To the detective, he said, “Give us a minute?”
Compassion filled the other man’s eyes. “Sure.” To Gracie, West said, “Take your time. I’ll get the others’ statements, then come back and talk to you. That sound okay?”
“Sure,” Gracie nodded and tried to smile.
With Sarah by her side, Nate looked to Gracie. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.”
Not waiting for a response, he headed for the break room to get some ice from the freezer. Grabbing a clean dish towel, Nate wrapped the cubes up and twisted the cloth at the top to hold them in.
When he returned to Jake’s office, Gracie was in near melt-down mode.
“I-I don’t understand this. I d-don’t understand any of it. I haven’t d-done anything w-wrong. I don’t know those m-men. I have n-no idea what they w-want.” Wild eyes found his as she silently begged him for answers he didn’t have. “W-why is this h-happening?”
Nate slowly walked over to where she was sitting and pulled up a chair next to hers. Facing each other, he carefully pressed the makeshift ice pack against her swollen cheek.
“I don’t know why those men are after you, Gracie. But I can promise you, we are going to find out. In the meantime, I need you to trust that I will do everything in my power to keep you safe.”
“I-I believe you.”
“Good girl.” Looking up, he started to say something to Sarah, but Gracie interrupted him.
“I-I don’t know w-why I’m sh-shaking so b-badly.”
“It’s just adrenaline, sweetheart. It’ll stop soon. You just have to ride it out, okay?”
“Ok-kay.”
God, his heart hurt for her.
To Sarah, he asked, “Can you take over for me?”
Nodding, Gracie’s sister slid over and took the ice pack from his hand. “Sure.”
“Y-you’re leaving?”
Goddamnit. He fucking hated the fear still consuming those beautiful eyes.
“I’m just going in the other room. I need to let Detective West know what happened out there. I’ll come right back once I’ve given him my statement. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“Do not leave this room,” he ordered both women fiercely.
He couldn’t give a shit less that he was stepping up and taking charge. His woman had nearly been taken from him, right before his very eyes.
The thought had Nate’s steps faltering.
No, no, no.Gracie wasn’t his. She was a friend. A friend he cared about in a friendly way.
Ignoring the tiny voice calling bullshit, Nate walked swiftly to where Detective West was waiting.
Fifteen minutes later, he’d gone over everything he could remember about what had happened. Kole also gave his official statement, and then West asked Nate to go get Sarah, so she could tell him her side of things.
Full of nervous energy, Nate left the room. With his own adrenaline still pulsating through his veins, he was tempted to make another stop at the men’s room.
Since that didn’t work out so well for him last time, he bypassed it and went straight to Jake’s office.
* * *
