Golden Gate Park. He’s alive. But barely. I want you to come with me.”
That surprised her. “Are we going to the hospital?”
“Not yet. There’s an officer already there and the victim is being treated. We’re heading to the Welcome Home homeless shelter. The director specifically asked me to come see her and she said it was an emergency. That it had something to do with this latest attack.”
“But why do you need me to come with you?”
“Because despite you’re belief that things are coming to an end between us, I care about you, Nina. I’m not leaving you alone. And even once these murders are solved? I’m not planning on leaving you even then. Whether we decide to call it love or something else, it doesn’t matter. We’ll settle things between us eventually. Now let’s go.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
AS THE WELCOME HOME homeless shelter came into view, Nina’s eyes widened.
“What the hell?” Simon exploded.
Three black-and-whites were parked zigzag up and down the street. Uniformed police officers were attempting to push back the gathering crowd on the sidewalk while two more stood directly in front of the shelter talking heatedly with Elaina Scott and a gray-haired man wearing a blue polo shirt. Simon remembered seeing the man in the office the first time he’d visited the shelter.
The shelter itself looked reminiscent of bedlam. From open windows and the doorway, the inhabitants were shouting. Some even looked to be crying.
Simon threw his car into Park. Nina had her seat belt off and the door opened even before Simon turned off the ignition.
“Stay in the car!” Simon yelled at her.
She ignored his order, and instead hit the sidewalk. “I can help,” she threw out over her shoulder.
“Damn it, Nina!” He caught her arm and pulled her to a stop before she’d taken more than five steps. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Don’t you ever separate yourself from me like that again. Not when we’re on a call.” He shook her slightly. “Do you understand me?”
She immediately looked penitent for worrying him. “Whoa. Okay, Simon. I’m sorry. I just—”
“You just were thinking of others more than you were thinking of yourself. But that is not acceptable. You do it again, and I will haul your ass out of here immediately. Got it?”
“Got it,” she said quietly.
He stared at her, saw that she was serious then let her go. “I see the director. Let’s go.”
As Simon walked toward Elaina Scott, the man in the blue polo shirt walked inside the shelter. Of course, he immediately wondered why. If he was avoiding Simon for some reason. He’d make sure to talk to the man. But first he had to get his head on straight.
Simon took a calming breath, cursing the panic he’d felt at seeing Nina run into the crowd. All he’d been able to think about was that she would be hurt. And it would be his fault. And how he’d be grieving the loss of another woman he cared about. The loss of another woman who loved him. And no matter what she’d said earlier about having said the words during sex, Simon wasn’t buying it. It hadn’t been the sex talking. It hadn’t even been the stress over everything that had been happening talking.
She’d meant those words at the time she’d said them.
What was crazy was they hadn’t scared him. He’d wanted to hear her say them again. And again.
Only now wasn’t the time to be thinking about any of this. He had a job to do, damn it. Ruthlessly, he shoved thoughts of Nina and words of love and fear of losing her out of his mind.
“What the hell’s going on here?” Simon asked the patrol officer standing to Elaina’s right.
“One of the officers showed up to interview the director and the residents about a 245. The occupants started getting agitated. Shouting that a cop was trying to murder them all. Backup was called. We’re trying to calm the situation down, but—”
“Have all the people inside been screened for weapons?” Simon asked as he turned to Scott.
“Residents are screened for weapons before they’re allowed to stay here. I told the officers that. They’re upset, but they’re no threat. I want these cops out of here. Now.”
Simon glanced at Nina, who nodded and said, “I agree. Tell all of the uniformed officers to step back a good fifty yards. Give these people some space. This is their home—the only home they know. Police are supposed to make people feel safe, not afraid.