He held out his hand. “Joy Collingwood’s life file.” As he expected, nothing happened. He didn’t need Cameron’s since he’d watched the complete file of Cameron and Holly’s life up until Coco and Ian had left. He could think of only one way to make Cameron reveal what was going on and that was through Holly.
Standing upright again, he patted the warm stone behind him. “Thanks.”A vibration pulsed against his hand, and he smiled. With a new goal in mind, he breathed easier.
Phasing, he flew to Holly at Lorna’s family Christmas. At least with his new goal, he wouldn’t be so much at odds with Joy, which meant that a visit to his cottage was back on the table.
He arrived only a second after he left, but Joy wasn’t there. That surprised him. He’d expected her to be reassuringHolly by now. It was probably better if he handled Holly anyway after the shock he’d given her.
Holly’s voice was barely a whisper. “You killed people?” She floated backwards.
He waved off the statement, not willing to tell her the whole truth. “I was part of a special force within the department of police.”
She halted. “Like a SWAT team or something?”
“Or something.”
“In other words, youwere so devastated that you didn’t think your life worth living and risked getting killed in the line of duty.” From her shrewd look, she assumed she had him all figured out.
“No. I didn’t take any unnecessary risks.”Except marrying Coira. He shook his head. “I was too busy hunting down the man who killed the woman I loved.”
Holly’s gaze softened, sympathy written all over her face.
Schitz,not again. “I had a mission. What’s yours?”
Holly’s eyes widened. “Mine?” She snorted. “You mean like hunting down the man who killed my husband? That might be a little difficult since Cam did that all by himself.”
He wanted her to get angry at her late husband. As far as he could see, it was the only way that she’d finally let go of him. Was that what Cameron’s superiors wanted?
Holly scowled,but the hurt in her dark chocolate eyes still held sway.
He pressed her. “Did Ethan try to stop Cameron and Brody from rock climbing on that Christmas day?”
Pain filled her eyes. “He did, but they only listened to him half the time. Cam had new equipment he wanted to try out. He was too impatient to wait for the mist to clear. Ethan tried to warn him it wouldn’t be just wet, but icy.”
“Do Ihave this right? Cameron left you on Christmas day to try out new rock climbing equipment even though Ethan warned him it was dangerous?”
Holly’s brows lowered. “Yes.” She crossed her arms. “If he’d just stayed home with me like we always did, having Brody and Ethan over for dinner, he’d still be alive today.”
“That means he died for no reason than his own need for an adrenaline rush and goodtime, when he could have been home with you. Climbing was more important than having the rest of his life with you.”
“Yes. No. Cam loved me.”
She was steadfast in her belief in Cameron, which was admirable but not helping her. “But if he’d stayed home, you might even have a couple of children by now. It’s been three years.”
Holly threw her arms up, her scowl at odds with the tears in her eyes.“Hey, that’s who he was. Even now he feels so guilty about that.”
Ah, now that was a revelation. Cameron’s motivation in helping Holly was his own guilt. It had to be pretty powerful for him to beg for, and receive, a special dispensation to be allowed to affect her life. And what were the terms of that boon?
Holly’s expression turned smug. “In fact, if he didn’t feel so bad about that, youwouldn’t be here right now.”
He swallowed a laugh. Cameron’s wife was definitely not a pushover. “If I wasn’t here, I’d be helping another person, probably someone who was willing to accept help.”
“Hey, wait a minute. I’m willing to be helped. I think it’s you who doesn’t want to be helped.”
That didn’t make sense at all, so he ignored her statement. “But this isn’t about me. I obviously continuedto live and make a difference in other people’s lives. What are you doing?”
“I’m doing a lot. I have the shop which makes many people happy. I’ve hired Cameron’s cousin Brooke to help me there, and she loves it. I also, well, I participate in the community.”
He raised his brow.
