Page 9 of Christmas Homecoming Secrets

FIVE

C aptain Colson called just as Jade pulled into one of the hospital parking spots reserved for police. She tapped the screen and lifted the phone to her ear. “Hi, Captain.”

“Jade, how are you doing?”

“Hanging in there, sir, thanks.”

“I got your message about needing a warrant to pull security footage from the cameras across the street from the range. That’s set in motion and I’ll be in touch as soon as I hear something. You can come in and take a look at it if you like. See if anything stands out.”

Bryce approached the passenger side, and she motioned for him to get in while she was on the phone.

“Thank you, sir.” She paused.

“Something else on your mind?”

“Yes. I think…” Another pause.

“Say what you need to say, Jade.”

“I think we should get a cadaver dog out to the mill where we found the shirt.” The words rushed from her mouth, and Bryce’s head whipped around to stare at her. She bit her lip and looked away from him.

Captain Colson grunted. “All right. I’ll get one out there.”

“Thanks.” She hung up and shot a look at Bryce. The tight set of his jaw said he wanted to protest and was keeping his tongue in line with great effort. “I just want to rule it out.”

“I know.”

“His shirt was found there with two bullet holes in it. I just can’t get that out of my mind.”

“I know, Jade.”

While the warrant and the dog were being taken care of, she wanted to check on Tony. She still wasn’t convinced he didn’t know something about Frank’s whereabouts, and if he was awake, he might be more inclined to talk now that he’d been shot.

“You ready to see if Tony is awake?”

“I’ll follow you.” She climbed out of the SUV and walked into the hospital.

Bryce stayed right behind her. She shouldn’t have been so curt with him about the whole responsibility thing.

Just because he wasn’t ready—or didn’t want—to have kids didn’t mean he wasn’t responsible.

It just meant he wasn’t ready—or he simply didn’t want kids.

He had his reasons, and she needed to respect that even if she didn’t like it.

She was being too antsy, letting her emotions get the best of her.

But that scene at the shooting range had gotten to her.

He’d been in the middle of a PTSD attack if she’d ever seen one.

And she had. The guy she’d dated for a while in Charlotte had had severe PTSD attacks and had refused to deal with them.

Much like Bryce had just done. He’d brushed it off and she’d had to let him for now, but she planned to address it at some point.

She had to if he was ever going to be a part of Mia’s life—assuming he wanted to be.

Regardless, once she told him about Mia, there’d be no going back, and it wasn’t a decision that was black and white anymore.

Added to the stress of the day, Heather hadn’t answered her calls or acknowledged the voice mails Jade had left, so they knew no more than they had thirty minutes ago about Frank’s timeline and who the last person to see him might have been.

Jade flashed her badge at the woman sitting at the desk in the surgery waiting room. Her name tag read Martha Bolton. “Hi, Ms. Bolton, I’m Detective Hollis. You had a patient brought in a few hours ago. Tony Swift. I need to talk to him when he wakes up. Do you know how long that might be?”

The woman consulted her computer and frowned. “He’s still in surgery, so I’d say you might have a pretty long wait.”

Of course. “Have any of his family arrived?”

“I believe his wife.” She nodded to the corner, where a woman in her midthirties twisted a tissue between her fingers.

“Thank you. I may have to leave after I talk to her, but if I give you my card, would you call and let me know when he’s out?”

“Of course, I’ll be happy to.” Mrs. Bolton took the card and taped it to the monitor of her computer.

“So, we talk to Tony’s wife?” Bryce asked.

“ I talk to Tony’s wife. You can have a seat and wait for me to finish.”

He pursed his lips. “Come on, Jade, Frank’s my friend, too.”

She sighed. “Fine, but let me do the talking, please?”

“Sure.”

Jade walked over to stand in front of the woman. “Mrs. Swift?”

She looked up. “Yes?”

“I’m Jade Hollis. We met last night—or early this morning, rather.”

“I remember. You came looking for Tony.” Her eyes flashed. “So, it’s your fault he got shot?”

“No, ma’am. I place that blame on the shooter.”

“Why were you looking for him? He refused to tell me.”

“Do you know a man by the name of Frank Shipman?”

She frowned. “Sounds familiar, but I can’t place him.”

Bryce pulled out his phone, tapped the screen, then turned it so the woman could see it. “That’s him. The woman on his left is his fiancée.”

Mrs. Swift studied the photo while she continued to shred the tissue, not seeming to notice—or care—that she was making a pile of white on the floor between her feet. “I think I’ve seen him before.”

