someone talk to his half sister?” Felicity asked.
“She’s been questioned. She admitted to visiting her brother in prison but denies helping him in any way. Do you know her?”
“We’ve met briefly, but no, I don’t know her,” Felicity replied. Even though the base could feel small and isolated at times, there were too many people on base to become friends with everyone.
Justin nodded, his gaze going to something over her shoulder. She turned to see Heidi standing close by. Boy, she never gave up.
Felicity turned back toward the captain and noticed the other base reporter, John Robinson, lurking by the lamppost, obviously trying to eavesdrop on their conversation. They clearly had a tag team going. She nudged Westley and directed his attention to John.
Westley shook his head. “Vultures. Sir, we should table any more discussion until the meeting tomorrow.”
“Agreed. Good night. Be careful,” Justin said before turning away and ushering his daughter to the parking lot.
Because the church was only a few blocks from the training center, they had parked there and, walked over. Now twilight had slipped to night. A million stars twinkled in the sky and the moon rose in a crescent over the base. In some ways so ordinary. A typical night in Texas. However, today had been anything but ordinary.
Four people were dead.
A killer was on the loose.
And she’d learned her father’s death had been murder.
Tension coiled through her as she walked. Her pace picked up.
“Eager to get home?” Westley murmured as he matched her stride.
“Eager to put this day behind me,” she replied.
He snorted his agreement and slipped a warm hand around her elbow. It was a gentlemanly gesture. Protective. Possessive.
Her heart fluttered.
In a panic, her gaze leaped to the stop sign ahead as if her brain was sending her a warning.
Don’t go any further with that train of thought.
Letting herself believe his actions had any deeper meaning beyond protecting her from Boyd Sullivan was foolish.
The crowd from the church thinned the farther away they walked from the building. They passed the dentist offices and rec center. The veterinarian clinic’s lights were on and Felicity waved to the receptionist in the window. As they crossed the parking lot for the vet clinic, the sound of an engine turning over marred the quiet night. Odd. The streetlamp that normally kept the lot lit up at night was dark.
“Hurry,” Westley said.
Sensing his tension, she quickened her pace even more. Tires squealed as a car shot forward. Felicity caught a glimpse of a chrome grill before Westley’s arm snaked around her waist and he lifted her off the ground.
With her wrapped in his arms, he dove out of the way seconds before the vehicle roared past, barely missing them. They landed hard on the pavement, Westley taking the brunt of the fall, Felicity landing on top of him. For a long, silent moment neither moved.
Heart in her throat, she said, “Are you okay?”
He grunted in reply. “Up.”
Realizing she was squishing his midsection, she disentangled herself from his hold and rolled to the side in a sitting position. In the dark, she reached for him, finding his shoulder as he sat up.
“That was close.”
She sucked in a breath at his words. Too close. Someone had tried to run them down. “That was a base vehicle. One they use to move the planes.”
“We need to alert security.”
“Can you stand?” she asked.
“Yes,” he barked out.
She didn’t take his tone personally as she rose and helped him to his feet. He was allowed to be cranky after dodging a speeding truck. “Thank you for saving my life.”
“Saved both our bacon,” he said. “That maniac would have mowed us both over.”
“True,” she said past the tension lodged in her chest like a rock.
Only when they were inside the training center did she see that Westley’s uniform jacket was ripped at the elbow and blood seeped from a scrape. While he made the call to Security Forces, she went in search of gauze and alcohol wipes.
She ran in to Bobby Stevens, an airman and new trainer who’d only been at the center for a month.
“Hey, Bobby,” she said.
He saluted. His gaze took in the items she held. “Everything okay?”
“Westley’s injured,” she told him. “I got it.”
“What happened?” Bobby followed her to Westley’s office, where he was still on the phone.
Not sure she if should say anything, remembering Ian’s warning of not trusting anyone, she fudged. “A little mishap, that’s all.”
Westley ended his call and said, “Bobby. How are the dogs?”
“Good, sir,” Bobby replied with a salute.
Westley returned the salute with a wince. No doubt from his injured elbow. “Make sure to let the vet know if any of the dogs seem off. You never know what any one of them could have eaten.”
Bobby nodded and hurried away.
To Felicity, Westley said, “Let’s get Dakota and go.”
She frowned and held up the gauze and wipes. “Let me dress your wound.”
“Later.” He came around his desk and went to a closet, where he grabbed a duffel bag. “Let’s go.”
By the time they made it outside with Dakota trotting alongside them, two Security Forces vehicles rolled to a stop. Linc hopped out of one and Justin out of the other.
Justin strode to their side. “What happened?”
After Westley explained, Felicity spoke up. “I recognized the vehicle as one of the trucks that push the planes around the runway.”
“Did you get the license number?” Linc asked.
“It had been removed,” she told them.
To Linc, Justin said, “Put out an alert. Anyone sees one of those trucks missing a plate needs to report in.” Linc nodded and headed back to his vehicle. To Westley and Felicity Justin asked, “Any chance you saw the driver?”
They both shook their heads.
“We were too busy diving out of the way,” Westley remarked
