Dana R. Lynn - Amish Christmas Emergency

She stood, began to pace. “I was investigated because I was on duty that night. All the night staff were, but the police looked especially hard at me because of our relationship. Something about the significant other often being the culprit. To make matters worse, I had gone in to visit him during my break.” Alexa shook her head. “It was like being on one of those TV crime shows.”

No doubt. “I’m guessing that you were cleared of any wrongdoing.” It wasn’t really a question. If she hadn’t been, she would never have been hired as a nurse practitioner again.

“Yes. By the police. But the other nurses at the hospital were noticeably colder to me. I could tell that they weren’t convinced. Someone started the rumor that I had driven him to attempt to kill himself and then had finished the job. It was horrible. I knew that wasn’t the case, but still, I did wonder if it was my fault. If I had failed him. The guilt nearly destroyed me. Which is why I handed in my notice and sought out a new home in a quiet town where nothing exciting ever happened.”

“Why do you think you failed him?”

The glance she flung in his direction clearly said she thought he was being thick. “Seriously? I’m a nurse. I came back from a medical conference to find the man I planned to marry had been admitted into the hospital after supposedly trying to kill himself.”

“Surely, though, you knew you weren’t at fault when he died at the hospital.”

Alexa shrugged. “I wasn’t the nurse taking care of him, so obviously I knew that I hadn’t made the mistake with the IV. However, I thought that if I had realized he’d been depressed and gotten him help, he wouldn’t have been in the hospital to begin with.”

“Alexa, I will look into his death and the situation at the hospital. I will say this—I find it too much of a coincidence that both your fiancé and a man under your care at a medical facility have been hurt, or worse. Add to the mix the flowers that you got from a flower shop destroyed by arson.” He tightened his lips. He knew in his gut that Brett had been murdered. Without absolute proof, though, he was reluctant to voice the thought. Even though he was sure both Parker and Alexa were thinking the same thing.

“Alexa? Are you all right? Maybe you should sit down.” Parker’s concerned voice broke into his thoughts.

Looking up at the woman standing on the other side of the table, he understood why. If he thought her face was white before, it was completely colorless now. For a second, he feared she’d faint. He stood and moved to her side. Gently he urged her back to her seat. When she sat, he pulled out the chair beside her and sank into it.

“Alexa?” He touched her shoulder.

Finally, she turned her head, slowly, like it took great effort. “He followed me, didn’t he? The man stalking me followed me from Chicago. I hadn’t realized that someone was watching me there, too.”

That startled him. “Too? Alexa, has someone been watching you?”

The urgency of his voice seemed to jerk her out of her of the dark place she’d gone in her mind.

“I don’t know. I can’t be sure. It’s just that sometimes...sometimes I feel like someone’s watching me. You know the feeling?”

Both sergeants nodded.

“Where are you when this happens?” Parker asked. “At work? Home?”

She raised her hands, palms up. “Yes, to both. Home, work, once outside the post office. I never actually saw anyone suspicious. Nor have I noticed the same person in several places.”

Gavin digested that information, not liking it at all. “What about other incidents at the clinic? Anything unusual or suspicious stand out to you?”

When she shook his head, he held in a sigh. Not from impatience with her. She was a victim here. No, he was impatient with the idea that he had to let her go home without any assurance that the attacker was beyond bars. Who would protect her?

He would have to make sure that she was safe.

“Was it my fault?” she asked in a small, dull voice. “Did Brett die and did Noah get shot because of me?”

“No!” She flinched from the force of his response. He gentled his voice. “No. Alexa, it’s not on you that some creep is following you. You did not ask for it. And you certainly don’t deserve it. No woman does.”

“I get that, but Brett—”

He cut her off. “Brett loved you, right? I am sure that he wouldn’t want you to blame yourself.”

Gavin waited for her nod, then he stood. “Okay. Here’s what we’re going to do. I’ll see about getting you some protection where you live. Obviously, you’ll need to take some time off work—”

“I can’t!” she interrupted him.

“What do you mean you can’t?” Why would anyone want to go to work when someone was literally gunning for them?

Parker stood and came around the table. “Alexa, you’re in danger. Going to work will bring that danger to the others who work there.”

“Gah!” She exploded into a standing position so fast her wooden chair fell over with a loud clatter. Parker stooped to pick it up. Alexa strode to the window. The tension was vibrating off her. “I get what you’re saying. I do. But I don’t have a choice. Maybe if we weren’t in the middle of a flu epidemic. As it is, the clinic is already short-staffed. We have patients who depend on us.”

Gavin considered the situation. “Hold on for just a minute, okay?” He strode to the door.

“He’s always on the go. Don’t mind him,” he heard Parker murmur to Alexa as he exited. He rolled his eyes, smiling briefly to himself. The amusement was short-lived.

He had a job to do. A woman to protect, and a stalker to find. A stalker who had already murdered in order to get close to his obsession.

A stalker who would kill again unless Gavin could stop him.

Using a knuckle, Gavin rapped sharply on Chief Paul Kennedy’s office door. Impatiently he waited for the chief to answer. He was getting ready to knock again when Lieutenant Jace Tucker strolled past him.

“The chief’s not in, Jackson,” Tucker informed him. “He had to go with his wife to the doctor. He said he should be back in the next hour or so. Anything I can help you with?”

“Is Irene okay?” He hated to think of anything being wrong with the chief’s feisty red-haired wife. Irene was well-loved by all the officers. Paul Kennedy was her second husband. Her first, Tony Martello, had been a solid cop. And a good friend. Four years ago, he’d been killed in the line of duty. The loss had been devastating to all involved. Especially to Irene. They were all happy when she and the chief had found each other.

She was also Lieutenant Tucker’s sister. He didn’t seem too worried. So it couldn’t be that bad. Right?

“Nothing serious,” Tucker said, confirming his thoughts. “What do you need?”

Switching gears, Gavin related what he’d learned so far. “What I’d really like to do is to order some sort of protection for Alexa.”

At this moment nothing was more important than the frightened woman sitting in the conference room. “The woman ran from Chicago. And all evidence points to her stalker being from there, too.”

Lieutenant Tucker straightened, his gaze sharpening. “Really? Let’s put this on a priority level. I will inform the chief when he gets back. Can you hang with Miss Grant until we get the details worked out?”

He ignored the jolt of relief at the words. He should not, under any circumstances, have a preference for which officer stayed with Alexa. Nor should he be glad to have an excuse to stay with her.

The sooner he got her back to her place and another officer watching over her, the better. He’d been with her only a couple of hours and she was already messing with his mind. He didn’t need that. Hadn’t his dealings with Lacey taught him anything? He was better off alone than setting himself up for that kind of heartbreak. And heartbreak and disappointment it would be. He was the kind of man that women liked until someone steady and smooth-talking came along. Someone like his brother, Sam.