Blinking against the sting in his eyes, Eb pulled his daughter in for a hug. It was the first time in days Rue had mentioned her mother. He hated to think of how many men Paige had brought into her house. It drove home that he would need to be careful. Rue was already attached to Sandra, and he didn’t want her hurt if things didn’t work out between them.
“Sometimes friends kiss,” he said. “Sometimes friendship can grow to more, but right now it’s all we are. And it’s all we might ever be.”
“But IlikeMiss Sandra.”
Eb did too, but he merely shrugged. Rue gave a dramatic sigh, one he’d seen Grace use. The door opened behind them. Rue squealed in delight and ran to greet the newcomers. Eb rose and turned to find Carlisle and the two children.
“It’s a teacher preparation day or some such, so the children will be at Ducky’s all day,” he said. “Which pleases Rue, I see.”
“And vice versa. It’s a pleasure to see you again. I’ve got to rush, or I’ll be late for a meeting. Have a good day.”
“You too.”
Eb signed Rue in and then checked to make sure she’d gone through the door with Grace. He hurried out to the car. The memory of Sandra in his arms kept forcing itself to the front of his mind, and Eb tried to distract himself by going over a mental list of things he needed to accomplish today.
Later, in his office, after giving approval to some last-minute changes for the Santa Run promotional literature, Eb leaned back in his chair. As it had many times that day, his mind drifted to Sandra. He’d thought about kissing her a lot over the last few weeks, even before Rue had come, but especially since.
Then why the look of horror? Orhadit been that bad? Dismay, maybe? Had he read her right? After all, she’d kissed him back and not some brief peck either. Sandra had totally been into it, just like he had. What had she been thinking with her expression? It made little sense to him.
They’d attended many of the same events, often in the same group. She’d never flirted with any of the men but had a straightforward manner with all the guests. Whenever some guy would come onto her—as they inevitably did—she’d shut it down by going all businesslike. Eb had never seen her play at being a tease with any of them. So it had to mean something for Sandra to have returned his kiss with such enthusiasm.
Eb groaned. Was she seeing someone but had never mentioned it? No, because she’d returned the kiss. Which made him feel even worse. His thrill when she’d kissed him back had driven home how much he’d come to care for her. He needed to think of something else. Rue.
He pulled out his phone to check his email. The paternity test results should have come in yesterday but hadn’t. A check of their website had warned some results could take longer, which only added to his frustration.
Shouting erupted from the hallway. What was going on? He rose from his chair and stepped into the reception area. Inez, who’d come with him when he’d made the move to the director of marketing, wasn’t in there.
Eb hurried into the long hallway. Normally, this area of the department was a quiet one, but something was going on in one of the conference rooms at the end. The shouting had grown louder, and he pulled his phone from his pocket.
“Security to marketing, ASAP,” he said as soon as someone answered.
From the conference room, a scream was followed by a loud crack, like a backfiring car. Eb’s adrenaline spiked, and he broke into a run.
The door burst open, and a man ran out, a crazed look on his face. He turned toward Eb, hesitating only a moment before lifting his arm. He held a gun.
Eb’s instincts took over. At the sound of a blast, he dove for the man’s feet. He flew back and landed hard on the hallway floor, his head hitting a door jamb. It only stunned him for a second. The guy rolled over and tried to crawl away, but Eb scrambled up his back.
He tightly wrapped his arms around the man’s chest, using his left hand to clutch the guy’s wrist and pull it close to his chest. He bucked like a bronco, but Eb had wrestled in high school. His body knew what to do. He shifted a little to the man’s right and slipped his right hand under the assailant’s right arm and up behind his head into a half-nelson. Eb could only hope it would keep the revolver out of the attacker’s reach.
“Freeze!” a deep voice growled.
The guy gave one more heave of his body in an attempt to throw Eb, but his time in the gym was paying off.
“His weapon’s secured, Mr. Grinchly,” the deep voice said, which Eb now recognized as belonging to Martin Blackhawk, head of Edelweiss security.
Eb released him and rolled clear. Other security staff seized the man while Martin continued to aim a Glock at him.
“Is everyone all right? I heard gunfire.” Eb still lay on the floor, his body shaking so much he didn’t know if he could get back to his feet on his own.
“So did my dispatch. We have a paramedic in there now.” Martin kept his eyes on the assailant. “You okay?”
Eb tried to sit up, but a stab of pain in his left arm made him groan.
“Mr. Grinchly,” Inez cried as she rushed over. “You’re bleeding!”
CHAPTERTWELVE
After her condo door closed behind Eb and Rue, Sandra stood rooted to the floor. She was still tired and didn’t have the gray matter to deal with this. Or the emotions. Actually, she had too many emotions to sort out, and she didn’t have the energy.
