“Wouldn’t let you?” Cedric stared at her as if she’d just grown two heads.
Her breath huffed out. “He had his fingers in the woman’s chest. He was spouting off about how he couldn’t save her and protect me and even though he said the perp had attacked only moments before, he insisted that I stay close by. In the room.” She lifted her fingers. “I helped him. We saved that woman.”
“She’s probably going to die.” A casual observation from one of the crime scene techs who walked past. “I mean, did you see the size of that blood pool in there?”
Cedric squinted his eyes as his gaze raked over Chloe. “Are you cold?”
She looked down. Goosebumps covered her arms.
The always dapper Cedric shouldered out of his pressed coat and put it around her shoulders.
It was still warm from his body. She gave him a grateful smile.
“Maybe you want her to die.”
At that dark statement, her gaze jumped to Richardson.
“If Judith Key dies, then she won’t be able to point the finger at the person who attacked her.”
Don’t let him get beneath your skin. Do not. “The police officers that you see around us are currently scouting the area for clues. Hopefully, they’ll find something that will lead us to her attacker. And she will—hopefully—survive the attack. After all, she had a highly trained doctor at her side within moments, and he just left in the ambulance with her. Joel wasn’t going to abandon her.”
Richardson pursed his lips. “That what he was doing? Saving her? Heard some chatter about him on the radio.”
She didn’t like the way his face tightened when he talked about Joel. Oh, who was she kidding? There was very little she did like about the man.
“Chloe.” Cedric’s voice was warm. Gentle.
She returned her attention to him.
“I just have to get all of this down, then you can go to the hospital, too.”
Yes, she wanted to go there.
“You had the idea to come and talk to Judith today because you thought she could give you insight on the case?”
Her breathing hitched the faintest bit. “We had an appointment at noon to talk with Judith. Someone beat us here.”
“You sent me an SOS text before you called nine-one-one,” Cedric noted.
“The front lock was broken. As soon as I saw it, I texted you.”
“And you still went inside?” Richardson’s voice rose even more at her. “Even knowing you were entering a crime scene?”
“We went inside and helped a victim. I’m sure it’s quite appropriate to do something like that.” She needed to get the blood off her fingers. “Do you mind if I go back inside? I need to wash this blood away.”
“I do mind.” Richardson stepped into her path. “It’s a crime scene. You don’t get to waltz back inside.”
“You should let me in there. I might see something that your people miss.”
Oh, he didn’t like that. Not one bit. If looks could kill…
“What were you going to ask her?” Richardson suddenly wanted to know.
“I will ask her…when I see her at the hospital…if anything unusual happened at the school during that championship year. If anyone was killed, died in an accident, went missing—”
Now he laughed. “You honestly think I haven’t checked all of that? I’m not a moron, Chloe. I’ve pulled up records. I talked to the coach. I talked to her because the coach told me that she had old yearbooks I could look at to see the whole class since that shit isn’t online.”
She didn’t bat an eyelash. “Did you see the yearbooks?”
“All but the year I needed. When I was here yesterday, she said she’d misplaced that one. She was going to look and find it for me.”
“Her home is trashed.” Chloe considered the ramifications of that chaos. “Perhaps the attacker was looking for the yearbook, too. Assuming, that is, her attacker is the same perp that we’re after from the Bad Deeds murders. And if it’s him, he’d have to be watching you. If he’s a smart killer, that’s what he should be doing. Keeping an eye on the lead investigator. Watching what he does. Who he talks to.” She surveyed the scene. The thick foliage. The heavy oaks. “Maybe he saw you leave here empty handed. Maybe you brought him right to her.”
“Are you saying her attack is my fault?”
“I’m saying that you need to make certain you’re not being watched. And, hopefully, Judith will fully recover and be able identify her