Joaquin stroked her cheek, kissed her hair. “Can’t you wait and give her moreNovocain?”
“Sorry.” The doctor held up the last fragment. “Gotit.”
Mia felt a little dizzy. “That was … a lot less fun than I’dhoped.”
“Let’s put on some lidocaine gel. After it sits for a while, we’ll get you stitched back together.” The doctor stood, stripped off his sterile gloves, and left theroom.
For the first time since the police arrived, Mia was alone withJoaquin.
He stroked her hair. “I’m so sorry, Mia. I don’t know why he didn’t make sure you were numbfirst.”
She looked up at him. “I’m so glad you’rehere.”
His gaze moved over her face, as if he were trying to memorize her features. “The bastard jumped right in front of my truck. I could have hit him, but I slammed on the brakes. When he shot at me and I realized who he was, all I could think about was you. Then I saw your car and the shattered glass—God, Mia. I was sure you were dying or dead. I don’t think I’ve ever been moreafraid.”
Mia wasn’t used to hearing men admit that they felt fear, and it moved her to think he’d been afraid forher. “How did he findme?”
“I don’t know, but I’m sure as hell going to find out.” He lookedangry.
A knock came at the door, and Wu stuck his head inside. “Ms. Starr. Is now a goodtime?”
Oh, great.She didn’t want to deal with him, not yet. “Sure.”
“First, let me say how sorry I am that this happened and how relieved I am to see that you weren’t badlyhurt.”
She held up a hand to shut him up. “Before you ask me anything, I want to know how he foundme.”
* * *
Joaquin wanted to hear this,too. “This time, you answerourquestionsfirst.”
Wu didn’t look happy. “The suspect used Jason Garcia’s credit card to pay for an online search for your address, Mr. Ramirez. We got a pop on the card and were following up on that when your call came in, Ms. Starr. Somehow, he knew you were staying with Mr. Ramirez, and he tracked down Mr. Ramirez’s address using a public recordswebsite.”
“How could he know I was staying there? Maybe there’s another leak in the policedepartment.”
Wu cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable with Mia’s allegation. “My best guess is that he followed you, saw the two of you together, and looked up Mr. Ramirez’s license plate. Maybe he saw you when you picked her up at thenightclub.”
“But you don’t know for certain.” Joaquin wasn’timpressed.
“No, Idon’t.”
“Mia was almost killed tonight. If you’d warned us sooner, this wouldn’t havehappened.”
“It takes time to access credit card records, even for police detectives. We’re doingeverything—”
“I don’t believe that.” Joaquin was too shaken to hold back. “Mia is alive right now, no thanks to DPD. She could have been his thirdvictim.”
“Fourth,” Wusaid.
Mia’s face went white. “What?”
“Fourth?” Joaquinasked.
“I spent most of the afternoon in Colorado Springs. Whoever this guy is, he shot and killed Brigadier General Stephen Frank. He caught him outside a pay-by-the-hour hotel and shot him in the head. No witnesses, no cameras. There was no wallet with the body, so we can only assume the killer took it, as he did with both Meyer and Garcia. I saw the report and recognized the general’s name from the information you gave us. This time, the killer wrote your name on the wall in the victim’sblood.”
“He killed Frank, too? My name … in blood?” Mia seemed to have trouble absorbing all of this. “Is he still trying to frameme?”
Joaquin held her handtighter.