“You were shot with an arrow,” he said.
Something in his tone caught me, and I turned to see his glittering blue eyes darken in fury. Oh. All right. I couldn’t remember much. I had to shake my head. “What happened?”
“Just take a deep breath,” he said. “You’re okay. You’re safe now.”
A rustling sounded, and Detective Grant Pierce walked in. “You’re awake.” He studied me. “You okay?”
“I think so.” I noted his tousled dark-blond hair and whiskered jaw. “Have you even been home, Grant?” He looked like he’d been working days on end.
“I don’t remember,” he said curtly. “I already have a statement from Aiden, but I need yours.”
“I think I’m still groggy.”
Aiden handed me a glass of water. “Drink this.”
I took several deep gulps, soothing my parched throat. “Thank you. I had cookies and was going to see Cousin Wanda.” Then, the entire disaster rushed back to me. “Lenny. Is he okay?”
Aiden just stared at me.
Pierce shook his head. “No. He was shot in the neck and bled out before we could get to him.”
My stomach roiled. “It was the lead Cupid guy. He showed up, dressed in all black like usual, and shot us both. Lenny had a gun and dropped it before thinking. He was terrified of the lead guy and said he was framed.”
“Lenny was part of it, not framed, no matter what his last words were. Now, we have the main Cupid on murder,” Pierce said grimly. “He’s going to be even more dangerous.”
“Why did he shoot me?” So far, I wasn’t feeling any pain. My entire arm remained numb.
“He probably thought Lenny identified him,” Pierce said. “Tell me everything you remember.”
I raised my good hand to my eyes and pushed, trying to clear my brain. And then slowly, methodically, I went through each minute until I passed out. Awareness trickled down my spine, and I looked at Aiden, dropping my hand. “I think he would’ve killed me if you hadn’t shown up.”
“I think so, too.” Aiden’s brogue went dark and low, fast.
I pushed hair out of my face. “The good news is that he was obviously worried Lenny had identified him to me, and now I’m with the police. So there’s no need for him to come after me again.” Nice try, jerkwad. “Do you think he’ll run?”
“Not sure,” Pierce said. “I wish Lenny had identified the main Cupid for you.”
“So do I,” Aiden said, his voice hoarse like he’d been swallowing fire.
“Whoa.” I patted his arm. “Take a step back.”
He swung his gaze to me, and I almost shrank away. Furious Aiden was intimidating.
The doctor walked into the room, smiling.
“Dr. Springfield,” I said, having been treated by him more than once.
“Hello, young lady. Now you’re getting hit by arrows?” He moved toward me and peered into my eyes. Dr. Springfield looked as close to a Santa Claus as possible with his white hair and beard and was known to play the part during Christmas with a group of his friends called the Kringles. “Let’s talk about how you’re feeling.”
Aiden stood. “I have a couple of phone calls to make. I’ll be right outside.” He went into the hallway.
Pierce watched him go and then cut a look at me.
“I’m not sure I’ve seen him this angry in a while,” I said.
Pierce nodded. “He’s going scorched earth. I’ll go talk to him.” He disappeared out the door.
“So,” Dr. Springfield said, “injury by arrow. You do like to make my job interesting, don’t you?”
