Colton K-9 Bodyguard. Lara Lacombe

the nasty gash along her hairline as he did so. He glanced around, searching for something he could use to stanch the flow of blood from the wound. But all he saw were racks of wedding gowns and frilly lace veils. Bea would kill him if he ruined one of them, so he yanked his shirt from his belt and used his utility knife to cut off a strip from the T-shirt he wore underneath his button-down. It wasn’t sterile, but it was the best he could do at the moment.

      She didn’t stir as he pressed the fabric to her head, and his worry grew. He wasn’t sure how long she’d been unconscious, but since her wound was still bleeding freely, the attack was probably recent. But where was her assailant?

      No one had run out of the store into the alley, at least not since he and Brayden had arrived. They must have escaped through the front door. For a split second, Micah considered checking to see if the door was unlocked, but he didn’t want to leave Bea alone while she was still unconscious. Brayden would be here any minute, and he could look around for clues.

      “Police!” Brayden’s voice boomed into the otherwise silent store, and some of Micah’s worry eased.

      “Over here,” he called.

      Brayden was at his side in an instant, his gaze taking in the scene. “What happened?” He knelt beside Micah, frowning at the sight of Bea’s bloody face. This was Brayden’s cousin, and though Micah knew Bea’s and Brayden’s branches of the family weren’t exactly close, it couldn’t be easy to see her this way.

      “Not sure,” Micah replied. “Chunk alerted, and when we came in, he found her. No signs of an intruder, but I’m thinking they escaped out the front door since we didn’t see anyone in the alley.”

      “I’ll go check.” Brayden stood and headed for the stockroom door. “Uh, Micah?”

      “What?”

      “I think Chunk has found something else.”

      Micah turned to see the dog pacing back and forth in front of the door that led into the store proper. Chunk let out a low whine, and it was clear he was interested in something beyond the door.

      “Can you take him?” he asked Brayden. “I don’t want to leave her alone.”

      “No problem,” Brayden replied. Technically, Chunk was trained to work with Micah, but he would be fine with Brayden for a moment, especially in a closed environment like the boutique. “Chunk,” Micah commanded. “Go find.”

      The dog let out a happy yip and shot into the other room when Brayden opened the door. After a few seconds, Micah heard his characteristic alert bark and knew the dog had discovered something.

      Another injured person? Or a corpse?

      Micah kept his shirt pressed to Bea’s head, silently willing her to wake up. He was no doctor, but the longer she stayed unconscious, the more his worry grew. “Come on, Bea,” he said softly. “Wake up for me.”

      She stirred and her eyes fluttered open.

      “Bea.” He breathed out her name on a sigh of relief. “You’re okay. I’m here.”

      Her dazed eyes focused on him. “Micah?” Her voice was weak, and her tone held a note of wonder as if she couldn’t believe she was really seeing him.

      “Yes, it’s me. I’ll take care of you.”

      “Don’t leave me.”

      Her request pierced his heart. As if he could walk away from her now. “I won’t. I’ll stay with you. I promise.”

      She smiled faintly, then closed her eyes again and appeared to drift back into unconsciousness.

      “Oh, no you don’t. Wake up. Please keep talking to me.”

      She frowned slightly. “Hurts.”

      “I know, baby, but you need to stay awake.”

      “Okay,” she said agreeably. But her eyes remained closed.

      Where’s the ambulance? he thought desperately. The sooner Bea got to the hospital, the better.

      Brayden returned at that moment, Chunk by his side. The dog trotted over to Micah and nosed the pouch on his belt, clearly ready for another reward. “Well?” Micah asked as he gave Chunk a treat. He glanced at the pair and then returned his gaze to Bea. Stay awake, he silently pleaded with her.

      Brayden crouched down and ran a hand through his hair. “The front door was open. Probably how her assailant got away.”

      Micah nodded. “And what else? What did Chunk find?”

      His friend blew out a breath and a flash of misery passed across his features. “There’s a body in one of the fitting rooms. Looks like another victim of the Groom Killer.”

      * * *

      Her head felt like it was going to split open.

      Bea winced against the bright lights of the hospital room and tried to shield her face from the glare. But it was no use. Even with her eyes closed, she felt like she was being stabbed directly in the brain with a needle.

      Suddenly, the room went dark. “Is that better?”

      She turned to the sound of the deep voice she recognized even after all these years apart. Micah.

      “Much. Thank you.”

      She cautiously opened her eyes to see the room was now in shadows. He’d flipped off the overhead lights and turned on the small bulb mounted under the wall cabinet. Her doctors probably wouldn’t appreciate working in the gloom, but it helped downgrade her headache from excruciating to manageable, and for that she was grateful.

      Micah settled into a chair by her bed. “You stayed,” she said, a little surprised to still see him.

      He met her eyes, his green gaze steady. “I promised I would.”

      “Yes, but...” She trailed off. They had made promises to each other before, promises that hadn’t been kept.

      Bea took a moment to study his face. It was still familiar, of course. But he’d changed in the years they’d been apart. Micah had always had a boyish glint in his eyes, a gleam of humor that persisted no matter how serious the situation. She was sad to see it was gone now, and wondered if it was hidden, or if his experiences in the war had permanently changed his personality. There were subtle lines around his mouth and eyes, a testament to the fact that he still smiled, at least. His skin was a warm gold, the product of time spent in the sun, no doubt. And he still had the same build, although he was a bit leaner, a bit harder now than when she’d known him in high school.

      “You look good,” she said quietly. There were so many things she wanted to say, and the questions piled up in her throat. Why didn’t you contact me after you left for basic training? Why didn’t you respond to my letters and calls? Did you ever really love me? But she swallowed the impulse to interrogate him. Did it really matter after all this time? It wasn’t as if they could pick up where they’d left off. They had both been eighteen and supposedly in love. So much had happened since then, they were like two different people now. Two strangers, meeting for the first time.

      A grin flashed across his face, there and gone in the space of a second. “I wish I could say the same for you,” he said, his gaze darting meaningfully to the bandage on her head. His eyes softened. “This wasn’t how I pictured meeting you again.”

      So he’d thought about her, after all? His words gave her a little thrill, but she quickly crushed the feeling. It was only natural she’d cross his mind. Red Ridge wasn’t a huge city, and he’d probably figured it was only a matter of time until they ran into each other. She’d known he moved back to town after retiring from the military. But Bea had assumed she’d have time to mentally and emotionally prepare herself for seeing him again. Being confronted with his presence now brought up all kinds of emotions and feelings she had thought she’d conquered long ago. The experience was almost as unsettling as being attacked in her boutique.