“I’m on my way.”
David hit the End button, then tried to call Skye, to warn her. The phone rang without answer. When he tried her cell phone, it was the same.
“Wow, we’re going fast!” Obviously impressed, Jeremy was trying to loosen his seat belt to see the speedometer.
David used his rearview mirror again. “Leave your belt alone and sit still,” he said, but even at eighty miles an hour it seemed to take forever to reach Skye’s house, especially with Jeremy chattering the whole way.
“What’s wrong?…Where are we going?…Are you after some bad guys, Dad?” And his favorite question, “How fast are we going?”
When David got there, he saw that three cars from the sheriff’s department had beat him—and prayed to God they’d made it in time.
Coming to an abrupt stop, he rammed the gearshift into Park and jumped out. “Stay here,” he barked to Jeremy. Locking the car behind him, he ran to the entrance.
The front door stood open. Inside, he could see several uniforms crowding the living room and entrance hall. They were deputies, and they were talking about a body.
David froze at the threshold, his blood running cold. He’d never forgive himself if he’d let Oliver get to Skye, despite everything. The man had been stabbed less than fifteen hours ago. He was in the f**king hospital. She should’ve been safe tonight.
“Has someone called the coroner?” one of the deputies asked.
“I did, as soon as I realized what we had here.” That voice belonged to Meeks. David recognized it immediately. “Sheriff’s on his way, too. Wants to handle this one himself.”
David tried to go inside, to see what had happened, but he was immobilized by fear of what he might find. Skye… His chest constricted until he could feel every beat of his own heart.
“I’m glad he wants to handle this mess,” the first deputy responded. “The press will be all over it. She was attacked once before, remember? What was it…three, four years ago? By that dentist?”
So Skye had been attacked again. David rubbed his chest, finding it even more difficult to breathe.
“Daddy? What’s wrong?” Jeremy called from the car. He’d removed his seat belt, opened the door and stuck his head out.
“Nothing,” David said. “Get back inside and keep the doors locked until I come back!” He hadn’t meant to sound so impatient, but the adrenaline flooding through him made it hard to control his voice.
A pouting expression appeared on his son’s face, but the door shut as a deputy came to the stoop, drawn by the noise. “Who’re you?” he asked, scowling in confusion.
Numbly, David felt in his pocket for his badge. “Detective Willis. Sacramento PD.”
Older and broader than his counterparts, the deputy glanced at it, then hooked his thumbs in his heavy black belt. “Aren’t you a little out of your jurisdiction, Detective?”
“This is part of a case I worked a while back. A case I’m still working.” I should’ve kept her with me. I should’ve protected her.
“Hey, he’s okay.” Meeks walked up behind his fellow officer. “He’s the one who told me to keep an eye on the place.”
The first deputy’s skepticism cleared. “I see.”
David took as much of a breath as his aching chest would allow. “What happened?”
“We have a body in the hallway.”
The lump rising in David’s throat threatened to choke him. “Did you catch the guy?” Because if they didn’t, David certainly would. He’d go to the ends of the earth, if necessary.
“The guy? It was a woman who shot him.”
David blinked. Had he heard correctly? “Ms. Kellerman’s okay?” He knew his face must be giving away the personal nature of his concern for Skye, but he couldn’t hide his emotions tonight.
Meeks grinned and squeezed his shoulder. “She’s a little shaken, but I think she’ll be fine.” He motioned with one hand. “She’s in the living room. We’re waiting to question her until the sheriff arrives.”
The relief that swept over David left him weak. “Who’s the man she shot?”
Meeks shook his head. “We have no idea.”
“David?” It was Skye, calling him from inside the house. He was feeling much better, but the tension, exhaustion and fear in her voice still made his heart ache. What had she been through tonight? He hoped it wasn’t as bad as before.
“I’m here.”
Asking Meeks to keep an eye on his son for a minute, David ducked inside to find Skye perched uncomfortably on the edge of her own couch. She had a mug in her hand—most likely that green tea she’d mentioned when he was here the last time—but she wasn’t drinking it. She looked pale, hollow-eyed.
“You okay?”
Wordlessly, she set the mug aside and reached for him, and he pulled her into his arms. “I’ve got you,” he murmured against her silky hair.
Her body convulsed on a sob, and he kissed the top of her head. He knew others were watching, but he didn’t care. He’d nearly lost her…. “Don’t cry. Everything will be okay.”
“He came in through the back bedroom.” She spoke into his coat, through her tears. “I don’t know how he got the bars off. He must’ve done it before I got home.”
“I’ll take a look at it.”
“Then he waited for me to go inside and lock up before he cut the alarm and phone lines.” She sniffed. “Otherwise, I would’ve been alerted at the front door when the alarm signal didn’t go off and might’ve been able to make it back to my car.”
“So you were in the hallway when he confronted you?”
“I was in the tub when I first realized he was here. He came in through the window and opened the front door so he could get out fast.”
“Who is he?”
“I don’t know. He—he has to be a friend of Oliver Burke’s, though, doesn’t he?”
That note had been signed O.B. But maybe that had been intended to mislead. With all the publicity surrounding Oliver’s attack, anyone who wanted to scare Skye could’ve written those initials. “If Oliver’s behind this, he must’ve arranged it while he was in prison. Maybe weeks or even months ago,” David said. “He hasn’t been home yet. He was stabbed by his cellmate and went straight from prison to the hospital.”