“That’s my call, not yours.”
She shrugged. “Suit yourself. Sheriff, surely you are going to lock that Wilde girl up.”
Byrd put his arm around her. “No arrest yet, doll. I need her account of what happened Sunday. So you can see why I’d like to stay put in case Lucille wakes up.”
The lady smiled. “I do, Sheriff. You can stay.” The she pointed at Brandon and his dad. “They must leave. And if you ask me, I think it’s odd that Alex is here. He’s the one that brought that woman to our town in the first place.”
Byrd nodded. “I couldn’t agree more. Supposedly Dr. Champion has an ironclad alibi. He was at the clinic in Wilde at the time of the attack. I’ll have to investigate to make sure there aren’t any holes in his claim.”
She whispered, “You think he might be the attacker, Sheriff?”
“Him or the Wilde woman. Maybe both,” the asshole answered.
“You ready to make an arrest, Byrd?” Brandon said between clenched teeth. God, he hated that man. One day the fucker would slip up, and he wanted to be there when that happened.
“Not yet. It just isn’t right to have him here since he is still a suspect in Lucille’s attack.”
Dr. Vines turned to Byrd. The auburn beauty snapped, “That’s my call, Sheriff. I need Dr. Champion. This is my patient, not yours. Now, as Brandon suggested, I think it would be best if you all leave.”
Lucille coughed several times. Alex and Tara went into action. Their patient coughed again and muttered several words, but the only ones that were discernible chilled Brandon’s bones. “Wilde girl did this.”
Shelby was in trouble. Real trouble.
Lucille’s eyes opened and then she had another round of deep, awful coughing. All of them could see the blood on her lips.
What happened next filled him with dread.
Lucille stopped breathing.
“She’s flatlining” Dr. Vines said in an anxious tone. “Out. Now.”
As Brandon walked out with his dad and Byrd, Alex was grabbing the paddles that would hopefully shock Lucille back to the living.
He turned to the Elko County sheriff and recognized that look. Byrd had made up his mind who to go after. Shelby was on the bastard’s most wanted list for sure. Fuck.
“Son, can you head back to Wilde and tell Connie I’m going to be late?” his dad said to him. “I think she could use your help since I’ll be tied up here.”
His dad was giving him a signal to go to Shelby and get things going.
“Headed there now,” he answered. “It looks like you two might be here a while.”
“Not me,” Byrd said with a smirk. “I’m headed to the Elko Courthouse to get me a warrant for Shelby Taylor.”
Brandon bolted out the door to his car. He had to get to Shelby before Byrd did. She needed him. He brought out his cell and sent a text to Justin. Hopefully, he was still with her.
“You with Shelby?”
The message came back when he got to his car.
“Yes. How is it in Elko?”
Before opening his car door, he responded. “Things have turned bad. Keep her safe.”
* * * *
Shelby sat with Justin in her home, waiting for Brandon to return from Elko. His message was cryptic and terrifying.
“Things have turned bad.” What did Brandon mean by that?