No matter how much she tried to convince him otherwise, Lucas refused to budge and let her go with him. He wanted her back in Ophelia, secure behind locked doors.
“I need you to stay here. It’ll go a lot better if I talk to her on my own, trust me.”
Those were the magic words. Exhaling softly, it was like all the fight left her. Tessa nodded. Trust him. Okay. It wasn’t like he hadn’t already taken a bullet for her. It didn’t matter that it was a graze, or that she bandaged it up as best she could. If it wasn’t for her, he wouldn’t have been hurt.
“I can make it on my own,” she said. She clicked her seatbelt open, let it whoosh behind her. “Good luck with the sheriff, Doctor.”
There was such defeat in her voice, he almost followed her out of the car. Only the fact that she glanced back at him as she reached the steps kept him in his seat. Lucas couldn’t let her see how much she affected him. She gave him a tiny wave that he returned with a nod, then entered Ophelia.
He waited two minutes after she closed the door behind her before he pulled away from the curb.
Lucas met Caitlin as she was storming out of her house. Having parked behind her cruiser, he climbed out of his car in time to intercept her before she got in her own vehicle.
She was still dressed in her uniform. The bottom two buttons were undone, though, like she’d been in a rush to put her shirt back on and fasten them back up. Given the amount of time that passed since her visit to his office, he figured she’d already been home and changed out of her uniform before something enticed her to get dressed again.
Lucas’s gaze strayed to her belt. Her holster was there, her pistol secured in its place. Interesting. If only he could remember if she’d been carrying earlier when she was in his office. Crime was so low in Hamlet, they rarely wore them as part of their standard uniform. He could count the number of times he’d seen her wear her gun out on a routine call on one hand. This wasn’t usual.
Then again, he didn’t routinely get shot at either. As far as he was concerned, “usual” flew out the window a couple of days ago.
She saw him waiting by her car, barely sparing him a second glance as she snapped at him to step away from the cruiser.
“Caity—”
“No, Luc. I don’t have time for you right now. Willie just buzzed me. There’s been reports of something sounding like gunshots on the mountain side of town. I’ve got to check it out.”
“But—”
“Wait.” Pushing off the cruiser’s window, she whirled on Lucas. “Your office is mountainside. Did you hear anything? Maybe like an hour ago?”
This was going to be bad. He already knew it. It was why he angled his body so that most of the gauze bandage was shadowed. He covered the rest with his hand, purposely hiding the injury. Though he crossed his hands over his chest, he kept his stance light, relaxed. When Caitlin found out he’d been tagged, shit was gonna hit the fan.
“Actually, yes. That’s why I’m here. I want you to promise me something first, though. Promise you won’t freak out no matter what I tell you, alright?”
She waved her hand anxiously, indicating he should get on with it. “Yeah, yeah. Sure. But hurry up. I’ve got be to be going. If you heard something down by your office, I really gotta go check it out.”
“Okay.” Slowly, dreading her reaction, he lifted his hand from his arm, revealing the gauze wrapped around his bicep.
She sucked in her breath through tightly gritted teeth the second she realized what he was showing her. And he knew that he’d been right.
“You promised you wouldn’t freak out,” he reminded her.
Her eyes flashed angrily as she glared at him. “I lied.”
Lucas started to unwrap the bandage. Maybe if she saw that he’d been barely nicked— “Look, it’s just a graze. I’m fine.”
She never took her unblinking gaze off his face. “Who. Did this. To you?”
He was used to Caitlin’s explosive temper. Throwing a temper tantrum, yelling, crying… that was her normal. He would never admit it, but when she shut down like this, her voice barely a whisper, it scared him. He never knew quite what his ex was capable of.
“I don’t know.”
“Lucas.”
“Honest, Cait, I have no idea. Shots came out of the trees, I ducked and covered.” Lucas tightened his gauze, tucking the tail under the bandage so that it stayed secure. “I was more concerned with getting out of there in one piece. Getting the identity of the shooter was the last thing on my mind.”
She nodded, her expression calm and collected. “Doesn’t matter. I’ll find them because there’s no way I’ll let them get away this. No one takes aim at one of mine. By the time I get through with them, they’ll wish they turned the gun on themselves. As for you, I want you under lockdown. Go home, Luc, and stay there. I need you safe. Until I finish processing the scene, I have to know you’re safe.”
That was more like Caitlin. Taking control, certain that she could save the world. If she had to lock Lucas in his bedroom so that she knew where he was, she would do it. But Lucas would never let her.