Blue Ridge Ricochet by Graves Paula

Author:Graves, Paula [Graves, Paula]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2015-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

The sirens had come and gone, and above Dallas’s hiding place in the cellar, the house had grown silent. Without a watch or any way to gauge the passage of time, he was beginning to grow restless and panicked.

The frantic sound of a man’s voice had carried all the way down to the cellar, but whoever had been banging on the front door had retreated moments later, and all had been silent for a long while.

Then came the sirens. They’d died away for a few minutes, then fired up again and began to fade into the distance.

And still, he waited.

He was certain more than an hour had passed before he finally heard the sound of footsteps on the floorboards overhead. Slow, deliberate steps moving closer until he heard the cellar door rattle open.

“You can come up.” Nicki’s voice sounded hoarse and tired.

He climbed the steps, meeting her at the top. She leaned against the wall across from him, purple shadows bruising the skin under her eyes. There was blood streaked on her jeans and the hem of her sweater, and her arms from the wrists up were similarly stained.

He looked her over, trying to find the source of the blood, but she didn’t seem to be injured. “Are you okay?” he asked, his heart thumping painfully against his sternum.

She looked down at her red-stained arms. “I need a shower.”

“Whose blood is that?”

“A woman I know. She was pregnant.”

“Was?”

“I don’t know if she still is. I don’t see how she could be.” She walked down the hall to the bathroom and entered, leaving the door open.

He followed, standing in the doorway as she turned on the tap and washed her arms in the sink. “Miscarriage?”

“Of a sort.”

“What does that mean?”

She soaped her skin up to her elbows liberally, the suds turning pink as they dripped into the sink. “Her man hits her. He didn’t admit it, but I think he hit her in the abdomen tonight.”

“Bastard.”

She nodded solemnly. “That’s the sheriff’s problem now.”

“I heard sirens.”

“That was the ambulance. The deputies came in lights on but siren off.” She rinsed off the soap and examined her arms closely, frowning. She grabbed the soap and lathered up again.

“The last thing you needed, huh? The cops nosing around?”

She rinsed off the soap again. “I’m hoping they won’t hold it against me. It’s not like I asked to be involved in this mess.”

“Why’d they come to you?”

“I told you, I took pains to build myself a reputation as the go-to person when someone in the BRI had a medical issue.”

He frowned at her bleak tone. “Were you able to do something for her?”

“I kept her from going into shock. I kept her calm. But a uterine hemorrhage is beyond my ability to stop outside of a hospital.” She examined her arms again and apparently found them satisfactory. She wiped them dry on a hand towel hanging nearby and turned to look at him. “This isn’t about me or this case. That son of a bitch knew she was pregnant.

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