Page 106 of Fatal Vision

“So it says in your file, but I have it on good authority that’s not the real story, so save it. Get out of my way. I need to speak to Shelby about something we found at the bomb site.”

Jon Wolfe, huh? The name suited him. “It’s okay, Nickelback.” Shelby ran her fingers through her hair. “Let him through.”

Her bodyguard’s broad body didn’t move for a moment, and even though she couldn’t see his face, the body language she knew all too well. Her dad and Colton used it regularly when they thought they needed to stand between her and a threat.

Good thing she was used to megatons of testosterone. Shelby swiveled back around and sent a silent prayer to the Lord, asking for patience.

Theo arrived a moment later and sat beside her. “Your bodyguard does realize that I’m one of the good guys, right?”

“He’s just doing his job.”

“And I’m doing mine.” He fiddled with his phone. “I heard about your mother. Is she okay?”

“Things have been rough on her since my shooting. Her angina is acting up after today’s”—Shelby checked her watch; it was after midnight—“yesterday’sbombing. Please tell me you have a lead on who did it. The sooner we wrap up this case, the better for everyone.”

“The man you saw…was he wearing gloves?”

“Yes. It’s in the report I gave the police.”

Theo held out his phone with a picture on it. “Like this?”

The glove was in an evidence bag. All she could tell was that it was black leather. “Was this found at the house?”

Theo nodded. “Does it look familiar?”

“Not particularly, but I can’t tell much from that picture. I have three or four pairs of black leather gloves myself. It could be one of mine. I need to see it, examine it up close.”

He nodded. “I guess I could bring it here. I’ll have to drive to Good Hope and retrieve it—Mindy’s going through all the collected evidence first thing in the morning to make notes before she sends it to the lab in Tulsa. It’ll take a while since I’ll need to make a round trip.”

And after he showed it to her, he’d have yet another drive to Good Hope to return it to Mindy. He was already exhausted. All she needed was for him to have an accident.

“Why don’t I go with you? I can examine all the evidence and we can discuss the serial killer case in more depth on the way. Then you can drop me back here before going home to sleep.”

“Visiting hours are over, aren’t they? If you need a safe place, you can stay with me.”

“The hospital will make an exception for me and my dad. Once we’re done in Good Hope, you can bring me back here and go home. I’ll stay with Daddy and keep an eye on Momma and Colton.”

“Are you sure, Shelby?” His deep frown only highlighted the dark circles under his eyes. “You’ve been through hell. You need some sleep too. I can bring the glove here. It’s no problem.”

She was still tired, but her little nap had done her good. She was thinking straight again. The truth was finally snapping into place, shifting so she could see the whole picture.

Because that’s what she did. She caught murderers and terrorists and stopped them from hurting others.

She sure as hell wasn’t going to let Colton continue to take the blame for Quan, but she had one more killer to catch, and her confession about what had really happened that night in Baghdad could wait until morning.

“Let’s go,” she said, allowing Theo to help her out of the pew. Once she made it to Nickelback, she kept going, motioning for him to follow.

“Where are we going?” he asked, dialing his phone as he shot daggers at Theo.

“To Good Hope,” Shelby said, sending up one last prayer. “No one blows up my home and gets away with it.”

“For the record, this is a bad idea. You need more than one bodyguard if you’re going to expose yourself outside the hospital.”

Shelby reached out and put a hand on his phone to stop him from doing what she thought he was. “Do not tell Colton. Trust me, I have a plan.”

A few minutes later, she was in the backseat of Theo’s SUV with Daniel next to her. Nickelback rode shotgun.

“Daniel’s a black belt,” she told the other two men, giving the junior pastor a Miss Oklahoma smile. “He knows how to handle himself, don’t you, Daniel?”