things aren’t quite the way they were before, but you’re here and that means so damn much.” Colton’s voice had gotten choked up so he stopped talking for a moment to compose himself. “We’ll just keep praying for a miracle and maybe check into that surgery.”
Chris swallowed the lump in his throat. “Thanks, Colton. I’m glad you’re here, too.” There had been a time after Colton had quit his job in the Air Force when that statement would have been far from the truth. Today it was fact. He was glad to have his big brother to talk to.
The men were still talking when Detective Brian Barnes walked into the cafeteria, looking more haggard and sleep-deprived than normal.
After he’d bought his huge cup of coffee, Colton waved him over and grabbed a chair from one of the neighboring tables. “Hey, Brian, come join us.”
Brian sunk down into the chair and mumbled, “Thanks.”
“Damn, man, you don’t look like you’ve slept since we saw you at the wedding on Sunday,” Colton said.
Brian ran a hand over his tired face. “Well, that’s appropriate since I don’t feel like I have, either.”
“Are you working the serial rapist investigation?” Chris asked.
Brian glanced up sharply. “No one is supposed to know about that. Where did you hear about it?”
“Julie mentioned it.”
He nodded. “How’s she doing? I heard from Pete that she was hospitalized with pneumonia.”
“She’s finally starting to get better.”
“That’s good. To answer your earlier question,” he glanced around the cafeteria, as if making sure no one else was listening, “there’s been another attack. They brought her in last night, barely alive. That makes eight girls. I don’t like it.”
“Is the police department getting any closer to finding a suspect?” Colton asked.
Brian shook his head. “This guy isn’t leaving many clues and the powers that be won’t let us warn the public. If we could let the public know what’s going on, the likelihood of us catching him would be so much higher. People report suspicious things when they know they need to be watching for it.”
He shook his head in disgust. “Keep a watchful eye on the girls. This guy’s a nasty piece of work and with every attack, he seems to be getting worse. Unfortunately, I think someone’s going to have to die before they’ll untie our hands on the situation.” Brian’s mouth screwed up in anger and frustration.
Brian continued to drink his coffee, but the man looked dead on his feet to Chris. “Detective, I don’t think that coffee’s going to do it for you. Surely, they have a bed around here somewhere so that you could catch a combat nap. Thirty minutes would help some.”
Grimacing, Brian looked down at his watch and shook his head. “Unfortunately, I have to go report in to my superiors about where my investigation is going, or not going as the case may be. Thanks for keeping me company. Tell Julie I hope she feels better soon. I’ll catch you guys later.”
* * *
“Knock, knock.”
Julie glanced away from Rachel’s scowling face to smile at Penelope standing at the door to her hospital room. The effects of her morning sickness lingered in Pen’s exhausted eyes and the hint of green to her skin tone. “Hey, stranger. How are you feeling? Colton said that you’ve been kind of rough lately.”
“Aw, you know Colt. He’s over-protective and it kills him that he can’t fix this. Seeing me spend my days hunched over the toilet is not his idea of fun. Not that it’s my favorite place to be either, but I’m learning. Crackers and ginger-ale are my new best friends. Sorry, you and Cassie will have to take a step back for the next few months.” She sat down beside Julie’s bed. “You look better than the last time I saw you, but that’s probably because you were unconscious at the time. How are you feeling? We saw Chris rushing out the front door and it had me worried for a little bit.”
Stunned, Julie exchanged a concerned look with Rachel. They hadn’t seen Chris, but they hadn’t exactly been quiet with their argument. Oh no, he couldn’t have heard what they were talking about, could he? She scrambled through her brain, trying to remember exactly what had been said. “You saw Chris? Just now? And he was leaving?”
Penelope nodded.
“He never came in, but he must have heard us. Rachel—” Panic jolted through her system, but she couldn’t do anything about it as a coughing fit took over.