the connection to Nate’s case to herself, but since Nate was out of town with his fiancée, Melissa, and still on medical leave, she wasn’t sure who else she could confide in.
She’d never told Griff that Melissa and her daughter had reminded her of the women and children who lived in fear at the shelter. She knew there were rumors among her coworkers about why she cared about the shelter so much, but she didn’t bother to comment on them. Her past wasn’t any of their business.
Griff’s, either. As far as she was concerned, none of the guys she worked with needed to know how she spent her free time.
The hospital wasn’t far, and soon the impressive building loomed before them. Griff parked the car and glanced over at her. “Ready?”
“Sure.” She pushed open the door with her left hand and slid out of the seat.
“Hopefully we’ll be in and out quickly,” Griff said. “We need time to review mug shots.”
She didn’t think reviewing photographs of suspects would help, but arguing with her boss wasn’t exactly an option. “I was thinking that maybe this attack is related to the Brookmont case,” she offered, as Griff held the door open for her. “If you remember, I’m the one who took down the crooked police chief, Randall Joseph, the night Nate was shot. Maybe he’s carrying a grudge.”
Griff’s dark eyes pierced hers. “Good point.” He surprised her by agreeing. “You and Nate broke open the drug-trafficking ring and solved a twelve-year-old murder. Although I’m sure the former police chief is still in prison awaiting trial.”
“I know, but it wouldn’t take much for him to hire someone to come after me,” she pointed out. “And if that’s true, then Nate is in just as much danger.”
Griff’s reply was little more than a grunt as he walked with her up to the triage desk. She could see the nurse’s eyes widen with interest as she took in Griff’s short blond hair, dark brown eyes and broad shoulders. For a moment Jenna had to squelch a flash of jealousy, which was ridiculous. She didn’t want to date her boss, or anyone else she worked with, for that matter. In her opinion, the other deputies on her team didn’t always take her seriously now, and it would be ten times worse if she actually went out with one of them.
Which was part of the reason she’d thought Eric Krause was a good choice. They’d met at a fund-raiser for abused women and children, and she had thought they shared the same ideas and morals.
She’d never anticipated his verbal abuse and pathological need for control, and she had broken things off the night he’d shouted at her about how stupid she was. There had been a brief moment when she’d had a flashback to her father screaming the same words at her mother.
Thankfully, she hadn’t dated Eric very long and none of her coworkers had known about him. Most of her fellow deputies already had women in their lives. Well, except the new guy who’d replaced Aaron Simms. She couldn’t deny she’d been happy to see Simms leave the team. He’d been a challenge to work with.
And she hadn’t told anyone the truth about what had transpired between them. How much he’d hated knowing she could outshoot him. One night, he’d shown up unexpectedly at her house after work. She’d been fortunate to get away when he’d tried to prove how much of a man he was. She’d threatened to file sexual-harassment charges against him, and thankfully, he’d decided to resign instead.
As much as it made sense that Simms might want to attack her, the build of the guy who’d grabbed her had seemed to be much bigger.
Jenna swept a glance over the waiting room, noting with dismay that every available seat was taken. Despite her lieutenant’s plan to be in and out quickly, she suspected there would be a long wait time. No way did she want to sit here all night.
“Maybe we should wake up one of the crime-scene techs to swab my hand,” she said to Griff. “This place is packed and we’ll end up waiting forever.”
Griff didn’t even look at her, his gaze focused on the triage nurse who was practically drooling over him. “Excuse me. Is Dr. Gabriella Hawkins working tonight?” he asked.
The smile on the nurse’s face faded a bit as she clearly wondered if his interest in Gabby was personal. Which was crazy, since Gabby had recently married Deputy Shane Hawkins and the two of them were giddy with happiness. “Yes, actually, Dr. Hawkins is on call tonight.”
“Will you page her for us? We just need five minutes of her time.” Griff’s stern expression softened when he smiled at the nurse. She nodded and quickly accessed the computer to respond to his request.
Jenna sucked in a breath and turned away to stare blindly at the patrons in the waiting room. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen Griff smile, and the simple gesture changed his entire face, making him even more attractive.
She gave herself a mental shake. She needed to get over herself already. Maybe it was a good thing Griff had never smiled at her like that. She was sure she’d babble like an imbecile if he did.
“I hope Gabby’s not in the middle of surgery or something else equally important,” Griff said in an undertone. “I’d like to get out of here before sunrise.”
His dry tone made her smile. “Yeah, no kidding. This place is crazy busy.”
For a moment their gazes clashed and clung, the space between them sizzling with awareness. Jenna felt powerless to break the bizarre connection, so she was grateful Gabby chose that moment to arrive and interrupt them.
“Hi, Lieutenant. Jenna. Is something wrong?”
Jenna found the strength to look away from Griff and acknowledge Gabby. “Hey, Doc, how are you?” She strove for a carefree tone, when in reality she felt anything but.
She seriously needed distance from Griff. Now.
“I’m fine, but what on earth happened to you?” Gabby reached out to lightly touch Jenna’s aching jaw. “This must hurt.”
“Nothing major, just a little run-in with one of the bad guys,” Jenna replied, sneaking a glance at Griff’s stone face. What was wrong with him? Had he felt the weird attraction that flashed between them, too? No, most likely it was just her overactive imagination working against her. She smiled at Gabby and lifted her hand, still wrapped in the brown paper lunch bag. “We need some evidence and hoped you would sneak us in to get my wounds swabbed.”
“Absolutely. This way,” Gabby said, gesturing for them to follow her through some double doors leading back into the emergency department. “We can use a room in the minor-care area.”
Jenna nodded and followed Gabby into a small exam room. “I caught the perp in the mouth,” she explained as she carefully removed the paper bag. “We’re hoping to get saliva for DNA evidence.”
“Understood,” Gabby said, pulling supplies out of the cabinet located in the corner of the room. “When I’m finished, I’ll wash the wounds out for you, too.”
Jenna grimaced. “I can wash my own hands,” she said, feeling as if the doc was making way too big a deal out of a few scratches that she barely felt compared to her jaw, which continued to throb painfully.
“Thanks. We’d appreciate that,” Griff interjected as if she hadn’t spoken. “The human mouth
