We didn’t say anything else as we waited. It had only taken us an hour to get here from Wolf Gap, but waiting for Hayes and his officers felt like it took a millennium. The sound of sirens grew in the air. Boden wrapped an arm around me, moving back to the front door. “They made that trip quick.”
I glanced at my watch, seeing that only forty-five minutes had passed. “I think sayingshootingputs them in hyperdrive.”
We stepped out onto the front porch just as three sheriff’s department SUVs came to a stop in front of the cabin. Hayes was out of his in a flash. “What the hell happened? Are you okay?”
“We’re fine,” Boden said.
“He’s not fine. He got shot.”
He scowled at me. “Shot is a bit of an overstatement.”
“Did a bullet pierce your arm or not?”
“Itgrazedme.”
“That was a hell of a lot of blood I cleaned up for agraze.”
Hayes pulled his radio from his holster. “I’ve got Beckett on call since the driver said you might be injured. Think you need to get to him now, or can we talk first?”
“I’m fine. Really. It’s a gash, but it’s not infected, and the pain isn’t too bad.”
I glared at Boden.
He bent and brushed his lips against mine. “The sooner we get this over with, the sooner I get to the doctor.”
“Fine,” I grumbled.
Hayes’ gaze followed us back and forth as if he were watching a tennis match. “You tell me if you change your mind.”
Boden nodded. “I’m good.”
Hayes nodded and turned his focus to the snow in front of the cabin. “Where were you when it happened?”
Boden gestured to the area near the snowman. “Over there.”
“Both of you?”
“We were standing right next to each other,” Boden explained.
Hayes scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “So, the perp could’ve been aiming at either of you.”
My stomach twisted at that. I’d assumed it was me, but what if Boden had been the target?
Hayes gestured for Deputy Young and another couple of officers. “See if you can find the bullet.”
“Got it, boss,” she called.
Hayes headed up the steps, stomping off the snow on his boots when he reached the porch. His eyes tracked over me. “You weren’t hurt?”
That bond tugged between us. The one that had cemented our care for each other all those years ago. I urged my mouth into a smile. “I’m fine and dandy. It’s just Mr. Hero over here who needs medical attention. He had to go and tackle me into the snow and take a bullet.”
My throat constricted on the words. That familiar panic lighting through me at how close I’d come to losing Boden. He seemed to sense that and moved in close, wrapping his arms around me and pressing his lips to my temple. “You’re going to have to try a lot harder if you want to get rid of me.”
I pressed my face into Boden’s chest, breathing him in. The smell of cedar and something else filled my senses. The scent that was Boden. That alone was a comfort.
“Why don’t you walk me through what happened?” Hayes urged.
We sat down on the couch and did just that. Hayes took down all the points he thought important and then looked up. “Could you make anything out about the snowmobile or the rider?”