She drew in a deep breath. “I responded to the call. When I got there, I didn’t see any lights as were reported. Place is supposed to be deserted. But it didn’t feel right so I called for backup. Jeremy radioed that he was en route. So I waited.”
The chief nodded.
“Then I heard a scream. I drew my weapon, ran to the house, listened at the door for any activity. Hearing nothing, I gained access to the residence. I was clearing the living room when I found the body. When I bent to check her pulse and didn’t find one, I started to call it in, and that’s when he hit me.”
“With what? Did he have a weapon?” Carl asked.
“I don’t know. Honestly it felt like he hit me with a baseball bat, but I think it was just his fist. I went one direction, my gun went the other. I went for my weapon. He kicked me. Big feet. He had really large feet.
“He picked me up by the throat and held me against the wall. It was then that he spoke.”
“And what did he say?” the chief asked.
She frowned. “ ‘I’ve been waiting for you, Reggie love. It’s time to make him pay.’ ” She looked up at the chief. “No one calls me Reggie, sir. Only Cam Douglas, Hutch Bishop and Sawyer Pritchard call me Reggie.”
“Make who pay?” Jeremy murmured.
“Reggie could have been a guess,” Carl offered. “A common enough nickname for Regina.”
“But how did he know my name at all?” Regina pointed out. “He said he’d been waiting for me. He knew I’d be there. How?”
The chief frowned and sat back in his seat. “Is that all you can remember? Did you get a look at him at all?”
Regina shook her head regretfully. “It all happened so fast, and it was dark. I know he was big. Really big. He picked me up like I was nothing. I’d taken multiple blows to the head, and my vision was blurry. Then Jeremy got there, and the guy took off.”
“I don’t like it,” the chief muttered. “Seems personal. Like it was a setup.”
“Think it could be someone with a grudge against her father?” Jeremy offered. “Politicians attract a lot of crackpots with wack agendas. Beyond the fact that he’s just a small town mayor, he’s extremely wealthy and has wielded a lot of influence for years.”
“Could be,” Carl said. “It’s certainly a possibility. I can’t imagine why else he would have targeted Regina. And the bit about making him pay. How better to make a father pay than to kill his daughter?”
Regina remained silent. She wasn’t going to dive into her father’s motivation for anything. Way too messy.
“I’ll have to tell him, Regina,” the chief said apologetically. “If this nutjob is targeting you, and him indirectly, he’ll need to know, as will his security team.”
She swallowed her snort. Security team. Could her father get more pompous? Small town mayors didn’t run around with a security team. His wealth had long since gone to his head, though. He, more than anyone, was convinced of his own importance. Hell, he’d probably be secretly smug if there was some sort of vendetta against him.
“I understand,” she said quietly.
“I don’t want you staying by yourself.”
She frowned harder.
“Sawyer Pritchard mentioned you were going home with them,” the chief said as he eyed her sternly. “I think that’s a good idea for now. Keep your eyes peeled and stay on your toes. Hopefully we’ll have caught this asshole before you report back for duty.”
She gritted her teeth as she was summarily dismissed. With a sideways glance at Carl, she rose unsteadily to her feet but shrugged off Jeremy’s arm when he reached out to help her.
“Keep me posted at least?” she said to the chief as she started for the door.
“Of course. And Regina?”
She stopped and turned back to look at him.
“Get some rest. You look like hell.”
The corner of her lip quirked upward. “Thanks.”
She stepped into the hallway to see Cam, Hutch and Sawyer lounging against the opposite wall. They straightened when they saw her, and Hutch dug into a small white paper sack.
