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“Not that you’d tell me if there was,” she said. “You’re like the damn sphynx, you are.”
She unlocked the door and let him into the office, going around behind the desk herself to wake up the computer and open the security program.
“Here you go. This is all the video from Saturday night. Eight cameras. Four inside and four outside. Good luck. I hope you find what you need to bring Marc home.”
Nick thanked her and settled in at the desk.
“I’m gonna bring you a club soda and a veggie burger,” Devonta said on her way to the door. “And I don’t want any sass back from you about it.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Nick said, but his eyes were on the video screen, and food was the furthest thing from his mind.
31
“Get awayfrom her,” Izzysaid, never taking her eyes off Annie. “Tulsie, come on. We’re going.”
Annie held her hands out to the side to show she had no weapon as she stood slowly. “She can’t go anywhere but to the ER, Izzy. She’s cut herself pretty bad here.”
“I’ll take care of her,” Izzy said, stepping farther into the room. “I can bandage a horse, I can bandage a person. Come on, Tulsie.”
“This isn’t a scratch, Izzy. Come around and see.”
“Don’t think you can trick me,” Izzy warned, but she took another step closer. Annie could see the concern in her eyes as she cut a quick glance at Tulsie, still not in a position to see the seriousness of her injuries. “Tulsie, what have you done to yourself? Are you all right?”
“I messed up, Izzy,” Tulsie said softly, shivering. “That’s all I ever do.”
“That’s not true,” Izzy said, taking another couple of steps. She stayed to the far side of the room, trying to get an angle where she could see what damage Tulsie might have done to herself and keepan eye on Annie as well. “None of this mess is your fault. Cody did what he did, and he got what he had coming to him.”
“You were here when he attacked her?” Annie asked.
Izzy shot her a glare. “I’m not telling you anything. I’m taking Tulsie, and we’re getting the hell out of here.”
“You’re not,” Annie said, taking a step back, trying to give Izzy more room to maneuver. “She’s not going anywhere but the ER. And where would you go, anyway, Izzy? If you run, you’re a fugitive. That never works out. You’re better off staying. When you shot Cody, you were acting to save the life of your friend. People will understand that.”
“He would’a killed her this time,” Izzy said. “He said as much. The hell if I was standing by and watching that happen. He was a fucking bully, and he would’a never stopped. Iknow. I knowexactlyhow that goes. Nobody ever did a goddamn thing to stop him, including you. He would’a killed her. Now he won’t kill nobody.”
“I’m sorry, Izzy,” Annie said sincerely. “I can’t make someone press charges.”
“You should’a known she was too scared to do it!”
“I did know,” Annie said. “But I can only do what I’m allowed to do.”
“You’reuseless,” Izzy said bitterly.
“I don’t feel well,” Tulsie mumbled. Her complexion had gone a bit gray.
“She needs to get to the hospital, Izzy. I don’t think she’ll bleed to death, but she’s going into shock.”
Izzy took another step around, still holding the gun on Annie, hesitant to look away. It was probably Stokes’s gun, Annie realized. What had she done to him? Was he lying in the barn bleeding to death? Had Izzy somehow gotten hold of his weapon and shot him?
Izzy’s eyes went wide, and she gasped as she finally saw the extent of the damage Tulsie had done to herself. “Oh, Jesus, Tulsie! What have you done?”
“Everything’s wrong…and I can’t fix it…”
“You need to let me call an ambulance,” Annie said.
“I can’t do this anymore…” Tulsie murmured.
Izzy crouched down in front of her. “Aw, Tulsie, no, no, no, no…Don’t do this! Don’t kill yourself over some stupid man. He never deserved you!”
