“Be still, honey,” he cautioned. “We’re going to take you to the hospital. I’m going to carry you. I don’t want you to move unnecessarily. Just let me do all the work, okay?”

She started to nod and then grabbed her head and moaned. Rick had seen that look before. He reached for the nearest trash can and shoved it beneath her chin just as the nausea caught her unawares.

“Possible concussion,” Cole muttered. “Maybe we’d better call an ambulance.”

“You get her. I’ll get another can. It won’t be the first time someone threw up in the car. Remember that time I got a bad burger? I was sick for a week.”

Cole tried to smile. But he was too worried to manage more than a grimace. “I owe you.”

“I won’t let you forget.”

*  *  *

“I talked to your dad,” Rick said as he walked back into the emergency room.

Cole nodded. He hadn’t taken his eyes off Debbie’s whereabouts since their arrival. “Thanks,” he muttered.

The doctor had assured him, after a quick but thorough examination, that she was suffering only a mild concussion, some contusions, and a few scratches. Cole had watched the white knit shirt come over her head, winced at the evidence of more bruising on her shoulder that had probably been a result of her fall, and tried not to curse.

The doctor had then insisted on privacy, at which Cole promptly balked. But the doctor had been firm. And Cole now sat outside the curtained-off area, listening to Debbie’s shaky voice explaining the circumstances of her injuries.

“She’s going to be just fine,” Rick encouraged him.

“Well, I’m not,” Cole said harshly. “I just realized that I’m capable of murder. Being an officer sworn to uphold the law, it’s not a thing of which I’m pleased to learn about myself. It’s just a goddamned fact.”

Rick’s hand gripped his shoulder in a gesture of understanding. He knew exactly what Cole was feeling. If it had been his Tina, he’d have felt the same.

“I’m going to head on back to the P.D.—let them know what we’ve been up to today and make your apologies, so to speak. You’ve got time off coming. Why don’t you take a few days?”

“Past getting her home and into bed, I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do, but I doubt that I’ll sit on my thumbs. I want to make sure the son of a bitch who did this gets caught. Have you heard anything more about the witness?”

Rick shook his head. “But I’ll find out and give you a call later this evening. How’s that?”

“I’d appreciate it,” Cole said. “Did Dad say he’d be here soon?”