Tennessee Takedown by Lena Diaz Page A

here.”
    She winced. “I never thanked you for that. Thanks.”
    He smiled. “We’ve both been a bit busy. And to answer your next question, the reason I took my shirt off and am currently destroying it is because I’m going to use these strips to wrap your feet.” He put his knife away and waved at a fallen tree a few feet away, indicating for her to sit.
    Normally, she’d decline the offer to sit on a half-rotted, probably bug-infested dead tree, but ever since he’d mentioned the cuts on her feet, they were stinging and throbbing. She gratefully plopped down.
    Dillon crouched beside her with the cloth strips from his ruined shirt.
    “Miss Parrish—”
    “Detective Gray?”
    He smiled. “Is that a hint to call you by your first name?”
    “Nothing gets by you.”
    His grin widened before fading away all too quickly. “Ashley, other than your feet, are you okay? When I first reached the island, I heard you scream. Did he... Did that man...hurt you?”
    Her face heated at his intent look, and the obvious meaning behind his question. He wanted to know if she’d been raped. She swallowed hard, only now realizing how lucky she’d been tonight. With all the awful things that had happened, it could have been so much worse.
    “No,” she quietly assured him, “he didn’t hurt me. Not the way you mean, at least. He backhanded me across the face. Twice. But nothing else.”
    He frowned and studied her face. Lightning flashed, and he feathered his fingers across her cheek and jaw where the man had hit her. In spite of the gentleness of his touch, pain lanced through her jaw beneath his fingers. She drew in a sharp breath.
    He dropped his hand. “Sorry. Nothing appears to be broken, but you’re definitely going to have a couple of good bruises in the morning. Your cheek and jaw are already swelling. Unfortunately, there isn’t much I can do about that. But I can wrap your feet.”
    “I’m not worried about my feet right now,” she insisted, only half lying because it felt so good not to be standing on her aching feet. “Those men could be anywhere. We need to get moving again.”
    “You don’t think I know that? You’re leaving a blood trail that will be far too easy to follow when the sun comes up. We have to staunch the blood.”
    Her lips formed a silent “oh” and she dutifully lifted her left foot when he reached for it. She felt like a child who’d been reprimanded. Or a civilian who’d been reminded by a cop that he knew what he was doing.
    Obviously, he did know, or she’d have been dead several times over today.
    She sucked in a breath when he wrapped the strips of cloth around her foot. The pressure sent sharp, stinging pains zinging up her legs.
    “Detective...Dillon, how did you find me? I mean, why did you come to my house tonight in the first place?”
    “Your friend Lauren Wilkes was worried about you when she couldn’t get a call through. I guess the shooting this morning had her spooked, so she called nine-one-one. It’s a good thing she did.” His movements were quick and economical, as if he’d done something like this many times before, and soon both feet were bandaged.
    “Yes, it is. I’ll have to thank her later. Assuming we make it off this island.”
    “Don’t you worry. We’ll make it.” Straightening, he pulled the gun out again and held it down by his side. “I grew up around here. I know every inch of Cooper’s Bluff. There are some caves where we can probably hole up for the night. It’s a defensible position, probably the only one on the island. But it’s a ten-minute hike from here.” He looked down at her feet. “Maybe fifteen. Think you can make it?”
    A thrashing sound echoed through the trees, faint, but definitely getting closer.
    Defensible position sounded ominous to her, but those sounds of pursuit had her rising to her feet. The sudden fiery pain had her clenching her teeth to keep from crying out. Apparently the cloth had warmed some