“We’ll find those things out. Everyone has to be questioned tomorrow. It’s just putting it all together for the strongest conviction even with the confession. His mother is getting him an attorney, but Rocco said he didn’t want one.”
“I hope he feels it’s his penance for what he did to my sister,” Rory said. “What he tried to do to me. Did he confess to the other threats?”
“Yeah,” Gale said. “I’d hate to think there is anyone else involved.”
“It’s only him,” Ford said. “He heard the talk in the town and panicked. He said that he didn’t want to hurt Gale.” Her brother turned to look at her. “It was easy enough to slip the paper under the door and come in the side stairs without cameras and not be seen. And that if Jared had said nothing about your car leaking fluid, he would have. It was more to scare you to scare Rory once he realized you two were dating.”
“What about Kane and Daniel?” Rory asked. “Are you sure they don’t know anything? They were sending out threats in their own right.”
“Just them being them like always,” she said. “Nothing changed there. I saw Kane in a whole new light though. He cracked quickly when he thought he had no shield.”
“Since I’ve been sheriff, he hasn’t gotten into too much trouble. Nothing more than a ticket here or there and his lawyer deals with that. No one gets off. I can’t stand the guy and I’m sure Kane knew he’s on my radar.”
She smiled. “You’d nail his ass to the wall if you could.”
“I would,” Ford said. “I just wanted to let you know what was going on. Tomorrow everyone is going to lawyer up, but we’ve got what we need. We’ll get your statements and go from there.”
Rory stood up and put his hand out to her brother. “Thank you for everything. I’m not sure we could have done this if you didn’t believe in me. If you didn’t take the step no one else was willing to do in the past.”
“You’re welcome,” Ford said. “Now, don’t mess my sister up too much, or you’ve got four brothers to deal with.”
“Get out of here,” she said, shoving his arm.
Ford laughed and walked out the door leaving her alone with Rory.
He sat back on the couch and she went next to him and under his arm that he lifted. “I’m hoping by tomorrow my heart has calmed some.”
“Me too,” he said. “Thanks for saving me.”
“My pleasure,” she said, her head landing on his chest.
“You’re scary with a gun in your hand.”
“I’ve never had to fire at anything other than targets before. I don’t know if I even thought I could do it. But when you see the person you lost your heart to dying, you find the strength to do anything.”
“Lost your heart?” he asked, his fingertips running over her shoulder.
She shifted on the couch and turned to face him. “Nothing can be as scary as what happened today,” she said.
It was almost midnight now and though her brother should have gone home to Reenie, he’d come here first to check on them. They’d only been home for an hour themselves once Rory was discharged.
As exhausted as they were, she didn’t think she could sleep. She knew she couldn’t close her eyes just yet, not without seeing Rocco’s fingers around Rory’s neck. It was going to be a long time before she could stop seeing that.
“I’d say we both made it through,” he said. “It’s going to take time for me to realize that. To know what kept me going isn’tthere anymore. Or to adjust to the fact that I’ve got something else to keep me going.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
He leaned down to kiss her on the forehead. “You. I’ve lost my heart to you too. Don’t be mad. I felt something was off with Rocco when we were walking to the shed.”
“That’s why you put the pin in your location?” she asked. “We were already on the way.”
“I knew you’d realize something was off and you knew who I was with. He asked if you were on the way, or if you were meeting us. I played it off that I didn’t know when you left or would be back. I didn’t want him waiting for you. Deep inside I knew I had to keep you away.”
“You were protecting me like I was you.”
“I failed Rene.”
“Stop right there,” she said. “You didn’t. You have to let that toxic shit go. You just do. You didn’t fail her. You did what you set out to do this time. You know it. She can rest now. You can go back to joking with each other in dreams rather than seeing her fear.”
