I lucked out when he answered with a curt, “Yeah.”
“Hey, I made it.”
“And?”
I sighed. “I’m still trying to get a handle on what’s going on, but the guy – his real name is Ethan – is hurt pretty bad. He’s not alone either. He’s got a teenage girl with him…Lucy.”
“Tell me about his injuries.”
I gave him a rundown of what Ethan had told me and then said, “If this blizzard keeps up, I won’t be able to get him down the mountain at all. Should I risk bringing them down tonight?”
“No,” Ronan said. “I’ve been monitoring the weather…the storm should ease in a few hours. Give him a few days to recover and then bring them down. What’s his relationship to the girl?”
“No idea,” I said. “Neither of them are talking much. Don’t think it’s sexual though. He mentioned a guy named Eric…not sure if he’s an ex or what, but…”
“But what?” Ronan asked, picking up on my hesitation.
I debated how much to tell Ronan, surprised at my own need to protect Ethan’s privacy. But Ronan wasn’t just any guy off the street. He would determine what help, if any, we offered Ethan so he needed to know everything I did.
“I found proof Ethan was sexually assaulted.”
Ronan was silent for an extended period of time, but I didn’t continue because I knew he was likely trying to decide the best course of action. Not to mention the innate fury he’d be feeling.
Like what I’d felt.
The reminder that I was having trouble separating my emotions from the facts was like a cold slap in the face.
“What did he say about it?” Ronan asked.
“Not much. Just that his injuries would heal within a few days. He asked me not to tell the girl.”
Another long pause and then, “Okay, bring them down as soon as he’s up to traveling which, with his injuries, will be at least a few days if not more. Bring them to my house in Queen Anne.”
I was surprised Ronan was willing to have the pair at his house with his family, but it was just further proof that he didn’t believe Ethan to be any kind of threat. And after seeing things for myself, I no longer believed him to be any danger to anyone, but he certainly had danger following close enough on his trail that it could end up putting Ronan’s family in jeopardy.
“Okay,” I responded, since I wasn’t going to question the logic behind Ronan’s decision.
“I’ll see what I can find out about them on my end.”
“Understood,” I said. “My phone doesn’t have reception up here so I probably won’t be able to check in until we’re on our way back to the city.”
“Okay,” Ronan murmured. I had no doubt he wasn’t thrilled about that since he liked knowing what was going on with his men, especially when they were on the job. And even though he’d handed control of the team over to Memphis Wheland, his second-in-command, Ronan still kept his thumb on the pulse of his organization and the men who were a part of it.
“I’ll be careful,” I offered, hoping to ease his mind. It had been a strange thing for me to understand that Ronan cared about me beyond being one of his operatives, but I’d gotten used to it in the three years since I’d joined the team.
“Yeah,” Ronan said with a sigh. “If I don’t hear from you by Monday, I’m sending the cavalry.
I chuckled. “Deal.”
I said my goodbyes and then made my way back up to the cabin. The snow was still flying around, but it seemed to be a little less heavy than it had been and I hoped Ronan was right that the storm would pass soon. While I wanted to believe Ethan’s injuries weren’t life-threatening, I didn’t want to be put into a position where I had to risk his and Lucy’s lives by getting them down the mountain quickly enough to get Ethan the help he’d need.
And that was even assuming I could get him down fast enough.
The weight of the unknown was heavy on my shoulders as I made my way back towards the cabin. I parked next to my truck and got out, pocketing the SUV’s keys. I searched out my bag from the backseat of the truck and then headed towards the door. I was glad the cabin was feeling warmer than it had before when I’d entered, but made a mental note to grab some of the firewood from outside just in case we ended up losing power. I dropped my bag on the kitchen table and then went to the back rooms to check on my charges. But I didn’t make it past Ethan’s room because instead of finding him asleep in bed like I would have expected, I saw his naked body lying sprawled on the floor just feet from the door.