LITMIR.BIZ

       Chapter Four

      Shelby was in the enemy’s camp, aka the Sweetwater Springs sheriff’s office. She was plenty glad to be alive and away from those kidnappers, but this was the living, breathing definition of uncomfortable. Not just for her.

      But for Seth, too.

      Two of Jewell’s sons were here: Sheriff Cooper McKinnon and his younger brother, Deputy Colt McKinnon. Both were on their phones. Both were working this investigation that’d just been dropped in their laps. Not only her and Seth’s abduction, but also the murder of the man in the warehouse. Seth and she had already written out their statements, but Cooper had made it clear he still had more questions.

      So did she, but she wasn’t sure she’d find those answers here.

      While Shelby wasn’t on friendly terms with Cooper or Colt, the two brothers weren’t exactly friendly with Jewell, either. In fact, judging from the frosty looks they were occasionally aiming at Seth, they also didn’t care much for their stepbrother. Probably because Jewell had raised Seth after abandoning them.

      Yes, that definitely had created some tension.

      Tension that had turned every muscle in Seth’s body to iron. Not that Shelby had personal hands-on knowledge of that, because he’d kept his distance from her after they’d arrived at the sheriff’s office. But she could tell from the grip Seth had on his borrowed phone and his terse responses to the caller that he was running on spent adrenaline and a steady dose of frustration.

      Shelby knew exactly how he felt.

      “Well?” she prompted the moment Seth finished his latest call. “Anything on the missing men who tried to kill us?”

      He shook his head. “The FBI has a team looking for them. They’ll turn up.” Then Seth shot a narrowed glance at Cooper, who’d also just finished another round of calls. “Anything on that dead body?”

      “I’m working on it,” Cooper said, his voice practically a snarl. “The CSIs are processing both the barn and the warehouse now. Another is going through the kidnappers’ truck that you drove here.”

      Shelby wondered if the local CSIs and FBI were actually cooperating with each other. Maybe. Jurisdiction fell under the sheriff’s office, but that clearly hadn’t stopped Seth from calling in his FBI buddies. That might not sit well with Cooper. Of course, nothing probably sat well with him at the moment.

      She didn’t care who found answers. Shelby just wanted someone to get to the bottom of this.

      Whatever this was.

      “What about my truck and Shelby’s car?” Seth asked. “Any sign of them?”

      Cooper shook his head. “They weren’t at the warehouse or the barn. No vehicles were found at either location.”

      Probably because the kidnappers hadn’t wanted Seth and her to use them to attempt an escape. Still, if the vehicles turned up, they might contain clues as to who had moved them.

      Seth didn’t ask Cooper anything else. Or say anything to her. Instead, he launched into another call. Shelby wanted to make some calls of her own, but she didn’t have a phone, and all the lines in the sheriff’s office were tied up while they were still trying to track down those men.

      Besides, the main reason she hadn’t asked for a phone was because she really didn’t have anyone to call.

      Her brother Aiden was away on a trip with his fiancée and wouldn’t be back until tomorrow. Her sister had her hands full taking care of her adopted twins. That left her mother, who was dealing with her own demons and had checked herself into a psychiatric facility. It would only make those demons worse to hear how close to dying her youngest daughter had come just a few hours earlier. Her mom would want to know the details. Details that Shelby didn’t want to say aloud. The kidnapping. Being tied up.

      Those gunshots.

      She’d been through a lot of tense situations, but no one had ever fired shots at her and tried to murder her.

      The sounds and images came flying at her like bullets. They hit her hard, causing her knees to buckle, and Shelby staggered a little before she could stop herself.

      Seth was right there, even before the stagger ended, and he took hold of her arm and sat her down in the chair next to one of the deputy’s desks. He didn’t stop there. Though he didn’t look particularly pleased about the chore, he went to the water cooler, filled a paper cup and brought it back to her.

      “Drink this,” he insisted. “And stay in that chair.” No bedside manner. Zero. But the water was a nice touch since she actually might need it. Her throat felt ready to snap shut.

      “I’m all right,” she managed to say. “I’m just a little dizzy.” Along with the nerves zinging in her body.

      Seth checked her eyes, no doubt trying to figure out if she was telling the truth or anything close to it. “When you got examined at the hospital, did the doctor say you’d get dizzy?” he asked.

      Shelby nodded, sipped the water, stayed seated. “He said it was a possibility.” Along with nausea and other unpleasant side effects. “They won’t know what kind of drug was used on us until they get back lab results.”

      When Seth continued to stare at her, Shelby stopped in midsip and looked up. “Why? What did the doctor tell you?” Because it occurred to her then that Dr. Howland might have given her the diluted version of what she could expect. “Did those men do something to us that I should know about?”

      Seth shook his head. “No. I’m not keeping anything from you.”

      Good. They were on the same information page. Well, hopefully.

      At least there hadn’t been a sexual assault. Shelby had been checked for that. For any signs of trauma, too, but other than scrapes, bruises and a single needle puncture mark on her arm, she was okay.

      Physically anyway.

      It might take forty years or so to stop hearing the sound of those gunshots. Or for her to forget what it felt like to be so close to dying.

      “You’re not dizzy,” she pointed out.

      Maybe because Seth didn’t experience such lowly human reactions. He only shrugged and stared down at her with those icy blue eyes. They coordinated well with his icy expression.

      Except that changed a little, too.

      “Once we’re done here, I’ll drive you to your place so you can get some rest.” Then Seth huffed, cursed under his breath and generally looked disgusted

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