It took only a second.
“What in blue blazes!” Reed exclaimed. “Who the hell sent this?”
“I wish I knew,” Finn said. “I told Rose we must not be seen together and that she couldn’t tell Woodsom or anyone about my return because it might put people in danger. I was too late.”
“Why does someone want you to leave?”
Finn frowned. “Because theGarrardnever should have sailed. Somebody besides me knew it and let us go to our deaths anyway. Except I’m not dead, and that’s a problem.”
Reed considered. “Even if you divorce my sister, she will not be safe.”
Finn agreed. “Until I leave or die.”
Reed shook his head, folded the paper, and tucked it into his coat pocket. “Even then, I doubt it. It seems merely herknowingyou is the issue, not being married to you. The absence of your person will not erase the fact that she knows you survived. I imagine whoever is responsible for threatening you — and her — will have no compunction about getting rid of Rose even after you leave. She is the proverbial loose end.”
Finn’s pulse seemed to race as he took in Reed’s conclusion.
“So what do I do? Stay and she is in danger. Leave and she is in danger.”
Reed crossed his arms over his chest. “You could leave and save yourself, and let me worry about my sister.”
“No.” Finn would not explain why or try to make this man understand that despite past appearances, he was not the kind to abandon a woman. “She ismywife.”
“For now,” Reed muttered. “I admire you for not running from this mess. However, your question remains valid: What are you to do?”
He snatched up his portfolio, the divorce papers still inside, and headed for the door, only glancing back when his hand was on the doorknob and still Finn hadn’t moved.
“Well, man, don’t just stand there. Are you coming?”
Finn felt adrift, clinging to the wooden board from his own doomed ship, helpless and with no control over his destiny. The nausea that had plagued him returned with a vengeance, and all he could do was breathe deeply and try to ignore the black seed of despair that the note had planted inside him.
Was this really happening?
“Where?” His voice sounded like a jack plane running over thick timber — rough and raw.
“First thing’s first,” Reed said. “I have friends in the city’s police force. We’ll take your troubles there. I want to hear everything about this from the beginning, but you might as well say your peace to the constabulary at the same time. Agreed?”
Finn thought about the ramifications. Going it alone had been futile, and he didn’t think Rose’s position could get any more precarious than it already was. He grabbed for his coat.
“Agreed.”
