Free Emergency Response by Susan Sleeman Page B

I’ll check them out later today.”
    â€œI’ll email it to you,” Noah said. “But I need you to be thorough.”
    Bill rolled his eyes. “You’ll get a thorough report, as usual.”
    Noah thanked Bill, then crossed the busy bullpen to his desk.
    Darcie had finished bandaging her knee and was just disconnecting a phone call.
    She shoved the phone into her pocket. “I knew our office would be talking about the shooting and I wanted Jake to know we’re okay.” She nodded at the far side of the room. “Was that conversation about the case?”
    â€œYes,” he said, but wasn’t about to share his discussion with Bill.
    â€œThey get the shooter?”
    â€œNo,” he said, and before she could ask additional questions, he turned to his in-box to retrieve reports delivered by the clerk last night. “You still up for reviewing the callout list?”
    â€œYou’d better believe I am. No one shoots at us and gets away with it.”
    â€œThat’s my girl,” he said, earning a raised eyebrow that he chose to ignore. He slid the report across his desk. “Detective Lewis is on vacation this week. I’ll set you up at his desk.”
    She picked up the stack of papers and he led the way across the bullpen. He heard her limping behind him and each step made him madder. He’d promised to protect her and he’d nearly failed. Today had been a skinned knee. What might tomorrow bring? Or this afternoon? The next five minutes even.
    He couldn’t let his guard down for a moment. If he did, the consequences could be deadly.
    * * *
    Darcie pretended to look at the long list of her callouts, but she couldn’t focus after the shooting. If not for Noah, she’d be dead. Dead! She’d put on a brave front for him, hiding the fear that had seemed to paralyze her as he’d protected her with his own body.
    Her hero. No doubt about it. She’d almost said he was her knight in shining armor, but a knight’s armor could tarnish while an act of heroism never went away. Tom had once been her knight, and look what had happened with him. Choosing to run when things got tough. When she needed him. Leaving her alone to battle her grief. To live the empty days filled with loss. With loneliness. With Haley’s deserted room, her toys scattered on the floor as she’d left them. Elle, her big stuffed elephant sitting on the bed waiting for Haley to come home and snuggle every night.
    Darcie had poured so many tears into Elle’s fuzzy body while waiting for Tom to come to his senses. To man up and come home. But he didn’t. Not even a phone call.
    Pain pierced her heart, the ache feeling fresh and new, and coming from where, she didn’t know. Tears welled up and she closed her eyes to keep them from falling.
    She thought she’d made peace with her loss, but maybe she hadn’t. Or maybe seeing Noah and the opportunity he represented for a fresh start, for a new relationship, brought it all back. A reminder of what she could never have. Didn’t want, right?
    Right. She couldn’t stand the pain of loss again. Couldn’t survive it.
    Argh. She was getting nowhere by letting her mind wander.
    She grabbed the list and started down the first page. A few of the high-pressure responses were easy to recall, but the uneventful ones faded into each other. She checked off the ones she remembered. After she finished reviewing the entire report, if she hadn’t found a lead, she would come back to the minor incidents to see if they held a clue.
    She flipped the paper. Ran a finger down it. Check. Check. Check. Down the page she went. Nothing jumped out at her. She moved on to page three. Checked off the first six entries, then her pen paused over number seven.
    Oleda Alverez. That had been a hairy response. A drug house. Open to the elements. Squatters inside. Filth. Garbage. Needles.
    â€œAny success?” Noah asked