Texas Witness

There was so much conviction in her voice that he didn’t question her answer.

“What was all that about back there, Melissa? I saw Richard. I know he shot Tommy,” he said. Her husband’s name sat bitterly on his tongue. “What’s he doing that you won’t talk about?”

She turned away from him.

“The man just shot a sheriff, Melissa,” Colin said, his anger on the rise again. He shouldn’t be frustrated at thinking about a time when there were no secrets between them. She’d betrayed him, he reminded himself, needing to gain his bearings again. Because his heart stirred while standing this close to her, and he didn’t want to care this much about anyone ever again. He told himself that his reaction had to do more with her safety than his own out-of-control emotions.

Melissa bounced her little girl gently, continuing to ignore him while the baby slept. Curiosity was starting to get the best of him. He couldn’t see the baby’s face, which was just a distraction anyway, and he wasn’t sure he could handle seeing the product of Richard and Melissa together. More proof that Melissa had never belonged to him in the first place. Then again, maybe that’s exactly what he needed: a reality check.

“I can’t talk about it with you,” she said.

“Can’t or won’t?”

“Does it matter? Either way I’m not talking, Colin.” Again, hearing his name on her tongue brought an onslaught of feelings he needed to ignore.

“Why not, Melissa?” Did she hate him that much?

“It’s complicated,” she said on a sigh, still bouncing as the nervous tick returned.

On closer look, there was so much stress and worry in her eyes.

“What’s going on between you and your husband?” Colin asked a little too loudly, causing the baby to stir again.

“Shhh. You’ll wake her.” Melissa patted the little girl’s back and started humming.

Colin didn’t want to disturb the baby. From what he knew about little ones, which wasn’t much until recently, once they were awake all grown-up discussion ceased.

Maybe he needed a minute to clear his thoughts. His emotions were riding high after watching one of his best friends take a bullet. Seeing Melissa at the ranch earlier had sent him to a dark place to begin with, and watching her now wasn’t improving the situation.

“I need coffee,” he said, stalking out the door, needing to walk away and gain some perspective. He didn’t want to notice how much she was trembling or how hard she was working to put on a brave front. Her eyes had always been her tell, and right now hers said that she was terrified. Of Colin? No way could she think he would hurt her. Her husband was another story and one Colin planned to hear in detail before he let her walk out that door again. And especially now that Richard had tried to kill a sheriff.

The coffee was just how Colin liked it, strong and hot. He took a sip to clear his head. Took another when that didn’t work. There were too many residual feelings coloring his thoughts, not to mention the stress that came with not knowing how Tommy was doing yet. Colin had already checked three times in fifteen minutes before Melissa had arrived.

“Any word on Tommy?” Dallas asked as he walked inside the break room.

“All I know is that he’s in surgery.” Colin gave his brother a bear hug before shaking his head. He poured a fresh cup and then handed it to Dallas. “It could be a while before we hear anything.”

“Well then, no news is probably good news.” Dallas took a sip, worry lines etched in his forehead as he gave Colin a once-over, his gaze fixed on the large red stain centered on Colin’s shirt.

“It’s all his blood. I’m fine,” Colin reassured.

“I might have an extra shirt in my truck if you want to put on something clean,” Dallas offered.

Colin had washed his hands not long after arriving at the hospital when a nurse had tried to put him in a wheelchair and take him into the back for a check. He’d had to lift his shirt to show her there were no marks on his body to convince her.

“I may take you up on that,” he said to Dallas.

“You said Tommy was in the parking lot of Zahn Lawn Mower Supply. Any idea what he was doing out there so late?” Dallas asked. Colin had only given his brother essential information. Tommy had been shot and he was at Bluff General. Richard Rancic was armed and dangerous.

“Good question.” There was another one that would follow.

“What were you doing there?” Dallas didn’t wait long to hit him with that one. That was an even better question. Colin was still trying to figure that out. Dallas didn’t ask about Melissa, but the questions about her were written in his tense expression.

“She ran away so fast at the Fling,” he finally said.

Dallas compressed his lips and gave a nod, saying he understood. It was good that someone did because Colin was still scratching his head over the night’s events. Talk about an evening going haywire. His friend was fighting for his life in a hospital bed and the woman he’d wanted to marry had a child.

“What did she say when you showed up?” Dallas asked.

“I parked to the side, trying to decide if I was going to talk to her or not.” It wasn’t entirely untrue. “Then, I saw her husband pull into the lot and she seemed real uncomfortable. I thought she was supposed to be meeting him.” Colin’s voice hitched on that last word.

“Why would a husband be meeting his wife in a parking lot at midnight?” Dallas asked, and then sipped his coffee.

“I’d like to hear the answer to that question for myself, but she’s not talking.” Based on her terrorized expression when she saw Richard, he was the last person she’d expected to show. It was clear to Colin that she was scared to death of the guy, which made even less sense. Rancic was a jerk and his business reputation said he was cutthroat. Didn’t make him a criminal. So, why did the guy show up and then shoot a sheriff? Obviously, there was a lot going on. Had Melissa left her husband? Was Richard so determined to get her back that he’d shot a sheriff, realized what he’d done and then fled the scene?

“So, she’s here?” Dallas asked.

Colin nodded.

“Have you spoken to her?” Dallas’s eyebrow shot up.

“There hasn’t been much time. She stayed back with officers at the scene. I’ve been busy giving all the information I could to the hospital workers since I was the one who’d been stemming the blood flow and administering CPR. And then I gave a statement to the deputy,” Colin said.

“Garcia?” Dallas asked.

Colin nodded again.

“Melissa just showed up here a few minutes ago and it didn’t exactly go well between us,” he said with a shrug. “Guess I needed a minute to clear my head before taking another go at it with her.”

“It’s hard when you have so much history,” Dallas agreed.

When Colin had been standing close to her at the house, he hadn’t noticed anything unusual on her body. There was no bruising, no other marks of any kind indicating abuse. She still had that same rosy skin, a combination of cream and silk. And yet she was terrified of her husband and that made Colin believe their relationship had been abusive.

“She has a kid now,” was all Colin said. He took a sip of coffee.

“You okay?” Dallas asked. “I can take things from here if you want to go cool off somewhere. Go get cleaned up and come back.”

“I’ll be fine. Me and Melissa were a long time ago,” he said, mostly for his own benefit. “A lot’s changed since we went out, and let’s not forget that she’s married to someone else.”

Dallas did the “tight lip/nod” thing again. “That’s probably a healthy way to look at it.”

“Not much choice, is there.” It wasn’t a question. He didn’t repeat the fact that she and Richard had a child together. Colin could’ve lived the rest of his life without knowing that detail.

Dallas shrugged with an apologetic look.

“Here’s what else I know. Tommy comes roaring through the parking lot soon after Rancic, no lights or sirens. And then I’m really confused about what’s going on,” Colin continued. “The next thing I see is Tommy being shot. Rancic squeals out of the parking lot and I’m trying to save my friend’s life.”

“That’s a lot to have coming at you at once.” Dallas shot a look that said he was talking about more than the incident in the parking lot with Tommy.