Page 57 of Guarding Colton’s Witness

He chuckled. “It was touch and go, but I’m still breathing.”

“That eye looks pretty nasty. You should have it checked out.”

“I plan to. Sorry your suspect got away. I should have tied him up, but I thought he was out for the count.”

“Sure, it would’ve been nice to have him trussed and waiting for us, but don’t sweat it. We’ll catch him eventually.”

“Sooner over later, I hope, so I can stop worrying about Matti and Sam.”

“Trust me, we’re trying.”

“I know. I’m just frustrated with myself more than anything. I had him and let him get away.”

“Don’t beat yourself up over this, Ryan. You’re a doctor. You’re not trained to think like a cop. I’m going to have patrol keep an eye on the front and back of the house until that lock is fixed. Tomorrow morning, we’ll do that and install an alarm system. Should’ve done that already, but this case hasn’t given me a minute to think.”

“I’m all for that.”

Wyatt lifted his chin toward Matti’s bedroom. “Go reassure your girl and kid that you’re okay. They’re worried about you.”

He smiled. His girl. He liked that. “Yeah, I’ll do that.”

“They got your fingerprints, right?”

He held up his good hand, showing his black fingertips. He’d been told it was necessary to eliminate his prints from the crime scene. He shuddered. Crime scene. In his wildest dreams, he’d never expected to have a starring role in a crime scene. They hadn’t needed to get Matti’s as hers were already on file, taken when she went to work for the state.

“The CSIs should be out of your hair in a few minutes.”

“Forgot they were still here.” They were in Sam’s bedroom and as quiet as mice.

“They’ll leave a bit of a mess to clean up. Sorry about that.”

“No problem.”

“Later, man.” Wyatt nodded, then left.

Curious about exactly what mess he meant, Ryan headed for Sam’s room. He stopped at the door and surveyed the room. The CSIs were packing up, and Wyatt had spoken truthfully. Black fingerprint dust was everywhere.

“Sorry about the mess,” one of them said. “Best way to clean this up is to vacuum the loose powder, then use an ammonia-based cleaning agent.”

“Got it. Think you got some good prints?”

“We did,” she said. “Let’s hope some of them are the suspect’s and not all yours.”

He tried to remember if the man had touched any of the walls or furniture, but he couldn’t recall anything but rolling around on the floor, fighting for his life. What if he hadn’t woken up? Sam would be gone, maybe even dead. That was unacceptable.

The door to Matti’s bedroom opened, and he smiled at seeing her coming his way. “Sam okay?”

“He’s asleep. Everyone gone?”

“Except for the officers outside Wyatt’s leaving to stand guard.”

She stopped next to him and peered into the room. “What a mess.”

“Yup.” He told her the instructions he’d been given for cleaning the room.

“I don’t want Sam to see this.”

“Me either.” They got busy. Well, mostly Matti got busy as he could only use one hand. It took about an hour, but when they were done, you couldn’t tell there had been a fight in the room.