When he thought about it, his best bet might be getting on his knees and groveling. No man in the world would ever love her the way he would. He was all in, and as far as he was concerned, they could throw away the condoms and she didn’t need to take another pill. They weren’t getting any younger and he wanted to see her with a baby in her arms. Their baby. Their dumbass boy or super-smart girl with her momma’s smile.
He wanted that life with her but he knew he was going to have to convince her. She would think he was grateful for what she’d done for Noelle. It was probably running through that brilliant brain of hers right this second. He was about to cross the street when the door to Dixie’s café opened and Dixie walked out, frowning.
“Hey, Sheriff. Are you going into the clinic?” Dixie asked. “Mabel closed it up over an hour ago. She mentioned she had a little cleaning up to do, but she was supposed to pick up her to-go order twenty minutes ago. It’s not like Mabel to be late taking Dale his supper. He called looking for her because she’s not answering her cell. I called the clinic line and it went to voice mail.”
It was supposed to go to either Lila’s cell or Mabel’s, unless neither of them was picking up. He glanced over and the lights were all off. “I’ll go check. Lila only left the therapy gym about fifteen minutes ago. She might be trying to avoid me, so I’m hoping she didn’t hop in her car and drive off.”
“I haven’t seen her car. She parks around back, but she drives by to get out to Guidry’s. I could have missed her, but I don’t think so. It’s been slow.” Dixie started to walk across the street. “Something’s wrong. I can feel it.”
He didn’t like the fact that no one was answering the clinic line. He jogged ahead of Dixie and looked through the glass doors.
And immediately took a step back because a fine cloud of smoke was rising from behind the reception desk. He tried to get the door to slide open, but it was locked down and he didn’t have a key card. The glass was thick, far too thick for him to break without some serious equipment. It would take too long to get through that door. Panic started to bubble up inside him. The front reception area was dark with the exception of a glow coming from behind the desk, faint at first and then the whole thing caught fire.
“Call the fire department, Dixie.” He was already starting around the back. It was a simpler lock and he should be able to get through it. “Then call the station house and watch for my daughter. If you can, call Tanya and get her to hold Noelle there. Tell her to lock everything down.”
Because he had no idea who was in there or who would come out.
God, now he prayed Lila had gotten straight into her car and ran as fast as she could from him. He would do just about anything if she wasn’t in that clinic. He hadn’t seen her, but he couldn’t see much from his vantage beyond the reception desk. Though it was getting easier to see in the dark clinic because the fire was growing, glowing with ghostly light.
Dixie nodded. “I’ll get Roxie here as soon as I can. Be careful.”
The station house was just around the block. Roxie and Major were both on duty. They wouldn’t bother with a car. They would come running, but he couldn’t wait.
Dixie raced back to the café and Armie pulled his sidearm. The reception desk hadn’t set itself on fire, and Lila wouldn’t have done it. Now he knew the arson inspector was wrong. Her house had been purposefully set on fire. There was no question about it.
“I don’t see why we had to do that.” The words were in a harsh whisper, but Armie could hear it plainly because the night was quiet around them.
Fucking Bobby Petrie. He should have found a way to keep him in jail. He should have protected her better.
If she was dead, he wasn’t sure what he would do. He might lie beside her and let the fire take him. God, she couldn’t be dead.
He forced the terror down and clung to the side of the building, stepping as lightly as he could. Every bit of training locked in, holding the fear at bay and allowing him to go cold.
“Listen here, little brother. I did what I had to do for the sake of our family.” That had to be Donny Petrie.
“But she was going to take me to Carrie,” Bobby insisted with a nasally whine.