When She Wasn't Looking Read Online Free Page B

told him she was ready to leave.
    He’d asked the staff to put her in the cubicle at the end of the hall, thinking she’d have to go through him to sneak out. But he wouldn’t have been surprised if she slipped through an air-conditioning vent to get away. This woman had a serious running issue.
    Richmond Tobin, Jonas’s first friend in Aberdeen and a fellow police officer, walked in. He stood six feet and had wrestled in college. Six years out, he looked as if he could battle a train and come out ahead.
    “You’re supposed to be lying down. You know, resting,” he said.
    “Tell me about it.” Jonas rolled his shoulders and had to fight back the wave of nausea that hit him right behind the pain.
    “Brought a change of clothes and your cell, just as you requested.” Rich dumped a gym bag next to Jonas’s thigh and held up a gun. “Also managed to liberate your weapon.”
    Jonas took it, ran his finger across the side before checking it, then slipped it and his holster onto his belt. “Bet the nurses loved that.”
    “I flashed my badge and reminded them you were in charge since the police chief retired, so it was all your responsibility.”
    Jonas saw mounds of paperwork and a meeting with the town council in his future. “Thanks for that.”
    “While you’re at it, care to tell me how you got stuck in the middle of the forest with a dead body next to you?” Rich fell into the seat across from Jonas. “Someone I have to identify, I might add.”
    “Long story.”
    “Then there’s the woman who isn’t elderly or in need of a wellness check.”
    “Yeah. Courtney.”
    Rich’s eyes widened. “You’re on a first-name basis?”
    “Almost getting killed will do that to a relationship. Speeds things up.” For some messed-up reason, she was now Courtney in his head. Jonas knew the informal reference bordered on inappropriate, but he’d worry about that later when he sorted out everything else that had happened that day.
    “Uh-huh. And how did all of this happen again?”
    Jonas tried to rub the crick out his neck. “You asked about fifty questions in the last two minutes.”
    “Okay, how about this one?” Rich leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and smiled at his boss. “How did a hundred-pound woman get the drop on you?”
    “You’re light on the weight, and I threatened him with my gun,” Courtney shouted from behind the curtain and over the protests of the nurse who was taking her vital signs.
    Rich whistled. “Interesting.”
    Jonas bit back a groan. He’d hear about this for months. Cops loved this crap. Being the new officer on the squad and the one with the highest rank, the target on his back grew bigger each day. His four-month perfect record blown with one comment from Courtney.
    “The dead guy tried to kill her,” he said.
    Rick pulled his chair closer to the exam table as he lowered his voice. “Any chance we know who or why?”
    “Not yet.” But Jonas was about to get some of those answers. He hated when people lied to him. Not having all the facts didn’t sit any better.
    He eased off the table, ignoring the aches thumping through every part of his body. He’d somehow made it through a car flip with only a dislocated shoulder, cut-up knee and bruised ribs.
    He’d developed the bad attitude during the ambulance ride.
    “Where are you going?” Rich asked.
    “I have some questions of my own.” Jonas ignored the amusement in his friend’s voice and started walking.
    The rings jangled on the metal rod and the nurse squealed as Jonas ripped the curtain aside. “You can’t be in here,” she said in a huff.
    At fifty, Nurse Ramsey ran the emergency room with an iron fist. Jonas knew her from the times he brought in suspects and car-accident victims. She did her job and was not even a little impressed by his gun and badge.
    Standing there without a shirt but with a weapon strapped to his side, he wished he’d taken a second to get dressed. It was too late now. “I