What he’d really like was some backup, Seth thought. He wondered how soon he could get a security system installed, and whether he had to ask his father’s permission first. Probably, he decided reluctantly.
“Tomorrow is Saturday. I can take the weekend off and then work from the house for a few days,” he told Robin. “I’ll make sure we have regular patrol drive-bys, too. I wish I knew how he got away so fast. The neighbor who heard the shots and called 9-1-1 didn’t see or hear a vehicle. Unfortunately, nobody was at home in the house to the north of Dad’s. Best guess, Winstead parked there.”
“I know I’d have heard a car arriving. I was in the kitchen putting together some lunch. Except when I was out in back, I’ve always heard yours when you come home.”
He captured her hand again. “Bet you never got that lunch, did you?”
Robin wrinkled her nose. “I’ve been feeling so sick about what happened, I’m just as glad I didn’t eat. But when Jacob wakes up, he’s going to be miserable.”
“Just as well Dad hadn’t eaten,” Seth commented, “considering he had to be put under.”
Worry darkened her eyes. “I didn’t tell you he was having an attack of heartburn. I wanted to have him checked out at the ER, but he insists he’s seen the doctor about it and is on medication. Did you know about it?”
“Hell, no!” Seth said, exasperated. “That’s Dad for you. He doesn’t want to admit any weakness. You must have caught him at a really bad moment, or he wouldn’t have told you.”
A tiny smile lit her face. “It could be a father-son thing, you know. Here you are, the young bull in the herd...”
He growled his opinion of that, although he suspected she saw his amusement. Yeah, she could be right. That sounded like Dad, too.
He heard his name just then, and insisted Robin bring Jacob through the swinging doors so that they weren’t left exposed in the waiting room. The nurse found a chair for Robin, who told him to take his time.
He didn’t need long, though. His father was surly about having to stay the night when he’d be perfectly fine at home. “What are you hanging around for?” he grumbled. “Where are Robin and Jacob?”
“Out in the hall.”
“For God’s sake, take them home!.” He glared at Seth. “I don’t need you hovering over me like a damn vulture.”
Seth laughed. “I love you, too, Dad.” He sobered. “Thank you for what you did today. For protecting those two when I couldn’t.”
“You know me better than that.”
“I do.” Seth gripped his father’s hand. “I wanted to say it, anyway. If Robin had been killed, Jacob snatched—” Throat clogged, he couldn’t finish, wasn’t ready to say, I’d have never gotten over it. Ridiculous considering what a short time he’d known them...but still true.
Never comfortable with talking about emotions, Dad snorted and said, “Get out of here.”
Seth was reassured enough to do just that.
Chapter Twelve
A stop at a Dairy Queen after leaving the hospital improved Jacob’s mood, and even Seth’s, Robin thought. Maybe hers, too. French fries and ice cream fixed everything.
It was astonishing how quickly Michael’s house had started to feel like home. Robin sighed with relief walking in—until she saw the torn wall in the hall just beyond the kitchen. These weren’t just bullet holes, Seth explained, because a crime scene investigator had dug the bullets out of the wall. More blasé about it than she could be, he experimentally poked his fingers in one hole. His father had fired fewer shots, and had been more accurate, so presumably a couple were embedded in the intruder’s Kevlar vest, while only one shot had nicked a corner of the kitchen island.
She stood looking around. “A shoot-out here.” If she hadn’t lived through it, she’d have thought it inconceivable—but then, she’d never expected to find a dead body in any place she lived, either.
Seth glanced at her. “It can happen anywhere.”
“Apparently. When I moved here, Lookout seemed so peaceful.”