She chuckled, but it was weak. “Suddenly I have a choice. Go me.”
I’d never been so happy to get on the road. We drove south, Dixie handing me my sandwiches one at a time so I could talk and drive. She’d bought me a coffee, strong and unsweetened, how I’d had it this morning.
She was wrong in implying that she had no choice. Today, she could’ve left me. I knew how good she was at slipping away and evading the hunt. But she hadn’t. That meant more than she could know and did dark things to my already twisted, obsessed heart.
Several hours later, and another nap on her part, we rolled up to my cabin. Kane and Lovelyn had reached Inverness andfully taken the bait, reporting their findings with excitement. Heretic and Ash had jumped on a call with us, and all were southbound, chasing that bus.
Dixie had given me a genuine smile of relief. She leapt from the car and danced up to the cabin door with a light step.
I didn’t share her joy. Though I was satisfied with a job well done, I couldn’t shake my fear from earlier. After I let her in, I paused on the threshold.
“I need to head out for a few hours.”
Dixie’s face fell. “Why?”
“Manny sent me some information on a man I need to see.” I gripped the doorjamb, wondering how much to say. “The guard on duty the night ye left the warehouse.”
Her gaze shuttered in an instant.
She backed away, into the house, automatic floor lights springing on.
I followed. “Stop.”
She clutched her elbows, appearing smaller. Frightened again. “Why would you do that?”
“Because something happened, and I don’t want to push ye for details. I already know from Manny that the guard was a waste of space, so I figured he was negligent, too. He wiped the CCTV footage.”
Her eyes shone with instant tears. “Then you don’t know. Nobody knows. I assumed they all did.”
My heart hurt again. I wanted to throw out my arms and offer a hug, but she wouldn’t take it. It could even make things worse.
Dixie worked through her thoughts, her gaze searching the middle distance. “Then Lovelyn thinks I ran because of the Marchant situation.”
“Didn’t ye?”
“In part, but that wasn’t all, or even close to the worst.”
My hold on the entryway could have cracked the wood. I was right. I swallowed. Kept my voice low. “Someone hurt ye.”
She stared, her chest rising and falling. “He did.”
Fucking Christ. Energy filled me, needing an outlet. A knife buried in someone’s chest. Yet I had to offer her a choice, so she could let go of the wheel, or maybe trust me enough to bring justice for this part.
“If ye tell me not to go, I won’t. I’ll stay here. Or, I do what needs to be done. If I find out the truth, I don’t need to question ye on any part of it. You’re in control of this. Tell me what to do.”
Dixie took a shuddering breath then lifted her chin.
“Go.”
Chapter 8
Tyler
From the darkest shadows of a lane two streets away from Buck’s flat, Shade stepped out with a low greeting.
The heavily tattooed enforcer for the skeleton crew ran his gaze over my ride. “What the fuck are ye driving?”
In my haste to leave, I’d forgotten to switch back to my regular vehicle. Like my others, today’s grey SUV had a top-tier engine but purposefully appeared run-down and forgettable. I raised a shoulder. “Good for stakeouts.”
