A blonde-haired woman appeared in the doorway and froze. Her eyes went wide at the barrels aimed her way, then darted to Arneson’s battered face. She let out a startled gasp, one hand flying to her mouth.
Arneson groaned, his expression twisting. “Oh, hell.” The sound carried both pain and irritation. He clearly wasn’t pleased she was here.
“Who are you?” Raines barked, his weapon steady. His eyes stayed on her hands, waiting for the slightest twitch that might signal a weapon.
The woman swallowed hard, glancing from one gun to the next. “Kara,” she stammered. “Kara Whitfield.”
No one lowered their weapons. Not yet. She could still be armed.
Arneson’s lip curled as he snarled, “Kara has been visiting Dexter in prison. She’s got this warped notion he’s in love with her.”
Kara straightened, her chin trembling but her voice defiant. “He is in love with me.”
“Then why did he take Melissa?” Arneson shot back.
Kara’s eyes widened, stunned. “He wouldn’t do that. Melissa must have heard about the breakout. She’s probably hiding so she can try to set Dexter up.”
The woman’s denial rang with conviction, but it also reeked of blind devotion. Hell. Was Kara helping Dexter?
“If Dexter loves you so much, why didn’t he come to you instead of showing up here?” Cal threw out there.
Kara hesitated, her lips parting, her eyes flicking nervously from Cal to Alena. “Maybe… maybe he didn’t want to get me involved with the cops.”
Arneson gave a bitter laugh that held no humor. He turned his bruised face toward them. “Dexter didn’t go to her because he knows Kara is obsessed with him.”
The air between them crackled with hostility, Kara glaring at Arneson as if his words had cut straight through her chest.
Raines broke the tense moment, his voice hard. “I need to check you for weapons,” he told Kara.
She gave him a brief wide-eyed stare, but then she lifted her hands in reluctant surrender. “Fine. Go ahead. But tell me where Dexter is. Is he hurt? Did the cops already shoot at him? What happened?” Her questions came fast, spilling over one another, desperate and raw.
Raines moved in to search her, every motion controlled and deliberate. Alena kept her weapon ready, watching Kara’s eyes and hands, looking for any flicker of deceit. All she saw were nerves. But maybe that’s exactly what the woman wanted her to see. Nerves, worry, fear. All of which could be an act if she was helping Dexter.
If so, then why was Kara here?
Maybe to throw suspicion off herself? Or maybe just to find out what they knew about Dexter and his escape?
Either was possible. But it was also possible that Kara was just what Arneson had said she was. Obsessed with his brother. Alena didn’t get that kind of pull, but she knew that some people did. A sick kind of fascination with criminals.
In the distance, Alena heard the faint wail of sirens. The EMTs probably. Good. The sooner Arneson was medically cleared, the sooner Raines could get him to the station for an official interview. Of course, Raines would also have to report this break-in, and maybe the CSIs could figure out if it’d actually happened or if all of this had been staged.
Raines finished the pat-down with brisk efficiency. “She’s clean,” he said, stepping back. He slid his weapon into a ready but lowered position. “Keep an eye on both of them. I’ll meet the EMTs out front.”
Alena gave a short nod. Cal stayed silent, his stance solid at her side, eyes sharp on Kara.
The moment Raines disappeared through the doorway, Kara turned on Arneson. “What happened to you?” Her gaze swept over his bruised jaw, the cut still leaking from his temple.
Arneson shifted uncomfortably, wincing as though the words themselves stung. “Dexter did this,” he muttered. “I’ll tell you what I’ve already told them. He’s desperate. He panicked.”
Kara’s face went pale, then flushed with anger. “No. He wouldn’t hit you. He wouldn’t hurt his own brother. What game are you playing?”
Arneson’s eyes slid away, his jaw clamping shut.
Before Alena could press him, the front door opened. The EMTs strode inside, carrying their gear. They moved straight to Arneson, their focus already locked on the man slumped in the chair.
Alena kept her weapon lowered but ready, her eyes never leaving Kara.
Kara snapped toward Raines. “Where’s Dexter? Did you find him yet? Is he hurt?” Her voice sharpened with every question, rising in pitch.
