“Did someone call for more bacon?” Taylor asked as he glanced at the door.
Elvis lifted his hand, cautioning them, then stepped to the door as he looked at the monitor Colin had rigged up when they first set up shop. The monitor showed the hallway—Delaney stood there, shoulders tight, jaw set. And beside her?
He could only assume one of the three-letter agencies by the way the man stood.
“Well, this is fucking great,” he breathed. He opened the door, braced for whatever was about to happen.
Delaney’s eyes locked with his—cool, unreadable, but beneath that chill was a storm he hadn’t earned the right to name.
She glanced over his shoulder at the others in the room. “I wouldn’t be the topic of conversation, would I?” Her voice was calm but tight, like she was holding back a tidal wave of emotions with sheer force of will.
Elvis’s gaze slid to the man beside her. Tall. Broad-shoulders. early-fifties. Salt-and-pepper buzz-cut. And at his waist, a holster and a badge that all but barked its credentials.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Blaze minimize the monitor screen.
Smart move, he thought as he glanced back at Delaney, stepping aside so they could enter. His heart thudded behind his ribs. “You wouldn’t be far off.” He glanced at the marshal. “Seems you’ve got a new partner.”
The older man stretched out his hand. “Marshal Donovan Ashland. I’m—” He glanced at Delaney, his lips twisted in a grimace. “Well, we’ll get to that in a bit.”
Delaney looked completely uncomfortable as she glanced around at the others. “I’m guessing you know why we’re here.” She looked back at him, annoyance mixed with something he didn’t recognize all over her face.
He slid his hands into his pockets to hide their trembling. “To admit that you lied?” A whirlpool of emotions swirled inside him, each filling him in a nauseous twist, making him want to scream or throw up, before another took its place with a whole new set of reactions.
“It’s not that simple,” she told him, an imploring look in her eyes. “Bobby, there are things?—”
“So you do remember me,” he said, cutting her off.
She shook her head, her eyes glistening. “You don’t understand.”
“Just stop,” he snapped, yanking his hands out of his pockets and digging his nails into his palms to stem the flood of emotions threatening to break him. “Just… stop.”
She stared at him, a war raging behind her eyes. “Can we talk somewhere? Just us?”
Colin pointed to the room off to the side. “You can use my bedroom.”
Elvis looked at her and shrugged, still not sure what the hell was happening.
Delaney ignored the looks that followed her as she left the marshal standing there and moved to the indicated room. Shekept her arms over her chest and her back ramrod straight as she walked.
“Want some breakfast, Marshal?” Taylor asked.
Elvis stood there for a moment, hands on his hips, as he watched her slip inside the room, flipping on the light as she did. He wasn’t sure if she would finally tell him the truth or if this was merely another dodge, but he knew there was only one way to find out.
“I’ll be right back,” he told the others and followed her into the bedroom portion of the suite.
“Scream if you need help,” Blaze quipped as Elvis shut the door.
When he entered the room, Delaney stood by the window, arms wrapped tight around herself as if bracing for a storm no one else could see. Outside the window, the city sparkled with distraction—neon signs promising escape, which often led to empty wallets and foggy memories. However, in that room, nothing glittered and tempers were strung tight. Up there, the silence between them, thick and razor-sharp, pushed down on his shoulders.
He stood near the door, hands on his hips, and simply waited for her to speak, hopefully giving him the answers he had wanted for fifteen years.
She scoffed, shaking her head. “Fifteen years. I’ve played it safe for fifteen years, never venturing far into the world, staying close, staying hidden. I’ve turned down promotions and better positions to stay safe. I even let someone else be the public face of my own company. It figures the first time I venture away from the office, I would run right into the one person who could ruin everything.”
He stared at her reflection in the glass. “I’m not trying to ruin anything. Hell, I don’t even know what there is to ruin. Julia, where the hell did you go? And why are you here now? I thinkI deserve some fucking answers after everything we promised each other.”
She turned, staring at him, arms still tight over her chest as if she was afraid if she dropped them her heart would fall right out. “That was high school. An entire lifetime ago. We were both different people then, and a lot has changed. Had to change, to be honest. I didn’t have a choice. I still don’t.”
He took a couple of steps further into the room, but still kept his distance, hands loose at his sides. “You vanishing on me changed me. You know, in case you were wondering. And I want to know why you did it. Why I didn’t deserve so much as a note telling me you were leaving.”
