“You had to go. Your sister…”
“She’s fine. Wanting to be left alone, that’s all.” He smoothed her hair back from her forehead. “Officer Kelly told me what happened. I won’t ask you to repeat it right now—”
On the other side of the bed, Matt assumed a cross-armed stance. “No, you won’t. This son of a bitch tried to kill my sister. What are you going to do about it?”
“Catch him.” His dark eyes met hers again. “Kelly thinks this could have been random. You were standing outside, your door open behind you. A burglar who saw a great opportunity.”
“He was right there,” she whispered, seeing the dark shape loom, feeling the terror anew. “Behind a car. He was waiting.”
She saw him understand. If the man had been after her, he had to have seen Tony arrive. Bided his time until she was alone. Would he have risked rushing her if she’d stepped back inside before Tony was out of sight?
“I tripped and fell down. If I hadn’t…”
His face spasmed. “I shouldn’t have left you alone.”
“You can’t be with me all the time.”
“I swear, I’m going to throttle Emily,” Matt said, violence vibrating in his voice. “How could she be that stupid?”
Beth already knew Tony shared the sentiment. She mumbled, “My fault for—”
Tony laid a hand over her mouth. “We’ve talked about this.”
Looking bullish again, Matt asked, “About what?”
Tony looked straight at her brother. “Beth tries to take responsibility for everything and everyone, and that means the blame, too.”
To her astonishment, red stained Matt’s cheeks, and he hunched his shoulders. “Yeah. I guess we’ve all gotten too used to it.”
“Yes, you have,” Tony said, with no give in his voice.
To her surprise and embarrassment, Matt touched her face much as Tony had, with a tenderness that made her eyes sting. “He’s right,” Matt murmured. “I’m sorry, Bethie. You…made it too easy for us.”
“That’s what Dad said, too.”
“Dad?” He stared at her. “Are you sure you weren’t hearing things?”
She started to shake her head and regretted it. Had she bumped her head? She didn’t remember, but it did ache. “No. He…apologized to me. He said some other things, too.” She told him, watching emotions wash over his face. He didn’t hide what he was thinking well. Like me, she thought, at least according to Tony.
“I don’t know if that makes it better or worse,” he grumbled.
She didn’t either. Right now, she didn’t want to think about Dad or—
The sliding door opened again, and the too-cheerful nurse announced she had the prescription and a sample of painkillers to get her through until tomorrow. “An orderly is on his way with a wheelchair.”
“Ashley is making up the bed in our spare room,” Matt said gruffly. “I’ll go get my car and meet you outside.”
“No.” Tony. “I’ll take her home and stay with her for the night.”
Matt’s eyes narrowed. “That’s a little above and beyond, don’t you think?” His gaze dropped to the hand Tony was holding. “Please tell me—”
Tony stared him down. “It’s none of your business.”
“Yes, but…” His pleading gaze met hers. “What if he arrests Dad?”
“He won’t. We both know Dad would never do anything like that.”
Her brother’s mouth opened and closed a couple times. Finally, he settled for a surly, “He never admitted he was more aware than he let on, either.”
Beth couldn’t argue with that, except one had nothing to do with the other. Anyway, she didn’t want to argue about anything. She wanted to go home, take a pain pill and snuggle into her own bed. Preferably with Tony wrapped around her.
When she thanked her brother for being there for her, he gave way. Relieved not to have to take her home with him? She couldn’t tell. Tony went out to move his pickup, while Matt walked beside her as the orderly wheeled her down the corridor.