Fredrick and the other guard were jogging towards me up from the river, so I waited for them there.
“We couldn’t see anything. They were gone. Of course, they could’ve just pulled up to a pier and waited for us to stop looking,” Fredrick grumbled.
“Is there any camera footage of the riverbank?”
“No, none. Is that blood in the pool? Is Malcolm okay?”
“He’s fine. He got hit by some flying glass is all. He said the first aid kit was in the downstairs bathroom, so I’m going to check and make sure he’s okay. Tell the Senator we’ll be over to talk to him as soon as we’re done here.”
“Okay, we’ll see you up there in a minute.”
I went back into the pool house and straight to the bathroom. He had the first aid kit out on the counter behind him, and he was looking back over his shoulder into the mirror, trying to see the cut. I moved into the room and closed the door behind me.
“I can’t reach it. I tried to clean it and bandage it and stuff, but I can’t be sure there isn’t still glass in the cut.”
“Here,” I said in the most gentle, nonthreatening voice I could manage when I was so furious, I was practically vibrating. I turned him to face the sink and dug through the first aid kit. When I had what I wanted, I took a few deep breaths to steady my hands so I could check the wound for any foreign objects. When I was sure the wound was empty, I cleaned around it carefully. I added some antiseptic cream and a bandage. “Okay, you’re all done,” I said, turning him to face me.
“I can’t believe someone shot at me,” he said.
“They shot at you, but they didn’t shoot you. Remember that.” Good idea or not, I couldn’t resist any longer, and I pulled him to me and wrapped my arms around him. His body relaxed into mine.
“I was so scared, Roman. I didn’t know what to do. No one has ever shot at me before,” he murmured into my chest.
“For someone who didn’t know what to do, you did everything right. You called for help. You got yourself someplace safe, and you stayed there until help arrived.” Even if you scared me half to death, I thought. Not that I would tell him that right now. Right now, I wanted him to know he did the right thing and that he was okay, not that when I saw him floating in the pool like that, my heart literally stopped.
“I think the shots came from a boat out on the water. I heard an engine running, but I didn’t think anything of it.”
I ran my hands up and down his back in what I’d hoped was a soothing motion. His voice sounded stronger, more normal. “Yeah, there was a boat speeding off when I made it outside. I wasn’t in time to see anything that would tell us who owned it. But, Trey, this changes things.”
He pulled back enough to look me in the eyes. “I know, it’s an escalation, right? That’s what the thing I read about stalkers called it.”
I chuckled. “You read about stalkers?”
“Of course I did. How else would I know what to expect?”
Okay, I would give him that. I hadn’t explained much to him because he seemed to have a good grasp of everything. Guess now I knew why. I’d assumed it came from years of his father being in the public eye. “Yes, this is definitely an escalation. Although, I’m not sure he was shooting at you. He hit something with each shot I heard, so I would say he’s a decent marksman and was aiming for the lights. Plus, hitting your orange juice glass from that distance took some skill. No one is that lucky.”
“So you don’t think he was trying to kill me?”
“Not today. But this isn’t a good development. Something has changed.” I still had my arms around him. I should step back and let him go, but instead, I reached for his face with my left hand, cupping his cheek. He leaned into my touch, and at that point, I knew it was hopeless. I brushed my thumb over his cheekbone, saying exactly what I told myself he didn’t need to hear. “When I saw you floating in the pool, damn Trey,” I said, my voice trembling. “I thought you’d been shot. I don’t think I’ve ever been so afraid.”