Boyd didn’t say no.Wade heard the faint echo of footsteps, and the hum of background noise at the station.
“Wade?”Meredith said.“Are you there?”
“I’m here.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice trembling.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.I’m okay.”
“Sit tight,” he told her.“I’m coming right now.”
Boyd Hendricks returned to the call with a cluck of his tongue.“I thought you might want to rescue this one.”
Wade struggled to remain calm.On the inside, he was screaming.He couldn’t believe Meredith had been detained in Last Chance, or that she’d attacked a deputy sheriff.She was a goddamned magnet for disaster—and he was desperately in love with her.“I’m sure she didn’t mean any harm.”
“How well do you know her?”
“Well enough.”
“What’s her real name?”
“Let’s discuss that in person.”
“She had your mother’s ID, and she hasn’t been cooperative.The charges against her are racking up.”
Wade’s temper flared.“Can you please just wait until I get there?”
“Are you suggesting that I abandon proper procedure and give your girlfriend special treatment?”
“I’m saying that if you touch a single hair on her head, I will destroy you.”
“Don’t be so dramatic, son.You sound like your mother.”
His father hung up without saying goodbye.Wade stared at the screen in a cold fury.As he put the phone away, he noticed Wynona’s appraising look.“What?”
“You told the truth about Billy.”
“Yes.”
She nodded, as if accepting it as fact now.“Boyd is angry with you for refusing to cooperate in his cover-up.”
“I cooperated in the cover-up.”
“Not the way he wanted.”
“No,” Wade said.“We had a falling out over it.”
“He’s still upset.”
Wade understood what she was getting at.His father was a vindictive person, and Meredith was caught in the middle.Boyd wanted to punish Wade and watch Meredith squirm.Wade doubted his father would go through with the arrest paperwork, however.Boyd didn’t know about Meredith’s assumed identity, or her country-music-star ex.As long as she didn’t panic and spill her secrets, she was safe.
“I’m going to kill him,” Wade said anyway.
“No, you’re not.You’re going to talk to him rationally and smooth things over.”
“I just threatened to destroy him.”
