Page 23 of Tessa's Trust

I rolled my eyes. “I know.” To be honest, I wasn’t sure what was going on. Somebody had obviously tried to scare me, and everything inside me knew it was about Silver Sadie’s, but it didn’t make a bit of sense.

We headed outside, where the storm had increased in force just as Nick pulled to a stop and jumped out of his Jeep. “Hey, I was hoping to ask you some questions about that knife.”

“I thought you were in trial prep.” My abdomen heated in a truly annoying way just from how smoothly he moved his muscled body.

“We finished early and don’t start again ‘til tomorrow,” Nick said. “I’ve been thinking about the knife in your fridge, and it doesn’t make any sense. I called the lab.”

“Was the blood Rudy Brando’s?” I held my breath as awaited the answer.

“Don’t know yet,” Nick said. “We don’t have any results yet.” All of a sudden, he stiffened.

“What?” I asked. Had I said something wrong?

A truck came roaring down the icy road, slipping and sliding.

“Get down!” Rory yelled.

Everything that happened next was too fast to track.

Nick tackled me. Aiden tackled Anna, and Rory somehow seemed to tackle everybody. We hit the snow-covered sidewalk just as gunfire sprayed the top of the building and then the pavement by the vehicles. Pain ricocheted through my knees and face from the icy ground. We were all silent for a minute, and then everybody leaped to their feet.

“What the hell?” Aiden snapped.

Rory made to run after the truck, but it zoomed around a corner. He looked at the three vehicles at the curb with their tires flat. “Damn it.”

I shook my head and looked up to see a smattering of bullet holes at the very top of the building that were barely noticeable. We wouldn’t even think of fixing them until spring. Thank goodness the diner windows hadn’t been hit.

Nick grabbed his phone and called it in, giving an eerily accurate description of the battered white truck. “Did anybody see the shooter?” he asked, his voice low with command.

“Guy was wearing all black, including a ski mask,” Rory said roughly.

“Definitely male,” Anna murmured.

I swallowed. I looked up at Nick.

His pupils had constricted, and tension rolled off him. “Are you okay? Did I tackle you too hard?”

I wiped snow off my face. “No. I’m fine.”

“Come on, inside.” Rory opened the door to the diner, where a multitude of people had their noses pressed to the glass. I gulped. The shooter had aimed for the vehicles and just the doorway to the apartments.

“Oh, he’s gone,” Aiden said grimly.

All three of them looked at me as Anna put an arm around my waist. I had a feeling the shooter had been aiming at me, but then again, the four people around me all had dangerous jobs.

What in the world had just happened?

Chapter 9

The coffee at the police station in Timber City was much better than the sludge Nick had tried to give me earlier in the day. We’d each been questioned separately, and now Detective Pierce had put us all in the same large conference room. His green eyes were still sharp, but tired lines extended from them. We’d been questioned for nearly two hours, and he was just repeating himself at this point.

Everyone around me was involved in law enforcement in one way or another, and they seemed fine with that. It must be an acceptable method for interviewing suspects.

“Does anybody know who the shooter was aiming at?” he asked, scribbling in a notebook. None of us answered.

He looked up. “Rory?”

“Not me,” Rory said.

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