It was Clarie who got out first, and ducking against the rain that was coming down hard, she ran to the door, unlocked it and did the security check to make sure no one had gotten inside. Then she motioned for Jack and Caroline, and they hurried in.
“No ID on the gunman yet,” Jack told Caroline as he locked the door and reset the alarm. “But we should know something soon. And there is some good news. Lily’s turning over the files from New Beginnings.”
Wiping the rain from her face, Caroline nodded. That was potentially good. Or at least it would be if Lily hadn’t managed to erase any useful information.
Going with that whole attempt to make him not worry, Caroline steeled herself and didn’t dodge his gaze when he looked at her. A wary gaze that was examining her for any signs of emotional trauma.
“I’m okay,” she assured him.
Judging from the burst of sound that he made, no way was he buying that. Apparently, she wasn’t as good at steeling herself as she’d hoped.
“All right,” Caroline amended, “maybe I’m not okay exactly, but we’re alive and unharmed. That’s better than the alternative. Better than Scotty got.” It would have been more effective if her voice hadn’t cracked on Scotty’s name.
Jack glanced at Clarie, who was in the kitchen, and he took Caroline by the arm, leading her to his bedroom. He shut the door, turned to her and started whatever he was about to say.
“You can’t blame yourself for any of this,” he insisted. He crammed his hands into his pockets, and he probably didn’t know that he had blood on his jeans. Not his blood, but Scotty’s.
“My guess is that Scotty hacked into WITSEC files,” Jack went on, “and the person who hired him to do that sent a killer after him today. We got caught up in it.”
She couldn’t disagree with any part of that; she had already come to the same conclusion. Scotty hadn’t deserved to die, but he’d obviously gotten involved with a very dangerous person. Caroline didn’t doubt the danger, either, because that same person was likely after her.
“When the cops go through Scotty’s files and his home office, they might find something,” Jack added. He was clearly trying to soothe her, but she was beginning to think that he needed just as much of that TLC as she did.
Caroline went closer to him. She didn’t touch him, though. Not with the powder keg of emotions already in place. Touching him, even for comfort, would fire up heat of a different kind.
“When I left the sheriff’s office to go find Scotty, I knew the risk,” she said. “But I thought that if we could get answers, it’d be worth it. It would have been,” Caroline amended, and she cursed when her voice cracked again.
Jack cursed, too, because despite her facade, she was right on the edge. He did reach for her, and he likely would have triggered that heat by pulling her into his arms. However, he didn’t get a chance to do that because his phone rang.
“Grace,” Jack grumbled when he looked at the screen.
Caroline definitely hadn’t expected a call from the woman, but maybe this was a good sign. Perhaps Grace would be able to tell them what’d happened.
Jack dropped any trace of the TLC when he jabbed the answer button on his phone, and he put it on speaker. “Why the hellwere you on that road just yards from where Scotty crashed?” Jack demanded.
Caroline had no trouble hearing Grace’s sobs and broken breaths. “Scotty called me. He’s dead, isn’t he?”
“Yeah, he’s dead,” Jack snapped. If there’d been an award for good bedside manner, he would have lost big-time. There wasn’t a trace of sympathy in his voice. “Now I want you to tell me who killed him.”
“I honestly don’t know,” Grace answered through another sob. Caroline didn’t think either the words or the crying was fake.
Jack didn’t approve of that answer, and he showed that by swearing. “You need to go to the sheriff’s office in Longview Ridge. As a minimum, you’re a witness to a crime, but I’m betting you know a whole lot more than that.”
“I don’t!” Grace practically shouted. “And I’m not going to the cops. If a dirty lawman is doing this, I’ll end up dead, just like Scotty. Maybe like Skylar and Nicola. Caroline might believe in you, but I don’t, and personally, I think she’s a fool to trust you.”
With that, Grace ended the call.
Jack tried to call the woman back, of course, but neither of them was surprised when Grace didn’t answer.
After he shoved his phone back in his pocket, his hands went on his hips, and his gaze fired to hers. Oh, the anger was there. A giant ball of it, and he didn’t seem to know where to aim all that dangerous energy.
“Do you really think you’re a fool to trust me?” Jack demanded.
He seemed to be throwing some kind of emotional gauntlet, and she thought that maybe he wouldn’t be happy with any answer she gave him. So Caroline just stood there. Waiting. And watching the rising storm. Outside, the rain was now battering the windows. There was a crack of lightning. Thunder.
But the storm inside Jack seemed even more intense.
He turned away from her, but the temper had him whirling back around just as fast.
