist, even though she was sitting.
“How about Mark from the college?” Pierce asked.
Marlie frowned. “Of course, not. Bosco, how could you even think that? Mark is a nice guy.”
Maybe or maybe not. “He still needs to be checked out.” Bosco looked at Pierce. “There’s also Turner.”
She swallowed. “Turner is way thinner than the guy who attacked me. It wasn’t him.”
Good point. Bosco nodded. “I agree. Turner weighs far less.” He looked at the detective. “You think this is about her, or is it random?”
Pierce made a few more notes. “I don’t know. There are a couple of unsolved breaking and entering cases with rape in Spokane, but the victimology is different in that those women are older. However, I’ll dig deeper with my colleagues across the border and see what we can come up with. I’ll also talk to Anna about current cases, although I don’t see how Marlie would be involved since she’s new to town.” He looked at Marlie. “Do you have anybody you can stay with for the time being?”
She swallowed. “I’m fine.”
