Close To Danger (Westen #4)(88)
“How is he?” Wes asked, leaning over enough to see his friend.
“The vet said he’d had two gunshot wounds. The first was the one we knew about when we found him. The second one, probably when he jumped to save my life, grazed across his rump.”
“Rump?” Wes chuckled, then held his side. “Damn.”
“Are you okay?” Chloe said, hurrying to the other side of the bed and pulling back the cover to examine his bandage. She moved his hand, checking that all the edges still held and no bleeding was on it.
“I’m fine, counselor,” Wes said, taking her hand in his and stilling her movement. “I’m just going to have to keep from laughing for a few days.”
“That goes for coughing, sneezing, and any other sudden movements. Trust me on this one.” They looked up to see Gage standing in the doorway, Bobby just behind him. He nodded to where W?den lay resting, the cone of shame around his head to prevent him gnawing at his stitches. “Is he going to be okay with us coming in there?”
“Should be,” Wes said, trying to sit up. Chloe pulled his pillows up behind him as he held his side with one hand and wiggled into position. Despite being an observation room at the clinic the bed wasn’t hospital-grade with buttons that would lift the back. It was an antique bed with a brass headboard. “Just don’t raise your voice, too much.”
Gage raised a don’t-push-your-luck brow at his deputy. Reassured his wife and child weren’t in danger from the wolf-dog, he stepped aside, allowing Bobby to rush in, arms open wide. Chloe hurried into her sister’s open arms, tears suddenly streaming down her face. The pair began talking at once.
“I’m so sorry. I couldn’t tell you. We didn’t know she was after us.”
“I’m so glad you’re okay. Clint said you were. Are you?”
“I’m fine. A little shaken. Didn’t even get a scratch, I promise.”
“That’s the same thing you said the first time you punched in Cindy Seacort’s nose,” Bobby said with a chuckle.
“First time?” Gage asked. “How many times did you hit the girl?”
“Twice. Cindy was a slow learner.” Chloe laughed through her tears.
“Here,” Harriett said, elbowing her way past Gage and handing the women a box of tissues. “You have fifteen minutes to talk, then the three of them need to sleep.”
“Three?” Bobby and Chloe asked simultaneously.
“He needs to rest,” the nurse said, pointing at Wes, then arched a brow at Chloe. “You are under twenty-four-hour concussion watch.” She bent down and handed a dog biscuit to W?den. “And this beast isn’t going anywhere but out to pee until you two are discharged. Better get talking, Sheriff.”
“She’ll be back in exactly fifteen minutes,” Gage said, coming in to lean on the dresser against the wall. He folded his arms over his chest and laser-pointed his gaze on Wes. “Why don’t we start with why Hannah was trying to kill you two?”
Wes and Chloe took turns explaining what happened since early that morning. They told how Hannah had blamed Wes for her brother’s death on the dark ops mission in South America, using her own words she’d shouted at them from the woods. Piecing things together, they figured she’d shot W?den to draw them out, planned to kill Chloe to make Wes suffer and then finish him off.
“So, this has nothing to do with the person who ransacked your home?” Gage asked Chloe.
She shook her head. “I don’t think so. The person sending me texts has been watching me before I came to Westen to the wedding.”
“Which means,” Gage, said, shifting his don’t-bullshit-me stare to Wes, “your past nearly got you killed today. And you put Chloe’s life in danger when you brought her back here. In a blizzard.”
“It would seem so.” Wes didn’t blink. His lips pressed in a thin line, the muscle in his jaw ticked.
It was like watching too big-horned rams sizing each other up before butting heads.
“Oh, for goodness sake,” Chloe said, stepping forward, hands balled into fists on her hips to face her brother-in-law. “Wes didn’t plan this. There is someone stalking me back in Cincinnati, as evidenced by the destruction of my apartment. Bringing me here, out of the stalker’s vicinity, is a perfectly sensible step. One, I wholeheartedly agreed to. Neither of us suspected there was some psychotic woman hanging out in your town, ready to use us for target practice. Do not lay this at Wes’s feet.”
“He’s a professional, Chloe. It’s his job to know what’s going on around him,” Gage said, taking a step forward.
She pointed at him, raising her voice. “Doesn’t the same go for you? This woman’s been in town for months and no one, not Wes and not you, knew what she was planning.”
A low growl came from the floor.
“Why don’t we let this rest for tonight,” Bobby said, stepping to her husband’s side and wrapping her arms around his middle, making him immediately relax. “We’re all just thankful you two are okay. You two need to rest and Harriett will be back any minute.” She tilted her head to one side to look at Gage. “Besides, we have a body to deal with, a report to get to the Mayor and a town to help dig out from under all this snow.”
“You’re right,” Gage said, kissing the top of her head. Taking her hand, he headed out the door, then stopped, nodding at Wes. “Get some rest. Tomorrow, I expect a complete report on who Hannah was and everything that happened. Including anything you know about Chloe’s stalker.”