Page 28 of The Deputy's Secret Double

But he wasn’t going home.

Rose didn’t need to know that.

He gave her what he hoped was a nice smile and nodded.

“I’ll leave in a bit,” he lied. “Let me know if you hear anything, okay?”

Rose said she would, but paused before turning away completely.

“The guy you fought today…do you really think it’s the same guy in the mask you fought at Josiah’s?” It was a good question. He answered it the same as before.

“The size felt off,” he admitted. “But, just because it might not have been the same guy, doesn’t mean they aren’t working together. The actions are the same at least.”

Rose sighed.

“Two violent break-ins and attacks from masked and hooded suspects.” She shook her head. Then her gaze went up to the building behind him. “And you and our Good Samaritan JJ have the bad luck to get thrown into the middle of both of them.”

She tilted her head a little and let out a brief but heartfelt laugh.

“I gotta say though, that woman up there sure knows how to hold her own,” she continued. “If you ever decide to take up the fire chief’s job offer, maybe we should ask JJ Shaw to replace you.”

Rose said her goodbyes and Price watched her go before walking back into the hospital lobby.

It wasn’t until he was in the elevator and pressing the second-floor button that he thought about Jamie Bell’s locked back door.

How had JJ opened it so quickly?

* * *

JJ didn’t hate hospitals. She just wasn’t used to them. At least, not being in them as a patient.

She set herself up on the small couch next to the hospital bed and eyed her IV pole with annoyance. If she hadn’t gotten sick in the ambulance—or passed out before—she wouldn’t be in this mess. Something she’d already scolded herself for. What was the use of spending half of her life training to withstand almost every hardship, only to be taken out by a wall?

And a man.

Her stomach turned a little. It wasn’t because of her confirmed concussion.

Josiah had been attacked.

Jamie Bell’s home had been attacked.

Two of the five men who were on JJ’s list were coming to, or were already in, the hospital.

It wasn’t a coincidence to her anymore.

That meant that JJ had been too slow.

Theywere finally in town, and they were looking for her brother too.

The question now was: How much did they know?

Had they gone after Jamie Bell because they knew who he was? Or had they heard that he was about to leave town too and acted like JJ had?

JJ balled her hand into a fist. She made sure not to push down too harshly on her right palm. Along with the scar on her back, there was another just there. Small, but a heavy reminder.

She had been too slow—too careful—in her search for her brother since coming to Seven Roads. It was clear that she wasn’t racing against time anymore. She was racing against them.

Him.