Granted, Nolan was trespassing…
No, no, no.
I loved the girls too much to take one more thing from them. Even if it was an uncle who put himself above his family, above the law, and above common sense.
“Clay,” I said before I got mean, “be a dear and escort Mr. Laurens to the end of my driveway.”
“Come on, buddy.” Clay slung an arm around his shoulders. “We’re friends, right?” He all but dragged Nolan down the road. “Let’s you and me have a talk about boundaries and what happens when you cross them.”
“What about my equipment?” He struggled to break free. “It’s my life. My livelihood. You can’t keep it.”
“We’ll have it shipped to your hotel, on our dime, assuming the address you email me is out of state or country. Consider it an insurance policy.” He strong-armed Nolan farther down the drive. “Or, if you prefer, we’ll drop it with Arden and her mom, and let you sort out the mess you’ve made. Let you make amends before you vanish on your family for another seven years.”
The fight drained out of him then, but I didn’t trust the hard set of his jaw when he fell in step with Clay.
Once they got a safe distance out, I leaned my shoulder against Asa’s. “He won’t let this go.”
I knew the type. He was a hunter. He might shoot film instead of bullets, but he lived for the rush of discovery, taking the perfect shot, doing what few others could, and then raking in the acclaim for it.
“We have a week to set up deterrents in case he returns.” Asa wrapped an arm around my waist. “We won’t let him expose Colby. Or hurt the girls through you. Don’t let him get under your skin.”
“What happened to the girls was because of their connection to me. He wasn’t wrong about that.”
“He also used their pain to capitalize on an opportunity for himself. He didn’t come here for them.”
I noticed he didn’t say it wasn’t my fault, and I appreciated that. I liked that he didn’t lie to make me feel better or make excuses for me that wouldn’t change a thing.
Bottom line: I wanted a normal life.
To make that happen, I had brought normal people into my life to learn their ways.
Because of that, I had put normals in the path of paranormals, and that only ever ended one way.
Maybe if I had loved the life Colby and I built in Samford less, I would have moved on and spared this town from my problems. But I had put them on the map by coming out of retirement, and I owed these people protection from whatever may come.
Never in a million years did I think saving Colby would spin so far out of control. I didn’t regret it. Not for a second. She was, literally, the light of my life. But it’s like the saying goes…
Two can keep a secret if one of them is dead.
David Taylor might be dead, but he seeded Black Hat with unrest before he got vaporized, and that meant Colby was at a greater risk than ever.
“Let’s fetch the SUV.” I forced myself to straighten. “Mrs. Gleason will come looking if it’s still there in the morning. Usually, I would trust her to remember what you drive, but she’s always got a hair-trigger when I’m away.”
Between the three of us, we were going through SUVs like tissues, but the entire fleet was identical.
Hand in hand, Asa and I strolled to our current ride, which required a wash ASAP to rid it of telltale gore. Clay stood in the center of the road, legs braced, watching Nolan hoofing it, daring him to try something.
“There are no fancy ride share apps in service this far out in the boonies.” I considered his options. “He’s got a long walk ahead of him, unless he cons whoever dropped him off into picking him up, and I bet you a dollar he paid someone at his hotel to drop him off with a smooth lie to avoiding driving his rental.”
The neighbors would tell his family if they recognized his ride, or him, and he didn’t want to risk that.
“Is it safe now?” Colby whispered from on top of my head. “Is he gone?”
Quickly, to prevent any escape attempts, I let myself into the SUV, and the guys joined us.
“Stay put,” I rushed out as I slammed the door. “We need to keep a low profile the next few days.”
A tickle across my scalp told me her wings had wilted at the sentence I had handed down.