Page 46 of The Sheriff & the Nurse

Clint asked them to dig deeper and check with any emergency contacts and colleagues of Trupp or Wildman, but he was at a loss. The perp must not have moved to the area but was visiting. Somehow he’d set his sights on Lily.

He stood out of his truck and stretched, plucking his hat on his head and putting his earbuds in. He hurried for the hospital front doors, listening to Lily say goodbye to her nursing friends. She’d be in the waiting room now.

How could I possibly tell the great Sheriff Clint Coleville no?He could see her beautiful smile and had loved the teasing in her voice.

Soon, he’d be with Lily. This guy would make a mistake or they’d find him somehow. How could Clint talk her into not working until they found him? The past five hours had been rough, worrying about her and trying to keep up with all the texts, emails, and phone calls. He didn’t like the phone calls because then he had to switch apps and couldn’t hear her on the listening device.

As he strode into the hospital, took off his hat, and headed for the stairs that led to the waiting room outside of labor and delivery, his phone rang. Dang. It was Aiden. Anybody else he probably would’ve texted he’d talk to them later.

“Hello,” he said, pausing outside the stairwell.

“This is a nightmare of a case, eh?”

“Definitely.”

“I had an idea to run by you.”

“Okay.” He paced, impatient to get to Lily.

“What if this Landon Trupp had plastic surgery on his nose, grew out and dyed his hair, grew a thick beard, wore colored contacts to take his eyes from brown to hazel, and lost weight?”

Clint’s heart slammed against his chest. “Does the analysis show it’s Jacob Wildman?”

“Almost a perfect match if you change all of those factors.”

Clint heard a faint scream come down the stairs, then everything went quiet. Lily? He rushed into the stairwell and raced up the stairs. Reaching the second level, he turned into the labor and delivery waiting room, his eyes darting around. Nothing. There was nobody here.

“Clint?”

“Can you send me what you have? I’ve got an emergency.”

“On it.”

Aiden hung up and Clint switched back to the recording app. It was quiet. Too quiet. He heard footsteps, and some muted voices in the background.

Where was she? Was she in danger? His neck prickled and his stomach churned. Something was wrong, but he didn’t know which direction to go to fix it.

A nurse came out of the double doors.

“Where’s Lily?” he demanded.

“Walked out a few minutes ago.” She lifted a hand.

Clint turned and raced back down the stairs. He reached the lobby, head swiveling to catch a glimpse of her golden hair, her pale pink scrubs, something.

“Did you know myhot sheriffparks in the front parking lot? It was smart of you to park out back,” Lily said. Her voice sounded calm, but a slight tremble revealed her anxiety.

“I don’t want to hear about your sheriff,” a man’s voice snarled

Clint sprinted through the lobby and toward the back entrance.No. Please no.He fumbled with his phone. He couldn’t call and miss something Lily said, but he needed backup and he needed it now.

“Get in,” the man demanded.

“I’ll get in yourblack Navigatorif you promise not to hurt my parents,” Lily said.

“I’ll kill them right now,” the man hissed.

Then he heard car doors closing.

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