Wes’s gaze remained unwavering. “You’re a witness who panicked. That’s different.”
“Tell that to a jury.”
“This wouldn’t get to a jury. Not if you come forward now, voluntarily, before?—”
“Before what?” Her voice stayed even but the edge in it was real. “Before Vince uses that photograph? He already used it. He sent it to me at my family’s address to make it clear that he knows exactly where I am and what leverage he has. That’s not a man who’s going to fold because I walked into a police station.”
“But—”
She didn’t let him finish. “He has lawyers, Wes. He has connections. He has a story that’s already been accepted as fact. And I have—” She stopped.
“What?” he murmured, his concerned gaze nearly breaking her.
She looked back out at the valley. “And I have a history of making impulsive decisions. A contract I may have breached. An agent who’s trying to spin my disappearance as a personal crisis.” She blew out a breath. “I have nothing that doesn’t make me look exactly the way he wants me to look.”
Wes looked out at the valley, his jaw set.
Rowan could see him working through the situation. He was testing his theories the same way he’d test a fence or a building he’d been hired to secure. He was looking for the weak point, the place where her reasoning didn’t hold.
And he wasn’t finding it as easily as he’d expected to.
“You’re not wrong,” he said at last.
She hadn’t expected that. “I know.”
“I still think going to the authorities is the right move. But you’re right about the timing and what he’s positioned you for. That means before you do anything, we need to change the equation.”
“How?”
He opened his mouth to answer.
Before he could, a branch snapped in the distance.
She sucked in a breath. Was someone out there?
CHAPTER 20
Rowan tensed.
The snap came from the tree line to their left—a single sharp crack, close enough to be deliberate, followed by a silence that was too complete.
Wes was off the tailgate before the sound finished.
Rowan followed, her pulse spiking.
The night that had felt vast and peaceful thirty seconds ago now felt exposed, like danger could be hiding anywhere—and everywhere.
Remington appeared at Wes’s side, his body on alert.
Wes touched her arm once, indicating she should stay. Then he took two measured steps toward the trees, his eyes moving across the shadows.
Rowan didn’t breathe.
Ten seconds. Twenty.
The darkness gave nothing back.
Then Wes turned, his expression controlled in the way she was learning meant he’d already made a decision. “Get into the truck. Now.”
