Free She Can Tell by Melinda Leigh Page B

could use some work. Kids and animals were so much simpler.
    She rubbed her arms, then lifted her chin and straightened her spine. “He took me totally by surprise.”
Which shouldn’t have happened
. But she’d never expected anyone to be in the building. Not when Troy was still in jail. Sure, Mike had suspected another person was involved all along, but Rachel hadn’t wanted to believe it. No getting around the truth now.
    Someone besides her brother-in-law hated her enough to go to some serious effort to hurt her. Sarah’s theory was that Rachel had been attacked by one of Troy’s friends. He had a whole contingent of low-life drinking buddies to pick from. On top of the immediate property damage, Troy could claim his daughters weren’t safe at Rachel’s place. It was a perfect setup.
    Mike squinted at his notes. “Let me get this straight. You saw that the lock had been cut, you went in anyway, and then you were surprised that someone was in there?”
    Rachel didn’t miss the edge in the big cop’s voice. His emotions were ruthlessly controlled, but she sensed the anger simmering beneath his calm façade. He paced the grass in the fading twilight. His body was stiff, and his movements lacked their usual athletic grace. And really, could she blame him for being frustrated with her? She was frustrated with herself. Rushing into the well house had been dumber than dumb. “In hindsight, it wasn’t my best decision.”
    Mike stopped pacing, crossed his arms over his chest, and glared at her. Seemed the big cop wasn’t as imperturbable as she’d originally thought. She’d been able to provoke his temper. But then, she was especially skilled in that area.
    A flash went off inside the well house, where Ethan was collecting evidence and taking pictures. White halogen silhouetted Mike’s face, adding stark shadows beneath his exhausted eyes. A pang of concern tweaked through her. The cop needed more sleep and less aggravation. In short, he needed less of her. She and her rabid impulsiveness had added to his workload again tonight.
    “If you called us instead of rushing in there, we might have caught him,” he pointed out.
    And didn’t that sting? She rubbed her throbbing forehead. “I know.”
    “You’re sure you’re all right?” His eyes zeroed in on hers. “Maybe you should go to the ER.”
    Rachel dropped her hand. Her headache had diminished to a dull thrum. “It’s just a bump. Trust me. My head is the hardest part of my body.”
    His mouth quivered for a second before he went back to being Mr. Serious.
    Ethan poked his head out the door. “This rabbit didn’t die right away, but there’s an awful lot of blood in here. You want me to sample it?”
    “Yes,” Mike answered without turning away from her. A muscle in his jaw quivered, and the emotion in his eyes intensified, like he could see her distress—which made it worse. How was she going to keep all her issues and angst buried nice and deep where they belonged if he was going to look at her like that?
    She swallowed hard and ripped her gaze away. His ability to read her—and her inability to hide her feelings from him—made her feel too exposed.
    Rachel shoved a stray piece of hair behind her ear. As Ethan left the shed, she caught another glimpse of the blood puddle. A rushing sound echoed in her ears, andstars danced in her vision. She ripped her eyes away. One hand on the trunk of a tree steadied her, hopefully before Mike noticed. She had already made herself look like a fool in front of him today. Several times.
    “You should go inside and sit down.”
    Damn. He’d noticed. But he didn’t make any move toward her. Why wasn’t he invading her space the way he had this morning? Was it because they weren’t alone? The bright light swept the ground as the other officer searched the area around her well house.
    Rachel looked down at her filthy jeans. She looked like a horror film extra, but the night before she’d been a wreck too,