Once more, it was exactly the answer she’d expected. Kellan voiced a version of the same by just saying, “You can forget doing that.”
Caroline hadn’t exactly expected them to agree. Nor did she want to leave Jack. But she’d offered it to give them a choice—which really wasn’t a choice at all. So maybe now they’d see that her plan of using Grace was the only way to go.
Jack shook his head again. “What if we have Grace leak that you’ll be at the inn first thing in the morning with the therapist? That would give us more time to get everything in place and maybe come up with something better.” But almost immediately he waved that off. “It’d give the killer more time, too, and that’s something we don’t want.”
“True.” Caroline went even closer, until her body was right against his. “Jack, we need to text Grace and set this all up. We need to do this.”
Silence was his reply, but despite it, she could practically hear Jack thinking. Trying to figure out a different way. One that didn’t involve her. But other than her walking out of his life, he wouldn’t be able to come up with anything that didn’t put her in the mix.
Because she was at the center of it.
As long as she drew breath, the killer would come. Caroline just wanted that to happen on their terms and not the killer’s.
“Well?” Kellan prompted when the silence dragged on.
Jack hesitated several more seconds before he scrubbed his hand over his face. “Okay. Let’s get started.”
JACKHADSOmany bad feelings about this, and those feelings came at him like a tornado. He didn’t know which one he could latch on to and try to fix, because the whole plan was whirling around in his head and twisting up his insides.
The text had gone out to Grace, and the woman had actually responded right away, saying that she was on board with leaking the information, and that she wanted to help catch the person who’d murdered her friend Scotty. The woman assured them that she’d get the fake news to all three of their main suspects: Lily, Kingston and Zeller. That was good if the leak would actually lure out the killer or his hired gun. That was also good if they could trust Grace, but Jack wasn’t sure on either of those counts.
Unlike Caroline.
He wasn’t certain how she managed it, but she looked confident and as tough as nails. For the first time since she’d gotten back her memory, he didn’t see fear in her eyes. Ironic, since this was the time when fear was plenty warranted. Too many unknowns. Too many things to go wrong. And here she could be within an hour of facing down someone who wanted her dead.
She sat across the dining room table from them, listening while Kellan went over the details. She wasn’t nibbling on her bottom lip. Her hands weren’t trembling. And she even gave Jack a smile when their gazes met.
Oh, man.
He hated putting Caroline in this position, and it was a potentially dangerous position despite Kellan’s and his measures to keep her as safe as possible. One of those precautions was for her to wear a Kevlar vest beneath her clothes. Kellan, Clarie and he would, too, but that wasn’t going to protect any of them if the killer or hired guns went with shots to the head. That was why once they arrived at the inn, they’d have to move fast to get Caroline inside.
Kellan’s phone dinged with a text message, and he gave Jack a nod. “Gunnar says there’s still no activity in or around the inn.”
That wasn’t a surprise, since the killer likely wouldn’t have had time to get there yet. Unlike Gunnar and Deputy Manuel Garcia. Before Jack had even sent Grace the text, Manuel and Gunnar had gone to the inn to make sure it was vacant. That way, the killer couldn’t get a jump on them and maybe set explosives or some other kind of trap.
Gunnar and Manuel had searched through each of the dilapidated rooms and around the grounds to make sure there’d be no surprises. After the two deputies had done that, they’d parked their vehicle on a hidden ranch trail where they could keep watch. They were armed with both tranq guns and their service weapons, with the tranquilizers being their first option so they could take the person alive. It wasn’t foolproof—someone could still sneak by them on foot, but at least there would be backup nearby in case something went wrong.
And yes, there was a good chance something would indeed go wrong.
Kellan was right about the killer being desperate, and that increased the risk that the person might do something stupid. Stupid enough to try attacking Caroline with lawmen around. Jack didn’t know exactly what the killer might do, but they had to be prepared for any-and everything.
At both Caroline’s and Jack’s insistence, Kellan would be going to his place with Gemma. No way did Jack want this plan to backfire and have the killer go after someone in his family and hold them hostage. That would give the killer plenty of bargaining power to try to get to Caroline.
“Are we ready to do this?” Caroline asked.
Jack couldn’t come up with a reason to delay; they had to hurry this along. He wanted Caroline inside the inn before their attacker had a chance to get there first. Of course, if that did happen, then Gunnar would alert them, and Jack could getCaroline out of harm’s way while they dealt with the snake that’d made their lives a living hell.
“Be safe,” Kellan said, giving them one last look before he headed outside.
Jack didn’t waste any time. He grabbed his equipment bag and got Caroline and Clarie out to the cruiser. The rain had slacked up some, but he’d checked the forecast and knew they could get drizzle on and off all night. He doubted that would keep a killer away, but it would make things uncomfortable for Gunnar and Manuel, who were outside in this weather.
“This is your last chance to change your mind,” Jack told Caroline the moment they were in the cruiser.
She immediately shook her head. “You know this is something we have to do.”
He wasn’t sure of that at all. Yes, he was well aware that the threats couldn’t continue. Especially since the dead gunman had been planning on going after Kellan and Grace. The person who’d paid him for that could just turn around and hire someone else to carry through on that to-do list.
Clarie drove, and Jack sat with Caroline in the back seat. Even though it was nearly dark now, he continued to keep watch. They’d also had a couple of the ranch hands patrol the road to make sure no one had pulled off or was lying in wait for them.
