Autumn looked surprised, then nodded, as if accepting she couldn’t stay there with the house peppered with bullet holes.
Peters scowled. “I’m not finished! This is an officer-involved shooting and—”
“Enough,” Jordan repeated. “You know as well as I do that Autumn had reason to fear for her life. The bullet holes tell the story.” He knew most of his anger was rooted in his pounding headache. “Autumn, get what you need for Bear and let’s go.”
She rose. “I’m ready.” She headed for the kitchen to get the container of dog food. Then she shrugged into her coat, leaving Peters little choice but to watch them leave.
“I know what you’re thinking,” she said as they went out to their respective cars. “He’s not a bad guy.”
He grunted. “Doesn’t make him a good detective, either. But that’s not what I was thinking.” He glanced at her, wondering if he’d ruined whatever chance they may have had by being pigheaded. “I was thinking about how glad I am that you’re the one working to find Jenny’s baby.”
“Yes. And that’s why we need to talk tomorrow. When you feel better,” she hastily added. “Let’s focus on getting some rest, okay?”
“Sure.” He swallowed his disappointment. He’d come to his senses a little too late.
FIFTEEN
The following morning, Autumn stood at the sink washing the breakfast dishes as Jordan went out to handle the chores. She’d tried to convince him she could do them, but he insisted. He seemed better, but not entirely healed. She knew from her own personal experience that getting over a concussion could take time. Several days at the very least.
As the doctor said, head injuries could be tricky.
She knew they needed to talk. She’d been startled when he’d told her he loved her and felt sure the words had been said in the heat of the moment. Especially coming on the heels of her confronting her assailant. And her mother’s killer.
Did he really mean them?
Jordan’s reaction to being in danger was justified. She didn’t blame him for being upset. And the problem was, she couldn’t guarantee a similar incident wouldn’t happen again.
She was a cop. And that meant putting bad people, men and women, behind bars. Granted, Meredith Delbert was an extreme case—she wasn’t aware of any other family member who’d gone to such lengths to seek vengeance like this. But there could be others. She was still grappling with having answers on her mother’s case all these years later.
The danger was over for now, but Jordan needed to understand the risks associated with her job before he committed to seeing her again.
Steve hadn’t been able to cope with her job. He’d suggested she should be a security guard at the medical center, rather than putting her life on the line. And when she’d refused, he’d walked away.
Now here she was, letting another get close to her heart. She wanted to see Jordan again, more than anything.
But she didn’t want her heart broken again, either.
She smiled at the dogs playing together in the living room. Bear was stretched out on his belly, with Cutie jumping all over him. Bear finally figured out that if he just let her goof around, she was likely to get tired and eventually stop.
Last night was the first good night of sleep she’d had since the night Meredith had broken into her house and shot at her. She’d called the hospital to check on her, but they would only tell her that Meredith Delbert was in critical but stable condition. Autumn had prayed that Meredith would survive. She wanted the woman to be held accountable for murdering her mother.
And for attempting to kill her.
When her phone rang, she thought for sure it would be Peters or someone else from the police department giving her an update. She was especially keen to get her mother’s things back, if Meredith hadn’t destroyed them. But River’s name lit up her screen. With a frown, she quickly took the call.
“Hey, River. What’s going on?”
“I just got a call from Emmett. He’d like us to come search a desolate area outside of Denver. He’s counting on Bear’s nose to alert on any human remains.”
“Another tip?” she asked, nodding at Jordan walking in.
“Yes. Like the last one, it could be nothing, but Emmett doesn’t want to ignore it.”
“I understand.” There was too much at stake not to take every tip that came in seriously. She glanced at the clock. “I’ll leave right away. I’ll meet you there in thirty minutes, give or take a few.”
“Great, see you soon.” River ended the call.
“You have to go?” Jordan shrugged out of his coat.
