She became a blur of movement, leaping from the bed and diving into the bathroom to shower. Rylan headed to his own room to get ready. When Trey arrived, they were sitting on the porch, drinking coffee and eating cereal.
“You look like a man who hasn’t slept.” Rylan poured another cup of coffee as Trey strode toward them.
“I managed to catch a few hours.” Trey pulled out a chair. “But then I got the news that David Swanson was arrested in Canada yesterday afternoon.”
Rylan straightened. “You got the word out to international law enforcement already?”
Trey shook his head. “Things don’t work that fast. We froze his bank accounts as soon as he went on the run, but we have no idea how much cash he could have stashed away. Or if he has accounts that we don’t know about. It’s even possible Lone Wolf is bankrolling him behind the scenes. No-fly lists are for hardened terrorists rather than a fugitive like David Swanson, and it takes time to get international law enforcement involved. But I got a call from the police in Winnipeg telling me they had him in a cell.”
“I’m not following this story,” Rylan said.
“He was picked up by a patrol car for driving erratically, whatever that means.” Trey took a long slug of his coffee. “They approached him, asked him to get out of the car and he tried to run. When they caught him, he resisted arrest. He admitted that he was wanted here in Colorado. Even gave them my name.”
“Is it just me, or does that sound a lot like a man who was trying to get himself captured?” Rylan asked. If David was running from American law enforcement, surely he would lie low when he reached a new country? Unless the stress of evading capture had gotten to him?
“That’s what I thought,” Trey said. “Maybe his friendship with Lone Wolf wasn’t going as well as he’d hoped, and he wanted some distance. Possibly, he thought the Canadian police would be more lenient. Whatever the reason, the identification papers they faxed through check out. It looks like I’m headed for Winnipeg to interview him.”
“Where does this leave me?” Bree’s voice was very quiet.
“Of course. You want to go home and get back to work.” Trey turned to Rylan. “This changes everything. With David in police detention in Canada, I don’t see why Bree can’t go back to Roaring Springs.”
Rylan felt like a dark cloud had just swallowed the sunlight.
Think fast. Find a way to make her stay. “What about Lone Wolf?”
“You said it yourself. Lone Wolf may not exist. If he does, he has been happy to stay in the background and do the planning while David carries out the actual attacks. He’s certainly not the person who is obsessed with Bree.” Trey finished his coffee and checked his watch. He spoke directly to his sister. “As long as you take every precaution, there’s no reason why you can’t come back to town with me right now.”
She raised her eyes to Rylan’s face, and everything he wanted to know was right there. He only had to speak now, and she would stay. But how could he, when he didn’t know what the right words were? With Trey sitting there tapping his foot, how could he begin to explain that he wasn’t the person she thought he was?
Tough guy. Wimp. Protector. Worthless. Honest. Fake.
The silence stretched out between them and the hopeful light died out of Bree’s eyes. In those excruciatingly long moments, Rylan found out it was possible to hate himself even more than he already did.
“So, I guess your time as my bodyguard is over.” She tried to smile, but her lips trembled too much. “Can I ask you a favor? I’d like to keep Jekyll...”
“You’ll be the one doing me a favor.” He had to speak quickly around the tightening of his throat. He got to his feet. “I hope you guys will excuse me, I need to see to the animals.”
Walking away from her was like walking over hot coals. This was why he’d avoided falling in love. It wasn’t the love that hurt; it was the loss. This was the side of loving that should come with a warning. When you gave your heart to another person, you never got it back again. Leaving her drained the color from the world and turned it into a dark, shadowy place.