Yet he still didn’t like the situation.Damien’s dead body had been left inside her burning house as a dire message.And that was even without Lori’s murder indicating Bryn was in danger.Would the gunman position himself near the police station, waiting for them to show?Logically, criminals should avoid getting too close to the police, but he refused to be lulled into a sense of complacency.
Every instinct in his body screamed at him to keep Bryn far away from everyone associated with this case.And he once again considered buying fake identities so they could disappear, forever.
6
Bryn stared down at her coffee, wondering how Damien, and the gunman for that matter, had gotten into her house.Could they have picked the lock?She had never considered getting a security system, mostly because she didn’t have anything worth stealing.
A bad guy breaking in to kill her had never once entered her mind.
“Over easy or scrambled?”Micah’s question about breakfast interrupted her thoughts.
“Either way is fine, whatever you prefer.”Her previous appetite had faded.The dream was still too fresh in her mind.Seeing Damien standing there, pounding on the window and screaming at her to help as the fire raged behind him had been so real.Damien hadn’t really burned to death; he’d been shot and killed.So why had she dreamed about him?
Maybe Micah was right about the subconscious playing tricks on her.If she were honest, she wanted to scream at Damien about why he’d done this to her.Why had he stolen money, then disappeared, only to get himself killed?
She’d never know what Damien’s intentions were now that he was gone.And while she felt bad for what he must have suffered, she didn’t grieve over the loss.
“More coffee?”Micah crossed to the table to fill her cup.
“Thanks.”She tried to shake off the odd despair that seemed to have surrounded her heart.“I don’t know what’s wrong with me.I’m not usually so down.”
“Nightmares have a way of lingering.Besides, these are not normal circumstances.”Micah rested a hand on her shoulder for a moment before moving away.“Food will help.Two pieces of toast?”
“Yes.”She sipped her coffee, then stood, grateful her blistered feet felt much better this morning.Enough sitting around and feeling sorry for herself.Maybe her problem was that she wasn’t keeping busy.“I’ll make the toast.”
“Okay.”Micah moved back to the stove.“Thanks.”
“I think you’re right that we need to focus on the employees at the company.”She placed two pieces of bread in the toaster.“I also think we should consider whether something went wrong with one of our more recent clients.”
“Went wrong how?”He arched a brow.“Like they canceled their account and wanted their money back?”
“Nothing like that happened as far as I know,” she admitted.“But I can’t help but wonder if the money was taken after Damien landed the new account.”
“What new account?”Micah’s blue eyes were intense.“You didn’t mention this earlier.Did the police ask you about it?”
“No, they focused on Damien being missing and the money itself.Not our clients.”Maybe she should have mentioned it earlier.“When you mentioned looking at our clients, I should have thought of the most recent one we’d landed.I’ll make sure the police know when we head in for the interview.To be honest, everything happened so fast I didn’t really think about the data center project.”
“Data center?”Micah let out a low whistle.“Those tend to stir up controversy.Despite what everyone thinks of a new business going in, the environmental impact is far more damaging than the average person realizes.”
“Exactly.That’s why they hired us to provide public relations expertise.”The toast popped, so she quickly buttered it and added two more slices of bread to the toaster.“I don’t think the data center is the real issue, though.I think Damien must have stolen the money after they paid their deposit.”
“Do you know how much that was?”Micah asked.
“No, but Damien mentioned seven figures.”She grimaced.“I don’t think that was the deposit, but more likely the entire amount of the deal.”
“That’s a lot of money,” Micah agreed.“But I would think Damien has made a good salary over the past seven years they’ve been in business too.”
“I know he did.It just doesn’t make sense.”She buttered the next two pieces of toast, then handed him the plates so he could add the eggs.
They sat at the table.Micah pushed the laptop out of the way.
“I’d like to say grace.”She cleared her throat.“Dear Lord Jesus, we ask You to guide us on the path to the truth.We also ask that You please keep us safe in Your care.Amen.”
“Amen.”He reached over to touch her arm.“Thanks, Bryn.”
“Of course.”She managed a smile.“I started attending church after Tommy’s death.I knew things wouldn’t work out with Damien when he refused to attend services with me.”
“His loss.”Micah held her gaze for a long moment.“When this is over, I’d like to attend services with you.My buddy Mac, er, Grady has recently started attending church.He seems to get a lot out of it.”
