Chance of a Lifetime by Jodi Thomas Page B

clear?” Alex asked as she pulled out a notepad.
    “I think so. I told the doc I didn’t want any painkillers except the over-the-counter kind. That other stuff messes with my mind. One of the nurses came in last night to askme how my leg felt and I told her the two on the right were fine, but the three on the left hurt like hell.”
    Alex smiled. “You’re sane. We need to talk.”
    Hank stood next to his wife as Alex walked Rick through every detail he could remember about last night. She asked questions now and then, but Rick knew what she wanted and didn’t leave out a thing that might be helpful.
    When he finished, she said simply, “Someone tried to kill you, Rick. We have to face that fact.”
    “Yeah, but it doesn’t make sense. Most lawyers practice for fifty years without anyone ever coming after them. Why me? I haven’t handled anything big. Most of the men I’ve represented are looking at five or ten years of hard time. Hardly enough to kill the lawyer.”
    “What about someone else?” Hank asked. “Old girlfriends. Husbands of a lover you had.” He grinned. “I’ve seen you, Rick, women flock to you. Maybe it’s that little-lost-puppy-dog look you got going.”
    Rick shook his head. “All my old girlfriends were glad to get rid of me. I guess they didn’t want to housebreak me. And, as far as I know, I’ve never dated a married woman.”
    “What about now?”
    He shook his head. “I haven’t had a date in six months unless you count Martha Q Patterson taking me to lunch now and then. She tells everyone I’m her new boyfriend, but it’s just her way of joking.”
    “Martha Q doesn’t count. She just feels sorry for starving lawyers. Some folks feed pigeons; she feeds lawyers. Before you, she used to take Liz out to lunch.”
    Rick frowned and continued, “I meet a girl my age now and then and think she’s perfect. She takes me home, but after a few months she’d driving me crazy keeping up with every detail of my life. Then she figures out I’m not that fascinating guy she met. We usually end up with one of us saying, ‘Let’s be friends.’” Rick winked at Hank. “Unlike you, I’ve never met a girl that knocked me off my feet.”
    Hank put his arm around the sheriff’s shoulder. He didn’t have to say a word. Everyone in town knew howmuch he loved Alex. Every time she took the night shift at the sheriff’s office, Hank was right across the street at the volunteer fire department waiting. He’d built her a house that sat half on McAllen land and half on his ranch. They watched the sun rise over McAllen acres and the sun set over Matheson property.
    Alex straightened back into her job. “The point is, Rick, someone tried to kill you and they might try again. I had one of the deputies go by your apartment. The back door lock had been broken and the place was a wreck. Any way you look at it, someone was planning to get to you last night.”
    “Did they rob me?” Rick wanted to swear. Bad luck was piling up.
    “Did you have anything of value in the apartment?”
    “No.”
    “Well, the nothing of value was still there. Dirty clothes, empty pizza boxes, and a jar of pennies you used as a door stop. My guess is they broke the lock so they could get in quick in case the stair trap didn’t work. The deputy said the phone line had been cut and every bulb inside was missing from every light fixture.”
    Rick closed his eyes. His life was shaping up to be a bad mystery novel.
    Hank pulled him out of his pity party. “While you’re at work or at the courthouse, you’re probably safe as long as you park in front and stay where folks can see you. We need to get you somewhere safer than that little apartment you’re in when you leave the hospital. How about coming out to the ranch with me? Mom’s got a few empty bedrooms at the main house.”
    Rick shook his head. He liked his privacy too much. He had moved out of the dorm in college before he’d ever had a room to himself.