Gone (Deadly Secrets #2)(38)

“Yeah, I heard you guys split.” Anna wrinkled her nose. “I wouldn’t have called him either. You sure you’re gonna be okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Just a few bumps and bruises. No real damage. Thanks again, Anna.”

“Night, Raegan.”

Raegan moved slower than she liked toward the double doors at the entry to her building. Her back was on fire, and she knew she’d have a nice-sized bruise in the middle of her spine by tomorrow, but she was glad whoever had attacked her had released her and run off without hurting her in other unthinkable ways.

Once she’d picked herself up from the ground and realized she was alone, she’d located her keys and cell phone. Her keys had been intact. Her cell phone shattered. All she’d wanted to do was limp home, but she’d known she had to report the attack, so she’d made her way to the police station where she’d filled out a report, then called Jack Bickam and relayed her attacker’s cryptic message.

Alec was convinced John Gilbert had left that message on her car the other night, but he couldn’t have been the one to attack her today because he was still in jail on a probation violation. Bickam had agreed with Raegan, but he’d promised to visit Gilbert at SCI and question him to see if he’d sent anyone after her. Raegan didn’t have much faith Bickam would be able to pin this on Gilbert. She could have been attacked by anyone. It could have been someone who’d seen her at Barbara Willig’s house earlier in the day. It could have been someone who thought she was looking into a completely different story at the station. Her attacker hadn’t mentioned Emma or the missing kids she and Alec were looking into now. In fact, he hadn’t mentioned anything except to stop digging.

Stop digging? That’s what reporters did. Shaking her head, she keyed in her building code and pulled the lobby door open.

Thankfully, there was no one in the lobby, and she was able to ride the elevator up alone. She wasn’t in the mood to talk right now and only wanted to take two Tylenol PM and fall asleep. The bell dinged, and the double doors opened. Looking down at the keys in her scraped hand, she shuffled forward, then drew to a stop when she spotted a shadowy figure at the end of the hall in front of her door.

Fear shoved aside all the pain, and her stomach tightened. Then the man turned and she recognized his dark hair and athletic build.

“Ethan?” She limped down the hallway toward him. “What are you doing here?”

“Holy hell.” Ethan’s eyes grew wide as she drew close. “I guess he had every reason to be worried.”

“Who?”

“Alec. He called me from his truck about thirty minutes ago, asked me to come over and check on you. Said he couldn’t get a hold of you. He gave me the building code to get in. I was just about to leave you a note.”

Her frustration with Alec and her inability to let go of something he’d obviously let go of long ago got the best of her. She shoved her key in the lock and turned it with a frown. “Really? I find that hard to believe, considering he bolted away from me earlier as if I had cooties.”

Ethan chuckled as he followed her into the apartment. “That’s my brother. Totally suave.” He closed the door at his back. “What the hell happened to you?”

Raegan dropped her keys on the entry table, moved down the short hallway into her living room, and sank onto the couch, feeling more tired than she could ever remember. “Someone jumped me on the street.”

“You were mugged?”

“No, warned. To stop looking into things that don’t concern me.”

Ethan stared down at her with his hands on his hips. “A story you’re researching for the station?”

She shrugged. “Not sure. He wasn’t specific.”

“Shit. Did you report it?”

She nodded. “A friend from the station picked me up at the police station and brought me home. It looks worse than it is, Ethan. It’s just bruises and some swelling from hitting the ground. I didn’t even need to go to the hospital.”

He eyed her as if he wasn’t so sure. “Alec asked me to check on you because he went to see John Gilbert at SCI tonight. Gilbert was released yesterday morning.”

Raegan looked up with wide eyes. “Are you sure?”

“That’s what he said.”

Shit. It very well could have been Gilbert then. Unease tightened her stomach because she knew Alec was going to flip his lid when he saw her. And because he was going to insist Gilbert had left the note on her car and done this to her when he still had no proof.

Closing her eyes, she drew a deep breath that did little to make her feel better. “Tonight I really don’t want to think about Alec or his estranged father. I just want to sleep.”

Ethan chuckled. “That sounds like someone who knows how obsessive my brother can be.”

She blinked and rubbed her throbbing forehead. “Unfortunately, I know that way too well.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you do.” Ethan smiled and pulled his cell from his back pocket. “I’ll call Alec and tell him you’re fine and not to come by. Do you want me to stay? I can sleep on the couch.”

“No.” She hated when people fussed over her. A direct result of her parents never fussing when it came to her, she was sure. “I’ll be fine. You have Sam waiting at home.”