Susan Sleeman - Silent Night Standoff

Strike one.

Logan called SAC Frank Inman to fast-track Nicole’s lab work in the event she’d been a crime victim and her DNA was in a database. He’d agreed, but they both knew it was an extreme long shot.

Strike two.

Calls finished and still no Skyler, he tried to make a to-do list. He couldn’t concentrate, though, and his thoughts kept going back to her.

Not in a good way. Over and over, he replayed their last conversation the night he’d left for Chicago, two days before her annual shelter Christmas party. Leaving her to complete the final prep for the party without his help was lame, but he’d had to go that night, for his own peace of mind.

She held parties for the families on Valentine’s Day, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. If he’d spent another wonderful holiday with her, he would never have been able to leave. That would’ve ended with him resenting her for keeping him from his goals. Neither of them would’ve benefited from that.

Now she was mad. Good and mad and she was his main witness. He doubted she’d relax enough around him to come up with those repressed memories if she had any.

Strike three. He was out.

Enough waiting.

Logan crossed to the harried nurse to ask for an update. He heard Skyler’s voice coming from behind a divider, grinding his feet to a halt. He listened as a doctor explained that rest, particularly resting her eyes, would let her brain heal faster from her concussion.

A concussion. Just like Darcie suspected.

Skyler’s voice as she thanked the doctor for the quality care and said goodbye cut through his thoughts. The last thing he wanted was for her to think he was spying on her so he took his seat again and pulled out his phone. She stopped at the nurse’s desk, but Logan couldn’t make out their intense conversation.

When he finally heard her footsteps crossing over to him, he resisted making eye contact. Instead, he continued to thumb through the screens on his phone.

“Logan,” she said, now standing over him. “I thought I made it clear that I’d find a ride home.”

He looked up, and, though her brows were knitted in irritation, his heart turned over. Seeing her today had unsettled him more than he would’ve thought possible.

“I wanted to make sure you were okay.” He schooled himself to remain detached as he stood. “ Are you okay?”

“Fine.”

“No concussion or other damage?”

“I said I’m fine.” She turned away, her tension palpable.

She was unable to face him while dodging his question, which meant she was planning to hide the concussion from him. He opened his mouth to demand she tell him, but he had no right to know about it or anything else in her life. As she’d said, he’d given up that right when he’d walked out. But he wouldn’t let her jeopardize her health. He was about to ask more probing questions when Paul Parsons rushed into the lobby, his tie loosened at the neck and a five-o’clock shadow darkening his jaw.

“Good, I’m glad I caught you,” he said, sounding out of breath, his microphone conspicuously missing.

Skyler rubbed her forehead. “Now’s not a good time for an interview.”

“I’m not giving up on the interview, but this isn’t about that.” Parsons took a gulp of air. “I was outside and Clyde called the station, demanding to speak to me. They patched him through to my cell.”

“He what?” Logan asked, wondering what angle Parsons was working here.

“I know. Weird, right?” Parsons’s phone chimed, and he dug it out. “He said he saw my story outside the bank on TV and wanted me to pass a message on to Deputy Brennan.” He glanced at his phone. “Interesting. Very interesting.” He looked at Skyler. “My producer tracked the phone number Clyde called from.” He paused and, if possible, Logan knew he’d insert a drumroll here for effect.

“And?” Logan asked, trying to hurry him along.

Parsons turned to Skyler. “The phone’s registered to you.”

“Me?” Skyler seemed confused.

“He used your cell to call Jake at the bank,” Logan said. “Did you realize he kept it?”

“I...hadn’t really thought about it.”

“I’ll have Wagner check the bank and if it’s missing he can run a GPS search.”

“You’ll want to hear this message first.” Parsons sounded mad, likely because they hadn’t waited with bated breath for the message.

“Go ahead,” Logan said.

“Clyde was very specific about what he wanted me to say and made me write it down to get it right.” Parsons flipped a few pages on his pad. “He said, and I quote, ‘I see the fall didn’t do my job for me. When I’m through with you, Deputy, even the best E.R. docs in the world won’t be able to save you.’”

“He knows I’m here.” Her gaze shot around the space. “Which means he’s nearby. Watching.” Her focus returned to Logan, fear clouding her eyes.

Logan had spent hours in the lobby and knew for certain that Marty wasn’t in the waiting room. But he could be peering at them through the windows. Keeping his body between Skyler and the windows, he pushed her toward the nurses’ station.

“What’re you doing?” she protested.

He didn’t care if she got angry with him for making a decision for her again. He needed to get her out of the lobby before Marty made good on his threat and fired a shot through the window to end her life.

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