“So, you’re the one who set up this signing?” Tara asked.
“Yes, I also run the indie press that published her book, but I didn’t hurt her,” Cassie said. “I swear.”
“Then why did she say you did?” Tara asked. Her voice was not combative but not kind, either.
“I don’t know. I don’t understand it. I would never. I’m her friend, her best friend, heck, her only friend.”
Tara didn’t look like she believed her. She glanced around the room. “No one leaves until I say so.”
“But my patient,” Ray protested. “I brought her back from the light. I really need to stay with her.”
“No,” Tara said. “I’ll make sure she has an officer with her at all times. The rest of you sit.” No one moved, and she looked like she’d happily lock them all up. Her face contorted into what Mel suspected was her scary detective face and she barked, “Now!”
They all sat except for Ray, who seemed to think that Tara’s scary detective face was her way of flirting with him.
“It’s okay, babe,” he said. “I get it. You don’t have to feel bad about yourself.”
“What are you talking about?” Tara frowned.
“You and your feel—” Ray began but Angie interrupted.
“Oh, no, Ray, don’t do it,” Angie said. He ignored her.
As the EMTs wheeled Elise out of the room, Tara went to follow them and Ray fell into step beside her. The look Tara gave him should have shriveled him up on the spot, but Ray kept on going.
“Look,” he said. “Don’t judge yourself too hard on this thing between us. I know you can’t help it. In fact, why don’t we just go grab some dinner and we can talk about your feelings and stuff?”
“Feelings? Stuff?” Tara squawked. “The only feeling I have for you is one of mild repugnance.”
“That’s a good thing, right?”
“Are you seriously hitting on me, DeLaura? Now?”
“Merely offering to assist you through your confusion.”
“I am not confused!”
“No? Then why are you holding your Taser in your hand when I know you were about to call your partner?” he asked.
Tara glanced down at her hand and blushed. “I . . . that’s . . . because if you don’t back up, I’m going to hit you with fifty thousand volts at twenty-five watts.”
“Sounds kinky,” Ray said. Then he gave her a slow wink.
“I swear, one more word and I’ll lock you up—”
“Detective Martinez, what’s going on here?” Uncle Stan stepped into the room with Joe and two uniformed officers right behind him.
Joe moved beside Mel and gave her hand a quick squeeze. The warmth of his fingers around hers made her realize how icy cold her hand was. She didn’t know if it was shock or hunger causing her system to short out. She suspected it was both.
“We have a stab victim,” Tara said. “And she’s already identified her attacker.”
“Wait!” Cassie cried. “No!”
Tara ignored her and looked at the big, burly officer beside Joe. She said, “Jackson, I want you to ride with the victim, a Ms. Elise Penworthy, to the hospital and stay with her at all times. If there is any change in her condition, contact me immediately.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Jackson turned and hurried after Elise.
“But I want to go with her,” Cassie protested. “She’s going to be terrified if she wakes up by herself.”
“Given that she identified you as the person who assaulted her,” Tara said, “I think she’d be more frightened if you went with her.”
“But I didn’t do it,” Cassie protested. “The pen that was used is still in her back. Get it fingerprinted. It’ll prove it wasn’t me.”
Stan glanced between Cassie and Tara as if assessing his partner’s read on the situation before he asked, “She was stabbed with a pen?”
“The same one she signed her books with,” Cassie said. “It was her personalized pen. She had it specially made for her signing.” Cassie burst into great big noisy sobs and Mel put her arm around her shoulders in an attempt to soothe her. Tara looked as if she considered Cassie a big faker, while Stan had a more considered look on his face. He was still open-minded.
“Hey, I saved a life,” Ray said.
All eyes turned to him.
“How? By getting out of the way?” Stan asked as he met Mel’s gaze. She gave him a slight shake of her head, letting him know she didn’t believe Cassie had stabbed Elise.
“Funny, really funny. I’ll have you know I brought her back from the jaws of death,” Ray said.
Joe raised his eyebrows and Mel met his questioning glance with a nod.
“He did,” she said. “Ray was amazing. He knew just what to do. He likely saved Elise’s life.”
“Right, and to get back to what really matters, we have our suspect right here,” Tara said. She frowned at Mel, who still had an arm around Cassie. “Ms. Leighton.”
Uncle Stan glanced at Cassie. His expression was intimidating, but Mel knew it was also the grimace that happened when his heartburn was kicking up. Cassie Leighton didn’t know this and when she met his gaze, she promptly burst into tears again.
“I didn’t do it,” she protested. “I would never.”
Mel patted the bookseller’s back in a show of solidarity. “She didn’t do it. I know she didn’t.”
“Here we go,” Tara scoffed. She turned her glare on Uncle Stan. “Why is she even here?”
Mel felt her jaw clench. “Because I’m a witness.”
Tara stared her down. “How do you figure? Did you see the person who shoved the pen in the vic’s back? Or did you see someone following her, looking like they were about to shank her? No, you didn’t, did you?”
Mel sucked in a breath and drew herself up to her full height. She gave Cassie one last quick squeeze and stepped forward so that she loomed over the shorter woman. If Tara was intimidated it didn’t show.
“Now, Mel,” Uncle Stan said. His voice was cajoling, as if he really thought he could talk her out of being super irritated with this woman.
“Don’t,”
