Page 90 of Obsession

Nate turned to his deputy. “Give them the okay to enter and see if you can find another victim!” He dropped to his knees beside her. “Man, he looks bad. Let me take over. See if you can find another towel.”

She stood and jerked open drawers until she found dish towels and grabbed a handful.

Nate pressed the towels against the man’s chest. Blood quickly soaked through, making her stomach heave. He was going to die. “I should have come to the kitchen with him.”

“This isn’t your fault, Emma,” Nate said. “And you might have been shot too.”

Before she could respond, paramedics burst into the room and immediately took over for Nate. He hustled her out of their way. Now that the immediate danger was over, the shakes took over and she hugged her arms to her waist.

“We can’t do any more here. Let’s find Sam,” the sheriff said.

She nodded, then followed him out the door. “D-do you th-think he’ll live?”

“I don’t know. He’s lost a lot of blood,” Nate said, glancing at her. “You don’t look too good. Do you need to sit down?”

Emma hugged her body tighter and forced air into her lungs. “I’ll be okay. It’s j-just I’ve n-never seen anyone sh-shot before.”

“What happened?”

The buzzing in her head had stopped, and she sucked in another deep breath. Her galloping heart slowed, and strength returned to her legs. “I wish I knew,” she said, glancing back at the house. “Sam had gone to see why Mr. Selby’s daughter hadn’t arrived. After he left, Mr. Selby went to make coffee. Someone came into the kitchen and shot him.”

“Did you see who it was?”

“No, and they never spoke a word.”

Nate hugged her. “Are you okay to stay here while I check on the daughter?”

She did not want to be by herself. “I’ll go with you.”

“Did you learn anything from Mr. Selby before he was shot?” he asked as they hurried down the path.

Emma’s mind blanked. “I can’t remember one word of our conversation. Maybe in a few minutes,” she said as they rounded a curve. A second set of paramedics was bent over a woman, and Sam stood to the side.

“How is she?” she asked when they reached him.

“Not good,” Sam said. “She had a pulse, but it was weak.”

“Is that Mary Jo’s sister?” Nate asked.

“Yeah.”

Emma turned toward the victim and gasped. “Sandra Selby is Mrs. Wyatt from high school?” she asked, pressing her hand against her chest. What little equilibrium she’d gained vanished. Her legs buckled and she sank into the dead grass along the path, unable to take her eyes off the paramedics as they workedon Mrs. Wyatt. For the life of her, she couldn’t think of her as Sandra.

“You know her?” Nate asked. He pulled a pair of latex gloves over his hands.

“Yes, but I didn’t know she was Mary Jo’s sister.”

“How about you, Sam?”

“She told me on the phone who she was and that she had taught Ryan at the high school. Before that, I never made the connection between Sandra Selby and Mrs. Wyatt.” Sam didn’t seem to be able to turn from the scene either. “She was bringing Mary Jo’s journal to show me.”

“Maybe it’s here.” The sheriff picked up a coat the paramedics had removed from Sandra and felt the pockets. When he finished going through it, Nate shook his head. “Nothing in the coat.”

“Her shooter must have taken it.”

“Sheriff!” Nate turned as one of his deputies jogged toward them from the Selby house. “There’s been a four-car pileup on 61. Shut the highway down and three casualties so far.”

Nate winced. “I need to go.”

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