Page 67 of Twin Jeopardy

He continued to wrestle with Valerie, struggling to subdue her. She fought with incredible strength, biting and kicking, scratching at his face and trying to knee him in the groin. Tammy raced from the room and returned a few seconds later with something in her hand. “Hold her still!” she pleaded.

But just then, Valerie bit Vince’s hand, drawing blood. He drew back instinctively, and she lunged, over-balancing him. They both fell to the floor, her on top, both hands around his throat. His vision blurred, and he was sure he would black out.

Then he heard a horrible sound, like a knife cleaving a watermelon. Valerie’s grip loosened, and she fell to one side.

Tammy stood over them, spattered with blood, the ice ax from Vince’s search and rescue pack in her hand.

Pounding on the door reverberated through the house. “This is the sheriff!” Travis shouted. “Come out with your hands up!”

Tammy dropped the ax, and Vince staggered to his feet. He put his arm around her. “Come on,” he said.

“I can’t go out there like this,” she whispered.

He reached back and grabbed the top sheet from the bed and wrapped it around her, then took the bottom sheet for himself. They walked into the living room just as the door burst open and Gage and Travis entered.

Gage took in the bedclothes and their state of undress and frowned. “We had a report of multiple gunshots at this address,” he said. “And Mitch Patterson’s car is outside in the lot. We believe his girlfriend, Elisabeth Rollins, tried to kill him.”

“His girlfriend is in the bedroom,” Vince said. “She shot Mitch, then tried to kill us. And her name isn’t Elisabeth Rollins. It’s Valerie Shepherd.”

Jamie Douglas stepped in behind the Walker brothers. “You two can come with me,” she said.

Tammy was shaking by the time they reached the parking lot, though the temperature was mild. Her eyes were glazed, her skin cold and clammy. “Call an ambulance,” Vince said. “I think she’s going into shock.”

“One is on the way,” Jamie said. “I’ve got a sweatshirt and pants in my patrol vehicle you can put on, Tammy, and Gage will have something that will fit you, Vince.” She retrieved the clothes from the back of her SUV and started to help Tammy unwind the sheet when she saw the blood spatters. “Are you hurt?” she asked.

“That isn’t my blood,” Tammy said. “It’s Valerie’s.” Then she broke down sobbing.

Vince gathered her close while Jamie radioed this information to Travis. More deputies arrived, along with an ambulance and most of Vince’s neighbors. Tammy’s boss, camera in hand, showed up. Vince only vaguely registered their presence. He held on to Tammy, smoothing her hair and murmuring, “It’s going to be all right,” over and over. As if by repetition, he could make himself believe it.

TAMMYSPENTTHEnight in the hospital, with Vince on one side of her bed and her mother on the other. She hadn’t wanted to stay here, but the doctor had insisted it was necessary, then given her a sedative that made her not care anymore.

When she finally woke, sun streamed through the one window in her room. Vince got up from the chair where he had been sitting and came to the side of the bed. “How are you feeling?” he asked.

“I’m okay.” She reached up and touched the bruise on the side of her face. It was tender, but the doctors had reassured her there was no lasting damage. She trembled when she thought of how much worse it could have been. “How are you?”

“Shaken up. But I’m going to be okay.”

She turned to look at the chair where her mother had sat. “She went down to see your brother,” Vince said.

Her eyes widened as she remembered Mitch. He had been in surgery when they installed her in this room last night. “Is he going to be okay?”

“He’s got a long recovery ahead of him. Another surgery to pin his leg together. But he’s going to be okay.”

“And Valerie?”

“She’s alive. You didn’t kill her. You merely gave her a concussion. And saved both our lives.”

Tammy’s eyes filled with tears. “Your poor parents.”

A tap on the door frame interrupted their discussion. Sheriff Travis Walker entered. “I stopped by to see how you’re doing,” he said.

“I’m going to be fine,” Tammy said.

“I was just down getting a statement from your brother.”

“What did he say?” Vince asked.

“He says the woman he knew as Elisabeth asked him to stop the car by the side of the road because she was feeling sick. Earlier in the day, she had surprised him with the news that she was pregnant, so he thought that was the reason she was feeling ill. He helped her over to the edge of the road. She pulled out a gun, shot him and pushed him over the edge.”

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