Miranda grabbed Monica by the shirt and yanked as hard as she could. Bringing the woman down. She held her there for just a moment.
Jac sat on her. Knight jerked the old, broken rake handle out of her hand and threw it against the far wall.
“Knight, you got anything to secure her with?” Jac asked.
Knight calmly pulled off his necktie.
Miranda pulled herself from under Monica’s legs. The woman was screaming and screeching, cursing Miranda and her entire family. And Monica’s own family. None of it made sense. None of it.
Miranda barely waited until Knight had Monica secured before she was making her way to Dixie’s side. Jac was already there.
Dixie’s eyes, the same blue as Miranda’s sister Marin’s, fluttered open. “My head hurts, Randi.”
“I know. It’ll be ok. We’re going to get you to the hospital.”
“What happened? I was letting the dog in, and that woman hit me. Who is she?”
“Monica Beise. We’ll talk later, ok?”
“You don’t look so good, either. Blood on your head.”
“Yeah. She got me, too.” Miranda wrapped her fingers around her cousin’s. Dixie was a nurse and not prone to panicking, but she was terrified. Miranda could see it on her face. Guilt flooded her. Dixie had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time—because of Miranda. Miranda should have kept looking for Monica. That she hadn’t, and had failed Dixie because of it would weigh on her for a long, long while. “But we’ll be ok. Just going to wait right here until the ambulance arrives, ok. We’ll be ok, I promise.”
68
Knight let Jac Jones take charge of the scene. He wasn’t about to leave Miranda’s side. She was hurt far worse than she was letting on. Only pure stubbornness kept her on her feet. He was completely convinced of that.
Joel Masterson arrived seconds before an ambulance.
Within moments, the first responders were loading Miranda’s cousin—the nurse, he thought, not the vet tech, though they resembled each other and often both wore scrubs—onto a gurney. The tall man from the house next door came running, one of the four kids with him. He cursed when he saw the nurse and ran to her side. “Dixie Kay?”
The little girl broke away from him and walked straight up to Knight. “Where’s my mother?”
None of the Talleys had any children. On that point, Knight was absolutely certain. “I don’t know. What is your mother’s name?”
“Diane. I want my mother.” The little girl was small, maybe seven or eight. She favored Kayla Beise the most.
Knight knew immediately who she was. He went down on one knee as Dixie Talley was rolled down the cobble walkway near where they stood. ”Are you Danielle?”
She nodded. “Where’s Diane?”
“She’s done something bad, Danielle. She’s going to have to go with the police officers for a while.” Knight said, softly. He stood, then held out his hand for her. “I’m Agent Knight. Most people just call me Knight. Is there someone who can come stay with you? Your grandfather?”
She stared up at him and shook her head. “Mom doesn’t like Grandpa. He’s not allowed around me. She says he’s stupid now.”
“He’s not stupid at all. Sometimes he just forgets things. He’s a really good man. I’ve met him. How about we call one of your aunts to come stay with you?”
She tightened her hand around his and started crying. Joel Masterson had just led her mother out the front door of the inn. Monica was currently snarling and screaming and fighting.
When she saw her daughter with Knight, Monica started cursing even more loudly. Cursing him. Cursing the little girl, and the Talleys, and everyone nearby.
Knight blocked the little girl from her mother’s sight, protectively.
To his surprise, she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his shirt. He scooped Danielle up and just held her. “It’ll be ok, Dannie. It’ll be ok. I promise. Everything will be ok.”
When he looked up again, his eyes met green.
Miranda was next, being rolled right out of her family home on a gurney. Knight followed her progress, trying to ascertain how badly she was injured from a distance.
As soon as he handed off the little girl to the appropriate people, he was going to check for himself.
And find out just what had happened here today.
69
Allan Knight was the biggest mystery she’d ever come across. But, then again, another part of him was pretty much an open book. Perci Masterson helped her get into the hospital gown, and it took every ounce of energy she had. “He’s cute, Randi.”
“Yeah, if you like extra-tall, glowering, overachieving, hulky guys who are constantly cranky.”
“Well…” Perci shot her a grin. “That’s exactly the kind of guy I like. My husband’s working the ER today and not very happy about it. We had four call-offs today. So what happened?”
“I’m not exactly certain. Case gone bad. Took a few hits with a rake handle—or a vampire stake. I’m not exactly sure what I think. But Dixie…Dixie came in right before me. My head, Perci…it…hurts. Probably should do something about that. Soon as I find out about Dixie.”
“Dr. Lowell rode in with her.”
“Shane?” The man had moved into the three-story next to the inn a few years ago. He and Dixie worked the same schedule and often carpooled. “I need to be there when she wakes up.”
Perci moved to block her path. She pushed Miranda lightly back onto the gurney. Far too easily for Miranda’s peace of mind. “Nope. Not going anywhere, Randi. Not until we check you out.”
“I could just move you and go around.”
“Now you wouldn’t go through a pregnant woman, would you?”
“Heard about that. Congrats. And I don’t think I could go through a cloud at the moment. My arm…I’m pretty certain it’s broken. I heard it snap. And my head is killing me.”
“Oh, boy. I know that feeling. Let’s get you changed, and we’ll go from there. Nate will be with you as soon as
