“You must be Luke Sleigh, Nick’s brother.” Matthew held out a hand.
Reluctantly he shook it. “I am.”
“Summer and Hope were lucky you turned up when you did,” Matthew said.
Was he being paranoid or was there a hint of suspicion in the detective’s tone? Did they think thathehad been the one who shot up Summer’s house? That seemed ludicrous, yet the police also thought he had murdered five people, including a four-month-old baby.
“Luke saved our lives,” Summer said. She still held his hand and squeezed it tightly.
“What were you doing at Summer’s?” Rylla asked.
Because he didn’t want to further upset Summer, he would go along with their interrogation without requesting a lawyer. Nick would probably be furious, but this wasn't about the nursery rhyme murders, this was about an attack on Summer. “We had breakfast together this morning, then I needed a walk to clear my head, we made plans to have lunch together, and so I was on my way back to take her out.”
“What did you see when you arrived at her house?” Matthew asked.
“A man was standing in her front yard, he had a gun in his hand. I called out and he started firing at the house. When I got closer, he stopped and ran off. I thought about running after him, but I knew Summer was inside, and I didn’t know if she’d been hit,” he summarized.
“The man didn’t start shooting until you yelled at him?” Matthew asked.
Luke considered this, it was hard to remember exactly what had happened and in what order, but he was fairly positive that was how it had happened. “Yes.”
“What exactly was he doing?”
“He was walking toward the house with the gun in his hand.”
“So, you called out, and he started shooting. Did he turn to look at you?”
“I think so.”
“Can you tell us what he looks like?”
“Tall with short dark hair, that’s all I know. It happened so quickly. He looked over his shoulder and then started firing at the house. I was still running toward him. He shot the gun maybe six or seven times, then ran off.”
“Do you remember which direction he went in?”
“Umm.” He wasn't sure. When the man had stopped shooting and run off he’d gone straight into the house, terrified that Summer might have been hurt and could be in there bleeding to death. “Maybe around the side of the house and off through the backyard, but I don’t know.”
“You’d been at Summer’s house earlier, right?” Rylla asked.
Luke nodded.
“And you left to go for a walk?”
He nodded again.
“When you left, did you see anyone hanging around? Any cars parked outside her house? Anyone on the sidewalk?”
“No, I didn’t see anyone, but I wasn't really paying attention.” He hadn’t known that Summer was in potential danger, and he’d been wrapped up in his own problems. If he had known what was going to happen, he would have paid attention to everything. Scratch that, if he had known what would happen, he would never have left Summer alone.
“What about you, Summer?” Rylla turned to her. “Have you noticed anything unusual lately? Anyone hanging around your house? Phone calls? Emails? Texts? Anything on your social media accounts?”
Summer’s hand in his shook. “No. Nothing unusual has happened at all. Well, at least nothing bad.”
“Do you have any idea who might want to hurt you?” Matthew asked.
She tensed. Immediately. He noticed it because he held her hand and she’d had it in a vice-like grip the entire time, but suddenly it went completely limp. He doubted the detectives had noticed her change because her face remained impassive.
“There is no one who wants to hurt me,” she said the words, but he felt her doubt.