Page 13 of Mountain Murder

Her remark wasn’t funny. Not really. But the painkillers they had him on and her blunt way of looking at things were messing with his self-control, and he caught himself laughing. “Yeah. That would’ve helped.”

Pulling back, she angled herself onto the edge of the bed. “How’s the leg?”

“Just a few stitches. It’ll heal.” Though he wasn’t sure how long that would take. He didn’t really give the doctor a chance to go over aftercare while trying to get the hell out of this place. Lance skimmed his thumb along her lower lip, careful of the laceration splitting the delicate skin at one side. The scrapes along one side of her face weren’t as angry as they’d been last night but still healing. “I’m just glad you’re safe.”

She secured her fingers around his, pressing the back of his hand to her face. She kissed the sensitive skin there, and a fury of prickling shot up his arm. “You came for me. Again. You were almost killed. Because of me.”

“I knew exactly what I was getting myself into when I ran into those woods, Audrey. This wasn’t you.” His leg protested with a deep ache that couldn’t be reached by painkillers. “Not sure if you’re aware, but I have a problem staying away from the action. Call it a compulsion.”

“Being in danger feels familiar,” she said.

It was amazing how well she understood him. How well she understood this hollowness in his chest. “It’s sick, isn’t it? Craving the very thing that messed me up for life.”

“I don’t think so.” Her skin eased along his, triggering an internal reaction that tightened his scalp and raced down his spine. “You’ve been on alert for so long, it makes sense you’d find comfort in that place. A lot of times, trauma survivors find themselves back in the arms of the very people who’ve hurt them. Children who’ve been through unimaginable horror at the hands of a parent still want that connection. It’s all they know. And you… I think you’re amazing. Passionate. Reliable.”

She saw all that in him? How? “I bet you say that to all the guys who save your life. Twice.”

Her laugh relaxed the bunched-up muscles along his shoulders and chest, and Lance was suddenly able to breathe a whole hell of a lot easier. It wouldn’t last, though. Nothing with him ever did. He took the things that mattered to him the most and broke them. Just as he’d broken his relationship with his family.

“No.” Audrey leaned in close. Her mouth brushed against his and practically elicited a growl from the pleasure-depraved darkness he’d created to bury his emotions. “There are no other guys, Lance. There’s just you.”

Oh, hell. He closed those millimeters between them, crushing his mouth against hers. He hadn’t planned on it. He hadn’t even thought of crossing that line, but right here, right now, with a hole in his leg and her smelling of the outdoors, it felt right.

And he… Damn, he poured everything into her. His sympathy for her having to go through what she had the past twenty-four hours, all of his sorrow at hearing the grief in her voice after her patient chose to end their life. She tasted of the same kind of weird pink bubble gum one of his unit buddies used to carry on him, something Lance hadn’t let himself enjoy since he’d come home. And in that moment, he was absolutely helpless to fix any of this for her.

This was more than a kiss. This was real. The first real human contact he’d let himself have in years. Because they both knew pain. They knew what it meant to endure through loss, and that connection drove him past the seam of her lips. Drove him to hold her tighter. An overhauling sense they needed each other more than they needed their respective recoveries burned through the last of the painkillers. Until he was left bare. Exposed. Vulnerable.

“I’m thinking I should’ve knocked.” Easton Ford materialized over Audrey’s shoulder as she slid back to her position on the edge of the bed. “Knocking is good. Let me try that again.”

“Or you could just not come in,” Lance said.

“You asked for an update on what we found at Jake Dugan’s house.” Ford tucked his thumbs into his duty belt, complete with his sidearm. This wasn’t the founder of Whispering Pines Ranch they were talking to. This was the Battle Mountain’s deputy chief of police, and a sinking feeling masked the flood of warmth in Lance’s veins. “Well, I got an update.”

He read the sudden weight added to Ford’s body language and pushed his body higher up the pillows at his back. “The officer who was shot at the scene.”

Audrey cut her gaze to Ford. “Someone was stabbed?”

“Campbell Dwyer. She and her partner—Hudson—were the two officers who served as backup tonight,” Ford said. “Dwyer… She’s… She’s still unconscious. Suffered too much blood loss before the EMTs could get to her. One of my other officers is a former EMT. She got the bleeding to stop at the scene until the ambulance arrived, but the stab wound was worse than we thought. There was a blood clot. They’ve given her two transfusions so far, but doctors aren’t sure when—or if—Dwyer’s going to wake up.”

Audrey brought both hands up to cup her nose and mouth. “What can we do to help?”

Always the first to volunteer. The one who needed to help. Audrey would rather wear herself to nothing to be of service to someone than face her own needs, but it was exactly what would hurt her in the long run.

“Right now, there’s nothing we can do but wait to see if she comes around. I’ve got her partner on administrative leave so he and their daughter can stay here.” Ford honed his gaze on Lance. “There’s something else. We spent the past two hours searching that house for some idea of who this guy is, how he operates, how he thinks.”

Dread pooled at the base of Lance’s spine. “What did you find?”

“You’ll be happy to know we found Jake Dugan,” Ford said. “Only problem is, he’s been dead for about two days.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

Dead? No, that didn’t make sense.

Jake Dugan was the killer. He’d used Inez to gain access to the ranch, then murdered her when he was finished. He’d broken into Audrey’s room. He’d threatened her with a knife. He’d tried to kill her.

This was supposed to be over.

Audrey clutched the cafeteria tray against her ribs, but the pressure didn’t detract from the frenzy catapulting up her throat. She’d come to Whispering Pines Ranch to heal, to deal with the guilt she carried at having lost a patient. To finally put herself and her needs first. But all she’d found was more death. Inez’s. Jake’s. Possibly Officer Dwyer’s.

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