Page 53 of The Perfect Obsession
Before Sinclair could regroup, Jessie slammed the butt of her weapon into the woman’s left temple as hard as she could.Sinclair, dazed, slumped down on top of her.She was still conscious but woozy.Jessie didn’t wait for her to recover.
Using only her right hand and still holding the gun, she shoved Sinclair off her.Trying to ignore the piercing agony in her shoulder, she scrambled to her feet, gasping for breath.She was tempted to pull the opener out, but worried that if the thing had pierced an artery, removing it might make things worse.So she left it dangling there.
Sinclair was below her now, lying crumpled on her side.She was moaning, one hand on her nose and the other on her forehead.Blood seeped through both.
Jessie stared down at her and felt a familiar rage start to rise in her gut.The urge to punish Riley Sinclair filled her chest.She could taste the woman’s blood in her mouth, along with the tip of her nose, which she spit out.She could see the blood oozing out of Sinclair’s face in multiple places.But she wanted more.She wanted the woman to bleed everywhere.She took off the safety on her gun and pointed it at Sinclair, aiming for her chest.She could feel her finger brush against the trigger.
It would be so easy.All she had to do was pull.Her finger lingered on the trigger.Then, despite the agony coming from her shoulder, she took a deep breath.She looked over at the letter opener, jutting out of her body like she was a human pincushion.It was such an odd sight that it was almost funny.
Itwasfunny.She did her best to cling to that idea rather than her burning desire to put a series of bullets in Riley Sinclair.She remembered Kai Cody’s mantra—to focus on something small that could pull her out of the chaos of the moment and offer her some control.
She had almost been murdered by a librarian using a tool that was intended to access mail.It was absurd.She stared at the gleaming piece of silver, wondering if the device’s manufacturer had insurance for this sort of thing.The thought made her giggle.
And that broke the spell.The pain of laughing, however slight, almost made her pass out.She inhaled deeply to fight it off as she stumbled backward, resting her backside on a kid’s reading table for support.
“Riley Sinclair, roll onto your stomach,” she said through gritted teeth.“When Officer Devery gets here, he will put you under arrest for murder.Until then, don’t move.If you do, I’ll be forced to shoot you.Do we understand each other?”
Sinclair continued to moan, but she must have gotten it because she eased herself from her side onto her stomach.Jessie still wasn’t confident that she could stay conscious.She wanted to call for backup, but with only one working arm, she was hesitant to let go of the gun.
“Ms.Hunt?”
She looked toward the sound of the voice.Standing in the doorway with his mouth open in shock was Officer Harper Devery.
“What happened?”he asked in a hushed tone, clearly aghast at the bloody mess in front of him.
She allowed herself to slump more fully onto the table and take another deep breath.When she replied, it was a struggle to keep her voice level.
“It’s a long story.”
CHAPTER FORTY
Jessie was glad for the Vicodin.
The surgeon at the hospital had given her a local anesthetic while he sutured her shoulder, but he’d warned her that it would wear off after about an hour.Once it did, she was allowed to take one Vicodin every four hours.She’d taken the first one fifteen minutes ago, and it had just started to kick in.She almost felt good.
She was at Kat’s apartment, where Hannah had driven her after picking her up at the hospital.Ryan planned to come by as soon as he could, but with her out of commission, he had to wrap up the Riley Sinclair case solo.
Because her left arm was in a sling, her little sister eased her down onto the pullout couch.Jessie noted that it was the same one that Hannah had been sleeping on for the last month.
“Looks like we’re going to be bed buddies tonight,” Jessie said, immediately realizing that the medication was impacting more than just the pain in her shoulder.She was a little loopy.
”Looks like it,” Hannah said, stifling a giggle.“Let’s ease you back.”
“How are you doing?”Kat asked, emerging from the kitchen.She had a slight limp in her left leg, but otherwise, no one would know that she fended off a knife-wielding stalker this afternoon.
“And we’re stitch buddies,” Jessie pointed out to her.
“Indeed, we are,” Kat agreed, smiling but managing not to laugh.“You seem a little out of it, so maybe I’ll ask your sister how you are instead.”
“Yeah, sister,youtell her,” Jessie said.
Hannah had been there when the doctor reviewed everything, so she was able to handle the heavy explanatory lifting.
“The doctor said there was no permanent damage,” she said.“Obviously, the muscle where the letter opener punctured her was a little torn up.But it missed any significant veins or arteries.She only required six stitches after all was said and done.The doctor said she can take off the sling by the end of the weekend if she feels well enough.He recommended physical therapy to prevent shoulder weakness.But he thought she’d be moderately functional again by Monday.He didn’t even think she would need to miss work beyond tomorrow and this weekend.She was very lucky.”
“I don’t feel lucky,” Jessie muttered.But she knew the doctor was right.If the letter opener had entered her body three inches to the right, she probably wouldn’t be here right now.
“And what about the woman who did this to you?”Kat asked.“How did she fare?”
