Town Darling by Holly Copella

She’d meant it
too.  Grey’s eyes slowly rolled open to his sister’s shouts.
    “What’s happening?” Grey
asked in a groggy tone from his nearby bed.
    “Did you hear that, Grey?”
Casey demanded while gripping the bedrails.
    “The part where the killer
got away?” Grey said softly.  “Yeah, I heard that.”
    Casey shot up straight in
bed despite the pain it caused her and glared at Vaughn with a vengeful look in
her eyes.  “This is all your fault!  If you hadn’t kept me in the back of your
cruiser the whole night, I would have been there,” she lashed out.  “I could
have stopped it!
    Vaughn stared at her with a
look of guilt.  He appeared unable to respond.  He knew he had screwed up and
nothing he could say would fix it.  Wiley again attempted to calm her.
    “If he would have taken you
home when he should have, you’d be dead, Casey,” Wiley gently informed her. 
“The killer entered through your bedroom window.  Deputy Holt saved you and
your brother.”
    Casey didn’t care.  She
just wanted to jump out of her bed and hurt Vaughn.  The pain in her abdomen
was finally getting the better of her.  She clutched her lower abdomen and
cringed with pain while maintaining her venomous glare. 
    “Get him out of here!” she
shouted.
    Grey was already out
again.  The nurse and doctor hurried into the room, looked at Casey, and
appeared alarmed.  Blood seeped through the sheets and between Casey’s fingers
from her abdomen.  She’d almost certainly torn her stitches. 
    “I’m sorry, you have to
leave,” the furious doctor informed them.
    Vaughn stared at the blood
and appeared momentarily traumatized.  He turned and left the room without
another word.  Vaughn hurried into the hallway and leaned against the wall just
outside the door.  Wiley appeared from Casey’s room, paused before him, and
patted his shoulder while giving him a reassuring look.
    “You did the right thing,
Vaughn,” he announced firmly.  “You’re a hero.  She’ll eventually see that.”
    Vaughn stared up at the
ceiling tiles and groaned softly while shaking his head with disgust.  “I did
everything wrong last night,” he remarked softly with the hurt evident in his
voice.  “I should have shot him in the leg, but I went for the kill shot.  If I
hadn’t let my emotions take over, he’d be in custody.”
    “The man had just stabbed
Casey,” Wiley informed him with an odd look of mayhem in his eyes.  “He was
holding a knife.  Anyone would have done the same thing.  I want a piece of
that bastard, and I wasn’t even there to see what he’d done.”
    Vaughn rolled his eyes shut
and allowed his head to fall into his hands with a groan.  “I’ll never get over
the sight of her bleeding like that.”  He lifted his head and looked at his
trembling hands.  “I had her blood all over me.”  He groaned softly and allowed
his head to hit the wall behind him as his eyes closed.  “I don’t even remember
pulling the trigger.”
    Wiley gently rubbed
Vaughn’s shoulders.  “Go home, Vaughn,” he said gently.  “You were up all night
chasing her horse.  You need some sleep.”
    Vaughn’s eyes suddenly
opened and he glared at Sheriff Wiley.  His look was vengeful.  “I’ll sleep
after I catch the killer.”

Chapter Nine
     
    V aughn slept restlessly in
the chair behind his desk within the police station bullpen.  He twitched in his
sleep, gasped, and suddenly woke.  He looked around the nearly silent, mostly
empty bullpen.  He groaned softly, placed his feet on the floor, and half
collapsed on his desk while rubbing his eyes.  He was obviously exhausted,
despite his freshly showered appearance.  As he looked across the bullpen, he
saw the Harford boys leaving the station.  Tucker and Mitchell stood in the
interrogation room doorway and silently watched the four leave.  Vaughn quickly
stood and had to catch himself from falling back down.  He caught his balance
and hurried to