Page 89 of Fatal Vision
Jack shook off his hand and left without another word.
AN HOUR LATER,Shelby was so dog-tired she could barely keep her eyes open. Her dad had commandeered a conference room at the hospital and dozens of folks from his parish filed around.
Jaya, Salisbury in her lap, sat across from Shelby with an organic drink of some flavor while Jack and Martha greeted another family coming through the door to check on Shelby.
“Oh good,” Jaya said. “Betty Ralston brought a pot of her chili. Maybe that will wake me up. That stuff could grow hair on Ziggy Newman’s bald head.”
It wasn’t even eight yet. Chili for breakfast. Yum. “You should go home,” Shelby said. “Get some rest. I’m fine. Really.”
Jaya had brought Shelby clean clothes—which consisted of loud, patterned leggings and a fuchsia pink shirt—and then she’d combed out and re-braided Shelby’s hair. “Go home? No way, little Miss Troublemaker. Tara’s handling my stuff at the spa, and I’m sticking to you like glue.”
Jaya wasn’t the only one. Colton eyed Shelby from across the room where he’d been forced to keep his distance by her dad. He’d gotten stitched up, but the cuts and bruises on his face did nothing to hide the gray pallor of his skin or the dark circles under his eyes. He kept favoring his right side, rubbing his lower back every once in a while.
An older man with cropped gray hair and a stealthy, cloak-and-dagger air to him had arrived several minutes ago, drawing Colton aside. The man wore casual pants and a white shirt, sans tie, with a biker jacket over it. He kept sending surreptitious glances her way.
There’d been no word on Sabrina yet. Shelby felt sick to her stomach every time she thought of the poor woman. Connor too. He’d been a mess after 12 September. If it hadn’t been for Colton talking him off the ledge more times than Shelby could count, Connor probably wouldn’t still be around.
“You want some chili?” Jaya asked, shooting to her feet and plopping Salisbury in Shelby’s lap. “Something to drink?”
Her stomach was empty but the thought of spicy food at this time of the morning made her guts twist. “No thanks. I’m good.”
Jaya leaned over and ruffled Salisbury’s ears. “How about you, rag-a-muffin?”
The dog wagged his tail and licked her face, making Jaya laugh. From Shelby’s peripheral vision, she saw Colton roll his eyes.
As Jaya melted into the crowd, Theo appeared with Jocelyn and Denbe on his heels. He’d been present when Shelby had given her statement to the detectives, taking notes and supplementing the questions with his own. Since then, he’d been making phone calls and plying her with more questions.
“You look exhausted,” Theo said. “You should get some rest.”
Jocelyn, hands on hips, nodded. “I second that. What’s everyone doing here, anyway? Are all these people your friends?”
As if Shelby having friends was slightly surprising. She petted Salisbury, now on alert and staring at Theo. “I didn’t want to leave until I found out whether Sabrina’s going to make it. Most of these folks are friends of my mom and dad.”
“Where are you going to stay now?” Denbe asked. He was covertly eyeing Jaya through the crowd.
Hmm. Denbe was not at all Jaya’s type, but Shelby never stopped trying to fix her friend up with someone. Jaya was a spitfire, but Denbe was no slouch in the humor and snappy comebacks department. If he stayed on his toes, Jaya might not eat him alive.
“Daddy wants to take me home to the parish.” Shelby lifted Salisbury and pushed herself to her feet. Her leg wobbled, but she needed to stretch. Every muscle in her body was tight and achy from being thrown several feet in the air and having half a dining room table land on her. “Colton wants to take me to a safe house. I’m not sure where I’m going yet.”
Even though she couldn’t walk normally, at least her eyesight was back. She’d take every miracle she could get.
“I can get you in any one of a dozen safe houses in the area.” Theo had his phone out and began punching numbers. “Let me see what I can do.”
“That’s really not…” But he was already walking away, speaking to someone on the phone.
He blamed himself; she could see it on his face. They all did. Theo would barely look at her, and had told the detectives he should have had FBI protection on her.
Just what she needed—another person who felt guilty about her getting hurt.
“Any leads?” Shelby asked her counterparts. She’d seen photos on Jaya’s phone of the house and even though she’d lived through the bombing, it still shook her to the core to see the destruction.
Jocelyn and Denbe shook their heads. “Forensics is gathering evidence,” Denbe said. “Could be days or weeks before they can process it all.”
She didn’t have weeks. Neither did Colton.
Regardless of what he said, he was on a deadline and now their little mission had endangered two of his coworkers. His boss had to be livid. If Shelby knew him, all that talk with the fellow in the corner involved a plan of some kind.
She wanted in on that.