“Where?”

“At the diner. He and Tony were having coffee one morning. I clean the bank across the street and I’d locked my keys in the car. When I called Tony, he told me he was at the diner, so I walked over there to get Tony’s keys.”

“And Tony didn’t say why they were meeting?”

She shook her head. “But I got the feeling he wasn’t happy with your friend. As I was walking out, I heard him say something like, ‘Stay out of things that don’t concern you. It could be dangerous for your health.’”

Jade shot a glance at Bryce. “That’s basically what he told us this morning right before the shooting.”

“Which means he got shot because you were nosing around.”

“Again, no. If he got shot, it was because he was involved in something he shouldn’t have been.” She paused. “If he was the target.”

“Mrs. Swift?”

Jade turned at the new voice to find a woman in scrubs and a surgical cap standing behind them.

Tony’s wife stood. “Yes. Is he okay?”

“I’m Dr. Grey. It was touch and go for a while there, but right now your husband’s stable. He’ll be in the ICU for tonight at least. I’m not going to sugarcoat it. A scant inch more to the left and that bullet would have hit his heart.”

She gasped and paled. Jade placed a hand on her arm. “But it didn’t.”

“No, it didn’t. You’re right. Should he make it through the night, he’ll have a long road to recovery ahead of him.”

Mrs. Swift nodded. “Thank you.”

“Someone will be out to let you know when you can come back to see him.”

The doctor left, and Jade turned back to the woman. “Can you think of anything else? Any other connection between your husband and Frank Shipman.”

“No. Nothing.”

“If you think of anything, will you call?” Jade held out her card.

Mrs. Swift took it. “Yeah, sure. Excuse me.” She walked toward the restrooms, and Bryce turned to Jade.

“Now what?” he asked.

“I’m not quite ready to leave yet. Do you mind if we go down to the cafeteria and talk for a bit? I’ve got some questions for you.”

He followed her down to the restaurant, where she ordered a coffee. Bryce did the same and they found a table.

Jade took a sip and tried to find the words that had been burning a hole in her tongue ever since she’d seen Bryce in the old mill.

But first… “I shouldn’t have jumped on you about the whole responsibility thing.

I’m sorry.” She drew in a deep breath. “If having children isn’t something you want to do, then I shouldn’t make digs about it.

” And she shouldn’t, but trying to tell him about Mia was wearing on her.

However, she needed to know more about his feelings in order to see if there was a chance that he might change his mind.

She’d feel much better about revealing his status as Mia’s father if he was even on the fence about having children.

But if he stayed adamantly opposed… “Tell me why you don’t want kids, Bryce.

I don’t think I’ve ever actually asked.” A pang of remorse hit her.

She’d just assumed that he didn’t want them interfering with his life plans. But maybe it was more than that.

“Mostly because of my parents. My father in particular. He’s so controlling and cold. I never felt like he loved me—or Kristy.” He swallowed and looked away. “It was almost like he couldn’t . And I just… I just… I can’t take a chance on being the same way with a child of my own.”

“I remember how he was. I guess I just don’t understand what makes you think you’d be anything like that when you don’t have one ounce of his temperament.” She paused. “And Kristy doesn’t seem to have any issues when it comes to loving her children.”

He rubbed a hand over his head. “Trust me, I’ve noticed that. Now, what other questions do you have for me?”

Jade frowned and debated whether she wanted to drop it.

Finally, she decided it wouldn’t accomplish anything.

And besides, she had other answers she wanted.

“I know we already talked about this a little bit, but can you just clarify why you didn’t call me?

Me. Specifically me. I thought we were friends.

I thought we would at least keep in touch, but…

” She spread her hands at a loss for words.

He looked up and sighed. “I didn’t call anyone, Jade. I was in a bad place for a long time after the explosion.”

“Tell me about it.”

“I…it was…hard. Three months into serving, our convoy was hit with an IED. I had a long recovery. Surgery, physical therapy and more. I just couldn’t cope with it all, I guess, so I traveled.”

“Traveled? Where’d you go?”

“Anywhere the bus went. I saw a lot of the Middle East, Europe, and even made my way to South America at one point.”

“But you talked to Frank, right?”

“Every so often. He was my link to this other life that I felt no longer existed for me.”

She gaped. “No longer existed?”

Another sigh. “You have to understand. I was dealing with a lot.”

“And that prevented you from picking up a phone?”

He shut his eyes for a moment. “Yes. It did.”