We sat in stupid silence as the miles passed under the vehicle. The tension was thick and hot. I rolled my window down to let the sweet mountain air blow in against my warm face.
He opened his mouth to say something, but I didn’t want to hear another snide remark. Instead, I pushed a button on the dash. “What’s this do?”
The bark and whoop of a siren split the air. Declan jerked in surprise. Before he could reach to turn it off, I pressed another one. “And this?”
A red light swirled on the dash, and the car in front of us began to pull over.
“Cut that shit out or I’ll put you in the back,” Declan growled, turning off the lights and siren.
I pushed another button. “And this?”
A phone rang over the car’s speakers until a woman’s voice answered. “Dec, sweetie? Would you pretty please bring some ice pops home tonight? I’m positively craving them. This baby has a strange way of telling me he has a sweet tooth.”
We both stared at the button I’d pushed, and suddenly my stomach dropped from a great height.
The man was married to a woman with a baby on the way. So much for him swinging in a certain direction.
And I was a total fucking idiot.
7
Declan
After literally arguing my way out of sharing anything personal with this man, he accidentally called Tessa on the phone.
“Of course,” I gritted out to Tess. “Anything else?”
“Yeah. Ham.”
“H-ham?”
“And bacon. But something fancy like… like applewood smoked. Is there such a thing as boutique bacon? If so, get that. I stayed in a hotel once in San Diego that had the best—”
“Tess, honey, I can’t talk right now.”
“Okay. But don’t forget the ice pops, too.”
As soon as the call ended, the silence fell around us like wet sandbags.
“Sorry I pressed your buttons,” Finn mumbled before turning to look out the window.
I bit back a laugh at the pun. For some reason I didn’t think Finn would appreciate me laughing at him right now. We continued driving in silence before I finally joined him in the apology-making.
“I’m sorry for being an asshole,” I said. “You were right. I don’t know you, and I certainly don’t know your mother. I apologize. I didn’t get much sleep last night.” Or the night before, thanks to you.
After a little while, Finn cleared his throat. “Is that your wife?”
“No.”
“Girlfriend?”
“No.”
“Oh.”
More silence.
I hated how awkward things were between us, especially because I knew it was completely my fault. My attraction to him was inappropriate (and had scared the piss out of me), and I’d been determined to keep him at arm’s length. Apparently, I thought keeping someone at arm’s length was the same thing as shitting all over them.
Just as I was gathering up my courage to apologize again and maybe even tell him about my move from LA to Aster Valley, the radio squawked. Penny’s voice sounded tense as she reported a 10-51 at a familiar address.
“You’d better get there quick, Sheriff. Deputy Graham is headed there now, but he doesn’t know the history.”
I responded before flipping on both lights and sirens and picking up the pace. I tried getting Shawn on the radio, but there was no response.
“What’s going on?” Finn asked quietly.
“I’m dropping you off at the lodge on the way.”
“I want to come with you,” he said defiantly.
“I can’t have you at a scene that could potentially turn violent.”
The radio squawked again. “Deputy Graham called in a code eight. Possible firearm involved.”
“Shit.” I sped up. “Okay, but you have to do exactly as I say. Do you understand?”
“What’s the situation?” Finn asked again.
“The suspect’s two sons were recently incarcerated on assault charges, and his brother, Erland—the man who was sheriff of Aster Valley before me—was arrested for financial crimes. To say this guy’s not taking it well is an understatement. We’ve had a few instances this summer of him getting drunk and belligerent. His threats seem to be escalating, but his wife refuses to provide a witness statement to help us charge him.”
“Can you blame her? It’s her husband,” Finn said, gripping the dash as I took the mountain turns quickly.
“No, I don’t blame her. She’s already had to see her boys and her brother-in-law go to jail. I’m sure she doesn’t want Gene there, too. Both boys are married and had recently started a family. Kimber is trying to take care of everyone by the skin of her teeth.”
We sped up the mountain to the Stanners’ property and pulled down the drive in time to see Gene waving a gun around while he had one of his daughters-in-law in front of him with an arm locked around her throat.
She was pregnant.
I thought of Tessa and quickly packed away the image to focus on the challenge at hand.
“Get down,” I hissed. “I don’t want him to know you’re in here. Stay in the vehicle and do not move, do you understand? Lie down and stay down.”