“But nothing actually happened to me. I’m fine. I fought him off.”
“And that’s damn admirable, but it was still a trauma. You don’t want to let something like that fester. Do me a favor and call someone. If you want a rec, I think Dr. Kensington is amazing.” I pulled my wallet out of my pocket and riffled through it to find her card. I always kept a few on hand.
Cammie took it hesitantly. “Thank you.”
“Are you going to call?”
Cam rolled her eyes. “Yes.”
I chuckled at the action, but it lightened a little of the worry sitting on my shoulders. “Good.”
My phone buzzed on the table, and Cammie stood. “You take that. I need to clean some tables.”
I hit accept on the screen and put the phone to my ear. “Easton.”
“Sheriff, we’ve got another attempted abduction.”
“Where?”
“Wolf Gap Veterinary.”
My blood turned to ice, and everything around me seemed to slow and fade. The noise from the bar, the bright overhead lights, the country music drifting through the speakers. “Who?”
“Everly Kemper.”
I stood, tossing a twenty on the table and gathering up my pile of papers. “She okay?”
“Not sure. EMTs were called. Ruiz and Williams are headed over there now.”
“On my way.”
All sorts of scenarios, each one worse than the last, filled my mind as I made my way to my SUV and climbed inside. The steering wheel creaked as I adjusted my hold. What the hell had she been doing at the vet’s office so late? Why had she been walking to her car alone?
I took a deep breath, the air whistling through my clenched teeth. It took less than two minutes to get to the vet’s, but it felt like two decades. Lights from an ambulance and a cruiser painted the streets and buildings in a red and blue staccato rhythm.
I pulled my SUV to the side of the road and added my lights to the symphony. Something in me released at the sight of Everly on a gurney, awake and talking. But my rib cage gave a painful squeeze at the sight of my sister holding a compress to Ev’s head.
My boots hit the cement with a thud, my pace picking up with each step. Hadley’s gaze met mine. “Hayes, dial it back a notch.”
I glared at my sister. “What happened?”
“Everly was attacked, but she’s going to be fine.”
“I’m okay, really. Just feeling a little woozy.” Everly tried to smile, but it was wobbly, and her skin was so damn pale.
I didn’t think, I simply moved, slipping my hand into hers and squeezing gently. “Tell me what happened.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket with my free hand and hit my recorder app. I didn’t want Ev to have to recount this over and over.
“I stayed late to finish up some paperwork so it wasn’t hanging over my head this weekend. I locked up and was walking to my SUV when someone grabbed me. I didn’t even hear him coming. I’m usually really good about being aware of my surroundings, but I was looking at the sky. The moon and the stars aren’t nearly as clear in Seattle. I missed them. So dumb.”
I squeezed her hand again. “It’s not dumb, and it’s not your fault.”
Everly’s hand twitched in mine, but I held firm. “I should’ve been paying better attention. But I wasn’t, and it felt like he came out of nowhere. He yanked me hard and covered my mouth with a cloth.”
My gaze met Hadley’s over Ev’s head. Hadley’s normally relaxed expression had hardened to granite. “I’d guess chloroform or something similar. Her vitals are still a little sluggish.”
“Then what happened?” I asked.
“I bit him. Hard.”