Page 77 of Deadly Attraction
Mitch half smiled and touched her back, skimming his fingers across the top of her shoulder. “Maybe later.”
“You think we have a visitor, then?” she asked. “Someone who hitched a ride in the van?”
“What’s that?” Will whirled around to face them. “A visitor?”
Mitch filled him in as the two men worked to set up the IV.
“Shit,” Will said as he poked at the inside of Danika’s elbow. The sugar had been added to the water bottle, the tubing duct-taped to the bottle’s opening. Emma wasn’t sure if he swore because of the news or because he couldn’t hit a vein. “Might be more than one who hitched a ride, goddamn lowlifes. I didn’t see anyone skulking around when I went to the barn.”
Mitch fiddled with the bottle, tapping on it with his fingers. “You feel like doing some recon for me once you get that inserted?”
“Absolutely,” Will muttered. “Those sons-of-a-bitches better hope I don’t find them.”
Emma bit her bottom lip. “I don’t like it. We should all stay inside the house and wait for the police to arrive.”
Will’s eyes came up to lock with hers. “You told me I’m not bad luck.”
What did that have to do with anything? “You’re not.”
He grabbed her hand, gave it a squeeze. “Then let me prove it, Doc. You’ve taken care of me for the past sixteen months. Let me return the favor.”
Mitch watched Will leave by the back door. Within seconds, he disappeared behind the horse barn.
“It’s too dangerous,” Emma said, holding Danika’s hand. “We don’t know for sure that someone did this—Danika was borderline suicidal over the holidays—but if there is a murderer on the loose, Will’s out there all alone.”
“I’m sure this isn’t Danika’s doing,” Mitch said. “Someone either hitched a ride on that van or they entered it, killed Officer Moses, and tried to kill Danika once the van arrived. Could be either. I suspect that’s how our visitor got here two days ago to deliver that army guy to your nightstand—he hitched a ride, only Carla never noticed. So either he was out there waiting to do something like this to continue trying to terrorize you, or this is someone new who used the same mode of transportation to get here and terrorize you. And Will is a trained Spec Ops guy. He’ll be fine.”
“This is all my fault.” Her voice was too quiet, her gaze centered on the girl. “She was depressed and I thought I was doing the right thing, staying here and allowing her to get out of the detention center to visit the horses.”
It gutted him seeing her like this, hearing the self-loathing in her voice. He wanted to tell her it wasn’t her fault, he would have done the same thing in her shoes, but he knew those empty words made no difference. “No point in second guessing yourself. As soon as the police and ambulance get here, we’re bugging out. Danika will live.”
Her voice was strained, challenging. “You’re going to leave Will here with a murderer on the loose?”
“I’ll do what I can to convince Will to let the police handle it and come with us, okay?”
“And what about the horses?”
Mitch had to count down from ten to keep from losing his patience. “You heard Cooper. Some of my taskforce teammates are on the way to help out. Once they arrive, I’ll leave them with you at the safe house and I’ll come back to take care of the horses. Okay?”
“Soyou’llbe here alone with a murderer?”
Jesus, she wouldn’t give up. “One of two things will happen, Emma. The guy will leave once you’re gone or between me, Will, and the cops, we’ll nab his ass and put him behind bars. I will make him pay for this.”
He pointed at Danika’s lifeless body. At least the ashiness of the girl’s skin had receded some, thanks to Will’s homemade IV. That wouldn’t last, though. She needed blood and antibiotics and actual medical treatment.
Tears clouded Emma’s eyes. “I’m so stubborn. If I’d just left when you showed up, none of this would have happened.”
Mitch couldn’t take it anymore. He gently drew her out of the chair and hugged her to him. “I don’t know Danika, but I saw the way she changed the other day while she was here. She came in sullen and withdrawn and by the time she left, she was happy. You were doing what you thought was right to save the girl’s life. You didn’t slit her wrists; our visitor did.”
She melted into him, gripping him around the waist. “You think it’s Chris?”
“Do you? Does this seem like something he might do to get your attention and scare you?”
She was quiet for a long moment. “No, but neither does stalking or any of the other stuff he’s done so far, if you buy that the reason he killed his fiancée a couple of years ago was because he had a break with reality. If, on the other hand, you believe my analysis that he’s actually a sociopathic narcissist, his MO would be to manipulate other people—his resistance fighters, let’s say—into doing the dirty work.”
She broke free from his arms and he could see the psychologist in her was back as she paced the kitchen floor. “That’s it. He’s having others do his dirty work so if he gets caught, he can claim innocence.”
“He’s on the run with Brown. He’s not getting off of that charge.”
