“I’m fine. And this is the last one anyway. Go see your bride-to-be.” Marz looked up at Nick with a grin.
Nick nodded. “All right. Later.” He stepped through the back door out into the warm July night and nearly walked into Beckett. “Sorry. What’s the matter?” Nick asked, noticing the serious expression Beckett wore.
Beckett shook his head. “I just made Becca cry.”
Frowning, Nick glanced around the otherwise empty parking lot. Kat’s car was there, so they were back. “What?” he asked, heading toward the door to the main part of the Hard Ink building.
Beckett fell into step beside him. “I came up behind her and Kat out here, and when Becca noticed me, she freaked out. Nearly jumped out of her skin. At first she tried to play it off, but then she got upset and ran inside.”
Nick punched the code into the keypad, and they stepped into the concrete-and-metal stairwell that led to Hard Ink on the first floor and their apartments and the gym on the upper floors. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure she’s fine.”
Beckett gave him a doubtful look but nodded. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”
Clapping him on the arm, Nick shook his head. “I’ll take care of her.” They parted ways as Nick let himself into his apartment and Beckett made his way upstairs. The big open kitchen and living room were empty. “Becca?” he called, an urgent need to see her and make sure she was okay flowing through him.
No answer. He went straight for their rooms at the back of the apartment.
“You need to tell him,” someone said. Kat.
“I agree,” came another voice. Emilie?
Nick rounded the corner into his office to see Becca sitting on his sofa, her face wet with tears. Kat and Emilie sat on either side of her. Nick’s gut dropped to the floor. “Tell me what?”
CHAPTER 7
Nick nailed Becca with a stare. As he watched, she made a valiant effort to button up just how upset she was, and that made him worry even more. He knelt down in front of her, his hands on her knees. “What’s going on?”
She shook her head, and his heart fucking broke as he saw her struggle to find her voice and hold back the tears.
Kat grasped something from Becca’s lap and held it out to him. “Someone left this in front of Becca’s locker at work today.”
Frowning, Nick accepted the small, floppy, black-and-brown stuffed animal into his hand. He guessed it was supposed to be a German shepherd, and the damn thing was missing a leg. It looked like someone had cut the back leg off and stapled the opening closed. What the hell?
“Look at the neck, Nick,” Kat said, her voice serious.
He flipped it around, and that was when he noticed that the animal was so floppy because the head was connected to the body only by a thin strip of material along the back. He might not have thought much about that if someone hadn’t gone to the trouble of spray painting the torn opening red. As if the neck had been slit. “Sonofabitch,” he said, hot prickles running down his back. “Talk to me, Sunshine.”
She heaved a deep breath. “I found it at the end of my shift,” she said. “I went to get my stuff, and this was sitting upright on the floor in front of my locker. I thought someone had left me a present until . . .”
“This is fucking twisted,” Kat bit out.
The words echoed Nick’s own thoughts. Twisted and threatening. The removed leg was clearly meant to communicate that the person knew Becca’s dog had only three legs, which made the threat personal and specific. “Did you talk to security about this?” he asked, making sure to keep his voice even.
Becca shook her head. “I was so freaked out, I just wanted to get out of there.”
“I didn’t know about this until just now, or I would’ve brought us home earlier,” Kat said.
“I’m sorry,” Becca said, turning to Nick’s sister. “I just wanted to forget about it for a few hours.”
“I know,” Kat said. “You don’t have to apologize, but I’m worried about this.”
Nick nodded. “Can you think of anyone at the hospital who would do this? Who would have a problem with you?”
“I know some people are upset that I’ve asked for time off for the wedding and our honeymoon after being on leave for two months.” Becca scrubbed her face with her hands. “I overheard some women talking at the nurses’ station yesterday. But I can’t imagine anyone doing something this cruel. And twisted. Kat’s right.”
“I don’t like it, Becca,” Nick said, his hackles all up. “I don’t like it at all. I’d like to go with you tomorrow to talk to hospital security. They need to know.”
She gave a quick nod. “Okay.”
“Is this why you freaked out when Beckett came up behind you out back?” he asked.
Becca sagged back against the couch. “Partly.”
Nick frowned, his instincts flaring. “What’s the other part?”
The quick look Becca exchanged with Emilie had Nick’s gut twisting with worry, especially when Em gave her a small nod. “I know it’s ridiculous,” Becca said in a small voice, “but I keep thinking I’m seeing Woodson.”
The words hung there for a moment and rushed ice through Nick’s veins.
Emilie got up and gestured for Nick to sit. He slid onto the couch next to Becca. He’d barely put his arm around her shoulders when she buried her face against his chest, her arm clutching his neck. Her shoulders shook with restrained tears. “Aw, Becca,” he said, his heart absolutely aching. How had he not seen this?
“I’m sorry,” she rasped.
He locked eyes with Kat, whose expression was every bit as concerned and upset as he felt. “You don’t have anything to apologize for. You hear me?”
A quick nod against his chest.
Guilt flooded into his gut. Why hadn’t he ever considered that the attempted abductions might have traumatized Becca? She’d been so strong through it all that he’d just assumed she was fine. No wonder she’d asked him what had happened to Woodson. Yet, once again, he hadn’t probed deep enough. “Shit, I’m the one who should be apologizing.” He stroked her hair.
“No,” she said, shaking her head as she pulled away. Her face was red and wet and her eyes were puffy, but she was still the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. “How could you have known? It just felt so ridiculous that I didn’t want to say anything.”
“Tell me what’s been going on,” he said, cupping her cheek in his palm and swiping at her tears with his thumb.