Corrine swallowed the pill and closed her eyes. The nurse turned to Shaye. “She’ll go to sleep quickly. If she awakens again, let me know.”

Shaye nodded and moved closer to the bed after the nurse left. Corrine opened her eyes. “I’m tired, but I’m afraid to sleep. Every time I open my eyes, I’m afraid I’ll see him standing over me again.”

“Don’t worry. I’m going to be sitting right here, and Sergeant Boyd is right outside your door. No one is going to stand over you here except me and medical personnel.”

Corrine forced a smile, her swollen lips making it look more like a grimace. “Have I told you what a great daughter you are?”

“Maybe a time or two.” Shaye leaned over and kissed Corrine on her forehead. “Get some rest. I’ll be right here.”

Corrine shifted a little and closed her eyes. In no time at all, her breathing was rhythmic. Shaye stood there watching her sleep and mulling over everything Corrine and Sergeant Boyd had told her. Something was nagging at her, but she couldn’t put her finger on what. The phone call to Corrine’s office, the empty building, the painters…the purse!

That was it.

She hurried over to the table against the wall, opened Corrine’s purse, and dumped the contents on the table. Wallet, phone, lip balm, keys…where was it? She flipped the purse back over and peered inside, opening the side pocket. And that’s where she found it. Not an eyeglass cleaning cloth like Sergeant Boyd thought, because Corrine didn’t wear glasses.

It was a decorator’s swatch.

Shaye’s hand closed around the cloth, making a fist. It wasn’t Corrine’s job that had put her at risk. It was Shaye’s. Her disguise hadn’t fooled the stalker, and he was letting her know that not only did he know who she was, he knew how to get to her.

Fear, rage, and guilt coursed through her. When she’d taken this case, she’d never imagined that it might put those close to her at risk, not even as she’d started to understand more about the stalker’s fixation. How had he figured it out? Had he followed Shaye to her apartment? Since she’d first met with Emma, Shaye had been extra careful when driving, more observant about the cars surrounding her.

She shook her head. The only way he could have followed her home is if he’d made himself invisible. Which meant he’d discovered her identity some other way. How much more did he know?

And how was she supposed to explain to her mother that all of this was her fault?

Chapter Twelve

Emma dashed into the emergency room and stopped at the nurse’s station, trying to talk and catch her breath at the same time. “Corrine Archer? Is she here?”

The nurse checked her computer screen. “She’s in room seven, but—”

Emma didn’t wait for her to finish the sentence. As soon as she heard the room number, she dashed through the emergency room doors and down the hall for room seven. Her pulse quickened when she saw the policeman sitting at the door outside of the room. He rose when she approached.

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” the officer said, “but I’m going to have to see your credentials.”

“Of course.” She pulled her identification out of her pocket and presented it to the officer. “Can you tell me if Shaye is with her mother?”

The officer handed back her identification and narrowed his eyes at her. “You know the Archers?”

“Yes. I mean, I know Corrine from working with some of her wards, and I know Shaye from, well, from recently hiring her to look into a problem of mine. Is Corrine okay?”

“You should probably ask yourself.”

“Of course. Thank you.” She cracked the door open and peered inside, then sucked in a breath as she saw Corrine, so pale and bruised.

Shaye sat in a chair next to the bed and must have heard her intake of breath, because her eyes flew open. Her gaze locked on Emma and she jumped up from her chair. Emma rushed over. “What happened? Is she all right?”

“She answered a distress call for an infant,” Shaye said, “but when she got there, the building was empty, and someone attacked her. She fell down the stairs and he clocked her in the head.”

“Oh my God! What did the doctor say?”

“Bruised ribs, a concussion, and the general knocks from the tumble. She’ll be sore and have a headache, but should be all right. He’s going to do more tests tomorrow.”

“Thank God. That’s good. I mean, not good in the big scheme of things, but good considering.”

Shaye nodded. “Some painters showed up to measure. If they hadn’t interrupted whatever he had planned…”

Emma shuddered and crossed her arms across her chest. “Could she identify him? Has she been awake?”

“She’s been awake, but her vision was too blurry to see him, and the painters didn’t get a good look either given the bad lighting.”

“Damn. I know, given her job, she probably isn’t popular with a lot of people, but this seems sort of extreme.”

“Yeah, I thought so too, until I realized it wasn’t about her job.” Shaye held out her hand, exposing a square of cloth with jagged edges. “I found this in her purse.”

Emma frowned. “I don’t understand…”

“It’s a decorator’s swatch.”

“No!” Emma’s hand flew over her mouth and she took a step back, as if the cloth were going to attack her. “Oh, Shaye, I am so sorry. I never thought…you have to stop now. Stop working the case.”

“And leave you with no one? I don’t think so.”

“But you never signed up for this, and your mother definitely didn’t. If anything happened to either of you, I don’t know how I’d be able to live with myself.”

“Nothing is going to happen,” Shaye assured her. “My mother will go home to top-of-the-line security and given who she is, probably a police guard.”

“But you won’t.”

“I’ll probably stay with her for a while—at least until she’s able to move around well.”

Emma shook her head. “It’s not good enough. As long as you leave Corrine’s house to work on my case, you’re still at risk. You see firsthand what he’s capable of. Why is this happening?”

“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.” Shaye placed her hand on Emma’s arm. “I mean that. I’m going to figure this out.”

“What about the cops?” Emma said. “You have the decorator’s swatch. Corrine was attacked and it was planned. Surely they can’t ignore all that.”

“No. They won’t ignore it.”

Emma studied Shaye. “You don’t sound convinced.”

“I’m convinced they’ll investigate Corrine’s attack. I just don’t know if they’ll agree with our take on why. My mother makes a lot of enemies with her work. This thing with your stalker is a big unknown and a leap.”

“That he would go from me to your mother?”

Shaye nodded.

“Damn it. He’s got us right where he wants us. We know it’s him, but other people might not believe us. The people we need to believe us might not.”

“Don’t worry about the police. I’ll handle that end of things. Just worry about yourself. Did you have any problems changing hotels?”

Emma shook her head. “I drove around for a while. No one could have followed me without me noticing.”

“Good. Did you sleep?”

Shaye’s worry was genuine, and Emma considered lying because the last thing she wanted to do was give the young investigator something else to be concerned about. But she knew the dark circles under her eyes were a dead giveaway.

“Not really,” Emma said.

“I know it’s hard, but try to get as much rest as you can. I need you strong. Is everything else all right? No more problems with the car? No random items appearing? No old acquaintances contacting you out of the blue?”

Emma frowned. “Not really. I mean, when I got to the hospital today, I ran into a guy I dated through high school, but he was carrying flowers, so he must have been here to see a patient.”