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“
Sorry I couldn’t get by yesterday.” Schaeffer perched on the plastic-covered mattress of the second bed, leaning forward with his arms resting on his thighs. “Lots of loose ends to tie up. You ready for an update?”

She marveled at the way Schaeffer continued to talk, as if he and Graham were at the station.

“
Doris was part of it. At least to some extent. Gravely had convinced her she had to play along to stay out of the rest home. She’s out of it half the time, and I think half the time she’s not out of it, she’s pretending to be out of it. We can’t tell if she knew Jeffrey was dead, or honestly believed he was in Alabama, sending her e-mails.”

“
How?” Graham asked.

Schaeffer finished his pie, got up and tossed the plate and fork into a wastebasket. “Gravely installed a nifty computer program on Jeffrey’s system that let him access everything from his own. Since Jeffrey had his computer set to remember all his passwords, he was a sitting duck. As long as Doris didn’t turn off the computer, Gravely could do most of his finagling without ever having to go to Jeffrey’s house.”

“
I saw that,” Colleen said. “Freaked me out to see his computer doing its own thing. I suppose that’s how Gravely faked the e-mails from Jeffrey.”

“
No need. Gravely created a Hotmail account in Jeffery’s name. Easy enough for him to send e-mails that appeared to be from Jeffrey. For that, he could log on from anywhere. Once he knew you—” he glanced her way—”were living in the apartment, if he had to show up in person, he parked around the block.”

Some guilt left—she hadn’t missed seeing Gravely’s car. “Who killed Townsend?” She kept her eyes on Schaeffer.

“
We’re piecing it together. Jeffrey Walters was with Gravely when Townsend called, like we knew. Townsend told them he was taking pictures of the eagle nests and was going to send them to the feds and blow the whistle. Apparently, Jeffrey was already done with the project, but we dug around and discovered there were still some Is to dot and Ts to cross before Jeffrey was completely out of the picture. Gravely needed the illusion Jeffrey was alive.”

“
Meanwhile,” Graham began, then paused to take three slow breaths. “He was making money … selling the land over and over.” He coughed and Colleen offered more water.

“
I told you to take it easy, Harrigan. That’s an order,” Schaeffer said. “But you’re right. After the phone call, Gravely went to meet Townsend, and Jeffrey insisted on going along. Gravely and Townsend got into a fight. The autopsy confirmed Townsend’s death was accidental.”

“
Okay, so Gravely accidentally killed Townsend. Who killed Jeffrey?” Colleen asked.

“
That’s where Harrigan comes in. Ballistics matched the bullets from Jeffrey Walters with the ones the surgeons took out of our hero here, all of which came from Gravely’s gun. Near as we can figure, Gravely convinced Jeffrey to help him hide the body in the St. Augustine animal pit. Then Gravely shot Jeffrey to eliminate his witness and drove him back to a local construction site so the bodies weren’t found together. I guess he figured by having them in separate counties, nobody would connect the cases. St. Johns is working on putting Gravely at the animal pit, and we have a witness who saw Gravely’s car at the construction site.

“
Harrigan? Harrigan?”

At Schaeffer’s tone, Colleen snapped to attention. Graham’s hair looked damp, and there were beads of sweat above his upper lip. The monitors bleeped at a rapid pace. His arms began a rhythmic jerking and releasing, jerking and releasing. She leapt to her feet and reached for the call button.

Two nurses arrived at Graham’s side before Colleen’s finger touched the button. One busied herself with the tubes and needles, the other paged Dr. Weinberg, stat. Colleen’s heart stopped at the word. She knew damn well “stat” was not a good thing.

The nurses motioned Colleen and Schaeffer toward the door. “I’m sorry, but you’ll have to wait outside. The doctor needs room to work.”

“
Why? What’s happening?” Colleen struggled to keep from screaming the words.

“
He’s having a seizure and his blood pressure is dropping. Please, wait outside. We’ll call you as soon as he’s stabilized.”

Colleen picked up her purse and ran out of the room, with Schaeffer following close behind. He took her by the elbow and sat her down on a bench near the elevator.

