Ryan spoke the truth. She got that. But right then, it was a better choice for Russ to blame her than to interrogate her father and David. After Russ questioned them, all hope of reconciling would end.
She would be without a family forever.
10
Mia had agonized over the bracelet for hours as she paced around the lodge, unpacking and taking stock of the supplies. She couldn’t keep up the pace or she would burn out. She dropped into a chair near the large stone fireplace. Bandit crossed over and curled at her feet as best he could with his cone. Her mind went to Ryan. She’d hoped he would be the one guy who wouldn’t let her down. But her history said, it was just a matter of time—going against her wishes and telling Russ about her father’s potential involvement in the threat.
Men did that, didn’t they? They were by nature fixers. Took charge even if she wanted to handle things on her own. Or at least the men in her life. All except Wally, who let her figure things out for herself. Let her fail and make mistakes even if he could’ve stepped in. Taught her that she wasn’t always right and having things her way all the time wasn’t necessarily a good thing.
Problem was, she only applied that to Wally. Gave him the benefit of the doubt because he’d never pushed too hard. But really, putting that year of residence at Evergreen in his will was big-time pushing now, wasn’t it?
She sighed and looked at Bandit. “No point dwelling on any of it. Not when Ryan could be right and my life could be in danger.”
Her phone rang. She grabbed it to see an unidentified caller, but she answered anyway in case it was related to the investigation. “Mia Blackburn.”
“Hi, Ms. Blackburn,” a pleasant female voice said. “This is Sierra Rice at the Veritas Center calling to talk to you about payment details on the Emerson County investigation.”
Wonderful!Now they would get somewhere. “Please call me Mia, and thank you for agreeing to handle the forensics for us.”
“Glad to help. I understand you will be paying for the investigation in full.”
“That’s right.”
“Before we proceed, I wanted to clarify that our contract will be with Sheriff Russ Maddox of Emerson County and all findings will be given to him and not shared with anyone else including you.”
“I’d be lying if I didn’t say I would’ve loved to get your reports, but I expected this to be the case, and I’m fine with it.”
“Oh, good. I find it’s always best to set expectations right up front.”
“Agreed,” Mia said, liking this woman already for her thoroughness and strict standards.
“As a new customer, we’ll require a deposit to get started on the project. I’ll have our bookkeeping team give you a call to set that up. You should hear from them in the next hour or so. If all is good, then I can arrive sometime tomorrow afternoon.”
“Sounds great,” Mia said, though she wished Sierra could get there in the morning instead.
Still, she would arrive tomorrow, and then Russ might have the information he needed to stop considering Mia as a suspect and arrest the real person behind the threats and fire.
* * *
Ryan moaned and pushed back his chair. Enough was enough. He’d spent hours in the rec center preparing for the students’ arrival tomorrow, and he couldn’t concentrate. Not with thoughts of the stolen guns and Mia’s bracelet weighing heavy on his mind.
He’d reached one conclusion. They had to seriously consider that her father and David could be behind the threats. Ryan didn’t believe if they were sending the threats that they would follow through and kill her. But if someone else stole the guns, someone they employed to start the fire, then Mia’s life was truly in jeopardy, and he couldn’t go on with his normal life.
He’d done that with Cara. Look how that had turned out.
He had to talk to Mia. Figure out how to bring this to a close—before guns were used.
He hurried outside and waved at his staff who were gathering at the firepit for their daily social time before having dinner together. Smoke swirled into the air with the smell of grilling burgers. The staff’s laughter reached him. He would normally join in, but no way his mood allowed him to be social.
He climbed into his truck and raced to the lodge. The sun still hung high in the sky and cast shadows through the trees onto the rustic building matching Ryan’s cloudy mood. He parked, took the porch steps two at a time, and then knocked on the lodge door. Bandit’s nails clipped across the wood floor inside, and Ryan stepped back for Mia to answer.
A loud thump was followed by laughter and Mia saying, “You silly dog. You need to be more careful, or you’ll get brain damage.”
She pulled open the door, and Bandit charged out. He circled Ryan and danced on his hind legs. Ryan bent to scratch his back. His happy yips made Ryan smile despite his mission.
“I’m surprised to see you.” Mia tilted her head and watched him carefully.
Right.Not nearly as open to his visit as Bandit was. “Can we talk for a minute? I just can’t quit thinking about the bracelet and feel like we’re missing something. We can talk out here if you want.” He moved out of her way and gestured toward the first cane-backed rocking chair.
