Valerie Hansen - Explosive Secrets

Several other members of the Sagebrush P.D. and fire department were milling around the rescue and police vehicles parked in the street. Some regular officers had cordoned off the apartment grounds and were detouring traffic. That was probably unnecessary, yet Jackson didn’t complain. He had mistakenly underestimated their foes and an innocent bystander had almost paid for his laxity.

He went first to Titan and the fellow K-9 officer who was tending to him. Valerie Salgado’s Rottweiler had been the one wounded on these premises a few days ago and since Valerie was on her own for the present, she had volunteered to look after Titan while Jackson spoke to their captain.

A tall woman with green eyes, freckles and long, reddish hair, Salgado was seated in one of the SUVs, petting Titan to soothe his jangled nerves.

“How’s he doing now?” Jackson asked, approaching.

“Better. He’s not shaking nearly as much as he was when I got here. What happened, anyway? Didn’t he alert properly?”

“The dog did fine.” He reached toward his canine partner to affectionately ruffle his velvety ears. “I was the one who messed up. I let a civilian get ahead of me and she picked up the bomb before I could stop her.”

“That’s when it went off?”

“No, thank God. Literally. I had a few seconds to grab it and throw it. Unfortunately, the only place I could pitch it was into her apartment.”

“Better a few dented walls than dented heads.” She gently stroked Titan’s broad back, wiggling her fingers, much to the dog’s delight. “What a good boy.”

“Do you have time to mind him for me a little while longer? I want to check with the EMTs and see how the vic is doing.” Jackson inclined his head toward a parked ambulance.

“Sure. No sweat. I’ll take him back to the station with me and you can pick him up there later, if you want. Lexi won’t be able to work for a while yet, and I miss relaxing like this.” She sighed. “Petting a dog lowers your blood pressure and does all kinds of good things for your state of mind.”

“I know. Just save me a little Titan chilling time. I’ll need it after I get through showing the lady over there what happened to her apartment.”

He could hear Valerie’s light laughter behind him as he started for the ambulance.

One of the paramedics headed him off before he got all the way to where Nicolette was being treated.

“Worth. Hold up,” the medic said. “I need to talk to you for a sec.”

“Sure.” He peered past the shorter, younger man’s shoulder. “Is there a problem?”

“Not yet. At least not that I know of, but you should know that this victim is pregnant before you continuing questioning her.”

That brought Jackson up short. “She’s okay, though? I hit her pretty hard when I was shoving her out of the way.”

“Seems to be. It’s early in the pregnancy so she’s not showing. There’s no way you’d have known unless she chose to tell you.”

He huffed quietly. “I figured she was holding something back, but I had no idea that was it. No wonder she seemed so overwrought.”

“Yeah, well, I wanted you to know.”

Jackson clapped him on the shoulder and stepped past. “Thanks, man. I owe you one.”

The ambulance was positioned at an angle to the curb so it could go into action without delay. Jackson made sure he was smiling as he circled it and came face-to-face with Nicolette.

The woman’s eyes were misty as she looked up at him and asked, “Are you okay?”

“I’m supposed to be the one asking you that.”

“I’m fine.” She returned his smile. “Well, relatively fine.”

When he said, “I’m really sorry about your apartment,” he saw her face grow ashen.

“How bad is it?”

“Truthfully? It’s a mess. But the good news is we’re all safe and sound.” Noticing that her arms were crossed to hug her torso he added, “All of us.”

Rosy patches replaced the lack of color in her cheeks. “The medics told you?”

“About the baby? Yes. I hope I didn’t hurt you when I knocked you down. I had no idea...”

“I’d lots rather be knocked over than blown to bits, so thank you for saving me—us. When I saw your dog react that way, I didn’t put two and two together fast enough. If you hadn’t been there...”

She raised her eyes to the apartment building. “I can’t see any damage to the outside.”

“It wasn’t a large explosion,” Jackson explained. “I don’t think they actually intended to kill you. Not if they really do think you’re withholding information they need.”

Nicki rolled her eyes. “I am not. What do I have to do to convince everybody of that?”

“I don’t know that you can. Or if you should,” he replied soberly. “You might be better off if the criminals keep on believing you do have info they need.”

Shoulders slumped, she exhaled noisily. “Okay. What’s next? How long before I can go back inside?”

“Hours, at least. The bomb crew and our local techs need to comb the wreckage. If the captain okays it and you’re up to it, I suggest you go on to work for the present.”

“Will that be safe?”

“You’re safer in a crowd than you would be alone in that apartment.” He smiled. “Besides, I plan to accompany you.”

“My boss won’t like it if you just hang around and watch me work. He never approved of my... Never mind.”

Jackson assumed, judging by the face she was making, that she was remembering her now-absent boyfriend. How any man could abandon a woman like that, after what he’d done to her, made Jackson furious. “You’re sure there’s no way your ex could be the one harassing you?”

“No way. After I told Bobby Lee about the baby, he said some really awful things and insisted he never wanted to see me again.” She grimaced. “I know it’s not him.”

“You’re positive?”

“Absolutely. He packed up and left the day we argued while I was at work. Friends tell me he was headed for Dallas. Personally, I don’t care where he is. As far as I’m concerned, good riddance.”

“He’s a fool” was all Jackson dared say. If he had opened up and told her everything he was thinking, she would have been even more embarrassed.

He’d always had a strong sense of honor, of right and wrong. Maybe that was why his job seemed to fit him so well. And why he felt such an undeniable obligation to step up and take care of Nicolette when her need was so great. She would never know how deeply, how personally, her plight affected him, of course, because he would never tell her.

But he would be there for her, helping and guarding her to the best of his ability, for as long as she needed him to be. It wasn’t only because she might help the department solve a difficult case, either.

Looking after her was simply the right thing to do.

Whether she liked it or not.

Whether she was helping the investigation or not.

* * *

During the drive to work, Nicki had visualized her poor apartment, imagining the worst. The place hadn’t been much to start with, but it was hers. The landlord had just repaired the door the police had damaged when they’d burst in to arrest Murke. No telling how upset the apartment manager was going to be when he saw what had happened today. She hoped there was insurance to cover this new damage because it was bound to cost a lot more than the broken door had, and she was pretty sure the authorities were not going to pick up the tab this time.

She parked her trusty old sedan in the usual spot behind The Truck Stop Diner and paused to try to compose herself. She’d been just getting over the jitters left after Murke’s attack only to have her life thrown off-kilter once again.

If the familiar police car hadn’t been following close behind her all the way, she wasn’t sure she’d have been able to convince herself to go ahead and report for work. But there he was, on duty as promised.