 “
He’ll be all right. He’s doing better. I probably overexcited him with talk about work.”

“
I can’t do this,” Colleen said.

“
Sure you can. You’re as strong as he is. Probably stronger.”

“
No. I can’t do this again.” Once Graham was okay—and he would have to be okay—she was going back to Pine Hills. She’d get a job in her dad’s construction office, answer the phones and do his filing. Boring, maybe, but safe. She’d find another man, maybe. He might not be Graham, but he would definitely not be a cop.

Colleen squinted as the bright sun found its way under her eyelids. “Goway,” she groaned and pulled a pillow over her face. She heard the sound of draperies being pulled open. “Mom, no!”

“
Sweetie, it’s Sunday. I know you’re not sleeping, and you can’t stay in bed all day. Why don’t you shower and come join us for supper?”

“
Not hungry.”

“
You’ve hardly eaten since you got back. It’s been almost three weeks. And I think you’ll like today’s meal. Go. Shower. I expect you downstairs in half an hour.”

“
I said I wasn’t hungry. I’ll grab something later.” Colleen heard the water running in the shower. She felt the pillow being pulled from her head. Cold air raised goose bumps as the covers disappeared.

“
Enough is enough, Colleen. You get in there and shower, or I’ll get your brother to come up and help me carry you in.” Her mother’s tone was one Colleen hadn’t heard since she was twelve. But it brooked no nonsense.

“
Fine. I’m going.” She got out of bed and steadied herself on the headboard before stepping into the bathroom. She peered into the mirror. She looked worse than she had when she’d first left Pine Hills. A lot of good starting a new life in Orlando had done. She’d lasted a couple of weeks and come running home to Mommy.

She showered, fixed her hair into its usual ponytail and grabbed her jeans. They hung so low on her hips, she was afraid they'd drop off. She stepped out of them and found a black long sleeved knit dress that wasn't much more than a full-length T-shirt, but at least it wouldn't fall down. As she sat on the bed to pull on some thick wool socks, the heady aroma of whatever was for supper actually made her mouth water. She hadn't had an appetite since—no. She wasn't going to think of him.

Eventually, she knew, she should move on. Look at Sarah. She'd been madly in love with David, but after he died, she'd found Randy. There had to be someone else out there—if she ever thought she could want someone else.

Who cared? She'd found a clerical job so she didn't need to rely on Daddy, either. The sub-lease on her old apartment would be up in a few months, and she could get away from the guarded looks she felt every time she came out of her room here. She went to work, came home and lived via the Internet, where people couldn't get inside her defenses and hurt her.

A shout of her name brought her to her senses. She scrubbed her palms against her damp cheeks. "I'm coming. Hold your horses." She trounced down the stairs and flopped into her seat at the dining room table. Her father was already seated, as was her brother Greg.

“
Glad you could join us, Colleen,” her father said.

Shit
. She noticed the extra place setting and pushed away from the table. It was one thing to come down for Sunday supper, but to be tricked into having to be civil and socialized was another. “If you think I’m going to sit here and make nice, you’re mistaken. I’ll eat in the kitchen.” She stood, walked around the table and flounced into the kitchen, where a stranger stood at the stove, his back to her.

He turned, and she was staring into a pair of midnight-blue eyes, irises ringed in black. There were signs of pain around those eyes, but they held the same warmth and compassion she remembered. That she was trying so hard to forget.

“
What are you doing here?”

“
Sampling the soup. Are you all right? Rumor had it you weren’t eating properly. I thought you could use some chicken soup, so I came to offer my services.” He spooned up a mouthful. “Your mom seems to have it covered.”

“
When did you get out of the hospital?”

“
Ten days ago. Dammit, Mac. Why did you run again?”

She started at the sound of a throat clearing from the doorway behind her.

“
We’re going out,” her father said. “A movie, and we’ll probably have some dessert at Sadie’s. You think you two can manage for a few hours?”

Leaving her alone with Graham? That was
not
the father she remembered.

Graham spoke before she could make her mouth work. “All under control, Mr. McDonald.”

