“You’re okay?” I asked, just to make sure. He nodded. “Okay. Stay here.” I took one more good look at his face and gently brushed the messy hank of hair out of his face before forcing myself to walk away to help Shawn and make sure everyone else was okay.
After the EMTs checked the young woman and declared her shaken but unharmed, they left. Shawn took Gene to be processed into custody while I began gathering evidence at the scene and taking down witness statements. Finn refused to let me arrange him a ride home, stating he wanted to watch the process. I thought it was more likely he didn’t want to be alone. The poor guy looked scared and somber, a look that made me want to comfort him the same way I’d comforted Tessa the night before. Well, maybe not the exact same way.
I let him stay close to me as I explained what I was doing. Taking photos of the bullet hole in the door, measuring the distance from where Gene had stood, and emptying and bagging the firearm. One of my other deputies showed up to take the evidence into custody and type up the witness statements for me, and Shawn returned to offer me a ride since department policy stated my vehicle would have to be towed in.
When he pulled up outside of Finn’s chalet, I murmured for Shawn to wait a minute while I walked Finn to the door.
Finn had been quiet all night since the shooting, and I was starting to get worried.
“Do you want to call your friend to come stay with you?” I asked quietly.
He reached the door to the small cabin and turned around to face me. “Kix? No. It’s okay. I think I’d… I’d rather be alone than have to tell him what happened and have him ask a million questions.”
I wanted to touch him, reach out and caress his lightly freckled cheek before skimming my thumb across his full lower lip, but I kept my hands fisted in my pockets instead.
“Call… shit, hang on.” I pulled out a business card from my wallet and handed it to him. “My cell is on there. Call me if you need anything. If you can’t get me, call the department and tell them to raise me on the radio. Tell them it’s a 10-36.”
His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but I knew I’d piqued his curiosity enough to distract him from my leaving.
“Good night, Finn.”
“G’night, Sheriff.”
I turned and didn’t look back. Once I was in the car, I asked Shawn to stop off at the 24-hour supermarket before dropping me home. They didn’t have “boutique bacon,” but I got the best they had of everything Tessa had asked for. When I got back in Shawn’s patrol vehicle, he raised an eyebrow at me. “You hungry? I could have found a drive-thru.”
I noticed a bleeding scratch on the side of his face. “Not for me. You catch a fingernail or something when you took Gene down?”
He glanced in the rearview mirror before backing out of the parking space. “He had on a ring that got me. Big stone one like the kind some Freemasons wear.”
“I’ve got some stuff at the house we can clean it with,” I said, pointing him in the direction of my house. When he pulled back up the same mountain road that led to Rockley Lodge and the Stanner place, Shawn shot me a look.
“You made me drive you all the way into town when you live near the suspect and the place Finn Heller is staying?” he asked with a laugh.
I shrugged. “You don’t show up empty-handed to a pregnant lady, Shawn.” His jaw dropped, and I almost laughed. “Come in the house and let me fix you up. Stay for a beer.”
He followed me to the house and came up short as soon as he saw Tessa uncurl from the shadows of the rocking chair on the front porch.
As soon as her big belly came into view, the image of Gene Stanner threatening his pregnant daughter-in-law flashed into my memory. I grabbed Tess in a fierce hug and held her for a long minute. “So glad you’re okay,” I whispered into the side of her hair.
She held me just as tightly. She’d been with Nick long enough to know something bad had probably happened on the job, so she simply let me hold her until the moment passed.
I pulled back and held up the shopping bag with a forced smile. “Truckload of pork products and sugar syrup, just for you,” I said proudly.
She clapped her hand over her mouth and bolted for the house.
“Are you crazy?” Shawn hissed at me. “You don’t use the phrase ‘pork products’ around a pregnant lady. For god’s sake, Sheriff. Don’t you know anything by now? She looks at least seven months along. Where you been for the last seven months?”
I led him into the house and to the kitchen where I had him take a seat at the table. “I’ve only had her in my house since Tuesday night. She was in LA until then. So, no. I’m not all that familiar with cravings and sickness yet.”
After putting the groceries away, I opened a beer and set it in front of him before getting one for myself. He took a sip while I went down the hall to my bedroom to find the first aid kit. When I got back, Tessa was sitting on a seat next to him with a tall glass of ice water in front of her, and Shawn was fussing around her like a granny.
“You cold? Want me to fetch that quilt? When my sister Madison is pregnant, she can never get warm enough,” Shawn babbled. I noticed his cheeks were a little pinker than normal.
I cleared my throat, and he jumped. “Sorry, Sheriff. I was only trying to make Mrs. Stone comfortable.”
Tess made a choking sound, and I snorted out a laugh. “This is not Mrs. Stone. And what happened to you calling me Declan at least outside of work? Tessa, this is Deputy Shawn Graham. Shawn, this is my friend Tessa.”
She reached out her hand to shake Shawn’s. “Nice to meet you. Sorry for the less than ideal welcome.”
Shawn blushed some more. “It’s understandable. He shouldn’t have… said what he did.” He blinked at me and realized he’d called me out in my own home. “Sorry, Sher… Declan.”
I nodded.
Tessa said, “I’m just here visiting for a little while. I used to be with Dec’s former partner on the force back in LA before… some stuff happened. Now I’m single, and I wanted to get out of LA for a while.” She rubbed her belly absently.
“You’re staying,” I said gruffly before taking a gulp of the beer. “I think you should stay.”
Shawn nodded. “Aster Valley’s a nice place, ma’am. Much better place to raise that little one than LA if you don’t mind a nosy opinion.”
She gave him a small smile. “It’s beautiful here. Are you from Colorado?”
The two of them made small talk while I thought back through the events of the evening. I couldn’t get over the look of fear on Finn’s face. I would have expected to feel smug, to think I told you so because police work was dangerous and unpredictable like I’d tried to tell him, but then I remembered his eager questions earlier in the day when he’d tried his hardest to get to know me, to make a personal connection. And I’d shut him down.
After a while I realized Shawn and Tessa had been talking for a while. I looked over and saw Tessa taping a clean bandage on Shawn’s eyebrow. Debris from her little first aid session littered the place mat in front of them.
“Sorry,” I muttered. “My mind was wandering. She get you sorted out?”
“Yes, and I’m grateful. But it’s late, and Tessa here probably needs to get some sleep. I didn’t mean to keep you up like this.”