A pause. Then Boone asked, “What the fuck would Bernie have to do with this?”
Rhett holstered his gun at his hip. “That’s exactly what I’m going to find out.”
Heavy silence fell as Rhett caught his breath, and Asher made it back out on the country road that would lead them to Stoney Creek. Until Boone broke it, and asked, “Just catch me up to speed here. Are you suggesting that Bernie is the one responsible for the attack on my sister?”
Rhett couldn’t believe it either. Bernie was kind and considerate, a family man. “Not directly,” he explained. “But whoever did do this is somehow connected to Bernie.”
“Unbelievable,” Asher muttered.
“Believe it,” Rhett said, grabbing his phone and texting Cameron. I need to talk to Bernie Weis. Bring him in.
Cameron replied: Roger that. ETA?
Two hours. Keep him in the interrogation room.
Consider it done.
Rhett wanted Bernie to fret, sweat, and everything in between. “Cameron is bringing in Bernie as we speak.”
“Good,” Asher said, tapping his thumb against the steering wheel. “Back to the station then.”
“I need to make a stop first,” Rhett said.
Asher glanced sideways. “To?”
“Kinsley.”
Chapter 13
“Run, Kinsley, run,” Rhett roared, a dark shadow dancing around his feet until it began swirling up his body.
“No,” Kinsley screamed, desperate to reach him. That shadow would swallow him whole, steal him away. He stood in front of a forest, but no matter how fast she ran, she only seemed to get farther away.
The branches of the trees behind Rhett reached out. He tried to fight them off, but the shadows moved faster now up his body until they encased his neck, squeezing tight. Until his eyes went warm, accepting. “You don’t belong here,” Rhett said softly. “Run.”
A click jolted her awake. She gasped and snapped her eyes open, quickly coming to terms with the fact that she had been dreaming. But as she heard footsteps moving closer, she realized she wasn’t alone in Boone and Peyton’s spare bedroom. Her father was sleeping on the couch for the night while Boone went off with Rhett and Asher somewhere. She jolted up to sitting, spotting a shadowy figure by the closed door.
“It’s me,” said Rhett, his warm voice washing over her.
“Jesus,” she exhaled, dropping back onto the bed, placing a hand over her thundering heart. “You scared the crap out of me.”
“Sorry.” He moved in next to her, fully clothed, and she knew he wasn’t staying long.
He gathered her close, spooning her from behind. “I wasn’t expecting you back so soon,” she said after a long moment of silence. “Everything okay?”
His breath tickled her neck as he held her close, his arms locked around her. “We’re waiting for Bernie to be brought in. I wanted to come check in on you first.”
Sweet and all, but…she spun in his arms, turning to face him. “Bernie?” She couldn’t see Rhett’s face in the dark room, except for the outline of his chiseled jaw. But the coffee on his breath indicated he’d planned for a long night ahead. “Why in the hell are you bringing in him?”
Rhett tightened his arms around her. “Intel dug up his name.”
“What intel?”
“You know I can’t tell you that.”
None of this made any sense. Bernie? She’d known him since she was a kid. When she’d bought the bar, he hadn’t seen her as competition and, instead, offered her advice. Suddenly, she was wide awake. “The intel has got to be wrong. He’d never be a part of my attack today. You saw him the other night; he didn’t act like someone who wants to hurt me.”
“Never say never, Kinsley,” Rhett said, his voice a low rumble. “People do terrible things in the right circumstances.”