Page 19 of Hunting the Crossbow Killer

“Since when did you start referring to him by his first name?”

Her stomach tightened as she rushed to cover her mistake. “Since I started trying to build rapport in search of the truth. You were saying?”

He gave her a suspicious look, as if he didn’t believe her. But he continued. “He’s one of the main sponsors on cleanup days, pays to have salvage boats come in and take out debris in the more dangerous areas. And, last summer, on one of those rare days when he showed up around the crowds, he ended up saving some swimmers. They got hung up in some sunken tree branches. He dived in before anyone even realized the swimmers were in trouble, got them free. One of them wasn’t breathing when O’Brien pulled her out. He performed CPR until she was breathing again. But it was touch and go for quite a while.”

“The little girl who almost died, before the chopper was here?”

He nodded. “And that’s not all. There are other things. Like, if someone can’t pay their rent, suddenly an envelope of money appears in their mailbox. And the anonymous donor of the chopper money like you said. Nothing like that ever happened around here until he showed up. I can’t be sure what exactly occurred in his past with his wife. But I am sure of one thing. The man he is today is a good man. And I trust him more than I’d trust half the people here in town who make themselves out to be way better than they actually are.”

The silence stretched out between them.

His face reddened as if everything he’d said was already coming back to haunt him. “It must be because you’re an FBI agent that my mouth got the better of me. You tell the chief I saidany of that and I’ll deny it. He wouldn’t take kindly to one of his officers, as you said earlier, talking that way about an ex-con.”

She shifted slightly forward on the couch. “I won’t tell if you don’t tell him about me.”

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I have the same doubts about Aidan as you.” She winced and motioned toward his hand on her arm. “Unless you’re trying to completely cut off all circulation, you think you could ease up there?”

“What? Oh, sorry.” His face reddened again as he reduced the pressure. “That bleeding isn’t going to stop on its own.”

“Stitches?”

“Stitches. I’ll get that pressure bandage in place and drive you to the hospital.”

“Heck, no. I’m not riding in a car for over an hour for two stitches.”

“More like three. Maybe even four.”

She blinked. “Four?” She craned her neck to try to see the underside of her arm.

He pushed her back against the couch. “Stop worrying. I’ll give you a shot of painkiller first. You won’t feel a thing.”

“Except the shot,” she grumbled.

He laughed and, a little too eagerly for her peace of mind, reached for a hypodermic needle in his medical bag.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Grace stood at the largest picture window in Aidan’s cabin, staring out at the rapidly darkening sky. “They’ve been gone too long. And once again no one’s answering their cell phones.”

“Standard operating procedure,” Collier called out from the kitchen. “Radio silence while hunting a suspect. Or, in this case, phone silence. Hey, looks like some venison stew’s in here. You think O’Brien would mind if we had some? I’m starving.”

“Accepting drinks from a civilian is one thing. Eating up their food is another.”

“I skipped dinner.”

“So did I.” She headed for the door. “I’m going to check on them and see if they—”

He was suddenly in front of her, his back to the door. “If you want to find out whether I’m more afraid of you or my boss, trust me. Dawson trumps you any time.”

She flipped her jacket back, revealing her holster. “I have a gun.”

He snorted. “Mine’s bigger.”

“Oh, good grief. I know karate, Collier. Don’t make me hurt you.”

“You’ve got four stitches in your arm and it has to be sore. Besides, your black belt doesn’t scare me. I weigh twice what you do, at least. All I have to do is sit on you and—oof!”

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