“
Make yourself at home,” her father said. Good grief, had he winked at Graham?

“
Harrigan, what’s this all about?” Colleen finally managed once she heard the front door close behind her family. “How did you—?”

“
Come, let’s sit and talk.” Graham put his arm around her. At his touch, she lost all control, sobbing until her stomach ached and her throat was raw. Graham held her until the waterworks subsided. Then he pulled a clean handkerchief from his pocket, setting off another deluge.

“
Now I’ll owe you two.”

“
No hurry. But how about you have a bowl of soup? Bit of a chill in here.”

“
That’s because you’re in Oregon, not Florida.”

“
No. We’re
not
going to talk about the weather, Mac.”

She looked more closely at Graham. He’d lost weight, his color was fading. He looked like she felt. “Good grief, we’re a couple of wrecks. Would you like to sit in the den? There’s a couch, and more comfortable chairs.”

“
Will you eat?”

“
If you’ll rest.”

“
Deal.”

She walked him to her dad’s recliner and helped him settle in. He favored his left arm and his breathing was rapid. “You really shouldn’t have come this far.”

“
I can finish recuperating out here. It mostly a matter of monitoring my blood-clotting meds. My doctor referred me to a clinic in Salem.”

Realization crashed over her. “You’ve been planning this. My family was in on it?”

“
You wouldn’t talk to me. I had to do something.” He smiled. “I like your mom and dad. Not sure about Greg, though.”

“
Greg?”

“
He picked me up from the airport. But he was shooting daggers at me all the way from Portland.”

She heard the effort in his speech. He wasn’t as well off as he wanted her to believe. “Do you need anything? Pain meds?”

“
Jacket pocket. I think your mom put it in the entryway closet.”

She fetched the pills, went to the kitchen for a glass of water and brought them to Graham. He had levered up the leg rest and his eyes were half closed. “How many?” she asked.

“
One is fine.”

She tapped out a pill and handed it to him, watching until he swallowed it.

“
Okay,” he said. “Your turn. You eat.”

“
You don’t want any?”

“
Had some already.”

She went to the kitchen and filled a bowl. When she returned to the den, Graham’s eyes were closed, his breathing regular. She sat cross-legged on the couch and ate the soup. It wasn’t quite Mom’s, but not exactly Graham’s. She savored the taste as well as the blended memories.

“
I can see you, you know,” Graham said without opening his eyes. “I memorized you eating my soup that night. I gave your mom the recipe.”

Colleen finished the bowl, and a second one. “It’s almost as good as yours,” she whispered.

“
Why did you leave?” he asked again.

“
I’m a coward.” As long as those blue eyes were closed, she could talk to him. “I thought I could handle you being a cop. But when you got shot, all my fears came back, with fear for you piled on top of them. I knew I couldn’t deal with it. That I’d feel that same fear every day when you went to work.”

“
So I’ll quit being a cop.”

Colleen couldn’t breathe. “Just like that?”

His eyes opened. “What do you want? I can go back to school and be an accountant. No, I hate math. Or a chef. No, wait. Knives and fire. Too dangerous. How about a librarian? Would that work?”

“
Are you being serious?”

“
Colleen, I’ve been lying in a hospital room for an eternity. Every time the door opened, I hoped it was you. You didn’t call, didn’t send a card, didn’t send a message. Nothing. If my being a cop is what’s standing between us, I’ll find another job.”

“
But—”

“
I love you, Colleen.”

Somehow, this wasn’t what she’d pictured when she’d dreamed of a man saying those words. She was supposed to feel warm and fuzzy. Happy. Not get chills of fear.

“
I love you, too, Graham. But I can’t live with being afraid all the time. I’m a coward. A failure. Not the kind of person someone like you needs in your life. You can’t have me freaking out over nothing, having nightmares, flashbacks.”

His eyes twinkled. “I’m sorry. I didn’t hear anything after, ‘I love you’.”

She ignored the way her insides wobbled when he grinned. “Then listen to me, Harrigan. I’m scared shitless.”