Terri Reed - Duty Bound Guardian

He shook his head. Erin Eagleton was a senator’s daughter and the girlfriend of the victim. “She disappeared the night Michael was murdered.”

And a necklace with a starfish charm engraved on the back with the initials EE, along with a child’s blue mitten, had been found at the crime scene. They hadn’t released that tidbit of information yet. Did the presence of the necklace—determined to be Erin Eagleton’s—at Michael’s murder scene make Erin the murderer or another victim? At least they knew the child who’d dropped the mitten—even if they still didn’t know which child—was at a safe house with the rest of the foster kids from the All Our Kids home. None of the children would admit to having been near the congressman’s home—out of fear. But one of them likely had seen who had killed Michael Jeffries and shot his father, Congressman Harland Jeffries. Had Erin Eagleton been a witness? The perpetrator? A victim? Where was she?

Those questions plagued the Capitol K-9 Unit as they searched for Erin, grasping at any and all clues that might lead them to her and to Michael Jeffries’s murderer.

“When was the last time you spoke with Erin?” he asked, hoping this woman would have some useable clue to Erin’s whereabouts.

Lana frowned and appeared to be searching her memory. “Over a month ago.”

“What did you talk to Erin about?”

“Art. She and her family are patrons of the arts.” Lana’s voice took on an impatient edge. “The Eagletons have donated large sums of money to the museum. Erin Eagleton was the contact person for the Eagleton Foundation.”

“Do you always talk to donors?”

Her chin lifted. “Personal contact is important.”

“Were you aware that Erin Eagleton was Michael Jeffries’s girlfriend?”

“I’d heard that.” Puzzlement clouded her eyes. “What does any of this have to do with me? Or the attack at the museum?”

“Do you know where Erin is now?”

Lana let out an exasperated sigh. “We weren’t friends, Officer Donovan.” Her hand went to her throat. “You don’t think I had anything to do with her disappearance, do you?”

Adam didn’t like all the unknown variables. First Rosa Gomez’s suspicious death, then Congressman Jeffries’s son murdered by an unknown assassin and the congressman shot and left for dead. Michael’s girlfriend, Erin Eagleton, now missing. Lana and Rosa were sisters. Lana and Erin knew each other.

Now Lana had been attacked?

Another piece in the ever-expanding puzzle? Or coincidence?

Adam didn’t believe in coincidence. Yes, there were times life seemed random and out of control, but his faith in God gave him perspective. God was in control, but He allowed humans the free will to make choices.

Choices that affected others, like murder and theft.

Though Adam couldn’t see the big picture, God could and would reveal what needed to be known when the time was right. Until then Adam would work with the bits and pieces he had that collectively didn’t make sense. Yet.

Reserving judgment on Lana’s role in this mystery, he said, “You might know something that could help us find her.”

“I wish I did.” Concern shone in her eyes. Genuine? Or fake? “Erin seems like a nice person, but we only talked art. She’s very knowledgeable.”

Whether Erin was nice or not remained to be seen. If she had murdered her boyfriend and shot his father, then no, Adam wouldn’t categorize Erin as nice. But if she witnessed the murder and had been kidnapped by the unidentified assassin, then Erin could be in grave danger.

If not dead already.

He shifted his focus back to Lana. “Can you think of anyone who would want to hurt you?”

Her lips pursed. “Other than my ex-husband? No.”

The file Adam had on her said there had been domestic violence issues. He couldn’t abide men who abused women.

“Could the attacker have been your ex-husband?”

Her gaze jerked back to him. Her nose wrinkled up as she contemplated his question. “I don’t think so. This man was bulky, like a bodybuilder. Mark isn’t a bodybuilder. He prefers alcohol over exercise.”

Adam made a mental note to check on Mark’s whereabouts at the time of the break-in.

The door to the hospital room swung open and the doctor walked in. There was no mistaking the disapproval in the older man’s eyes behind his black-framed glasses. No doubt the good doctor still had his feathers ruffled from earlier when Adam had wanted to question Lana the moment she’d first awakened in the wee hours of the morning.

The doc had put the kibosh on Adam talking to her, telling Adam in no uncertain terms that his questions would have to wait until they knew Miss Gomez’s head injury hadn’t caused any permanent damage.

The doctor turned his attention to his patient. “How are you this morning?”

“I’m feeling better. Not even much of a headache,” Lana replied.

The smile she gave the doctor was warm, lighting up her whole face, and it belied the wincing Adam had witnessed a moment ago. His gaze narrowed. She apparently was accomplished at putting on a good front.

“Can I be discharged now?” Lana asked, in a hopeful voice.

The doctor moved so that he blocked Adam’s view of Lana. “Let me do my examination and then we can decide.” Throwing a glance over his shoulder, the doctor sent Adam a pointed look. “Do you mind?”

“I’ll be right outside,” Adam said for both the doctor and Lana’s sake. If what Adam suspected was true—that whoever killed Rosa Gomez was now targeting Lana—then he needed to know why. Lana may have useful information, even if she didn’t realize she did.

* * *

Lana breathed a sigh of relief when Adam disappeared out the door. There was something about the man that scraped at her nerves and set her senses on alert.

As the doctor did his exam, asking her all sorts of questions and taking her vitals, her mind grappled to come to grips with the officer’s suspicion that whoever killed her sister could now want her dead, as well.

It didn’t make sense. She and her sister had nothing in common. They barely knew each other. Rosa had cut Lana out of her life three years ago.

No. Adam was wrong. Whatever the intruder had been after last night had nothing to do with her or her sister. She still couldn’t believe the arrow hadn’t been stolen. Why go to the trouble of sneaking into the museum, breaking the glass display case, taking the arrow from its bed only to leave it behind?

She was glad he had left the artifact whatever his reason and the relief was so overwhelming she almost wept. She prayed the damage done wasn’t too extensive.

“Okay, young lady, I think you’re safe to go home, but I want you to take it easy. Lots of rest and plenty of water. You came in here with not only a nasty bonk on the head but you were dehydrated, as well.”

She grimaced. Now that she thought about it, she remembered she hadn’t eaten or drunk anything yesterday, except a cup of coffee. She tended to skip meals when she was working. “Yeah, I’ll try to do better.”

“No try. Do.”

She laughed, the motion sending a ball of pain ricocheting through her skull but she held her smile in place. “Okay, Doctor.”

He smiled. “I’ll have Cindy retrieve your clothes and initiate the discharge papers. Do you have someone to drive you home?”

Considering she didn’t own a car, she would have to call a friend to pick her up and take her to the home. Or she could take public transit, her normal mode of transportation. “I’ll figure it out. Thank you, Doctor Evans.”

With a nod, he left the room. Almost immediately Adam and his partner were striding back through the door. Dog and man moved as one unit with synchronized lethal grace. A daunting pair.