Hands flying toward the ceiling, I stepped back to placate the canine.“Okay, where did you come from?”
Did a hunter lose him? Or a hiker? Was this the moment he’d lead me to a dead body, and I’d have to call in the park ranger?
He darted back and forth, growling and jumping between barks, as if to herd me into the corner and keep me there. A part of me couldn’t shake the fact that he looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite place why.
My heart pounded in my chest, mind racing for answers.
A shuffled footstep echoed from the door. My head whipped in that direction.
A very broad, dark figure rounded through the doorway, backlit by the morning sun. I had to blink hard to make sure I was seeing this right. It was a man, and the figure did not appear docile; its stance was defensive.
“Shit...”I muttered, my hands falling to my sides as I scanned my surroundings for a weapon, anything to defend myself.
As I searched, the figure reached for something at his side, and I saw the glint of a gun barrel.“Whoa, wait,” I said, pushing my hands forward and stepping back behind the tub.
Was this one of my uncle’s men?
The man growled,“I warned you, asshole. Come near Bee again, and I’ll kill you.”
My hands fell immediately. I knew that voice.
“Nash?” I asked, standing straight.
He grunted.
Yep, that was Nash, alright—Betty’sbrother.What on earth was he doing here, and how?“What are you doing here?” I asked, unafraid. I knew he wouldn’t shoot me, just as I knew he wouldn’t have shot me last fall. He wasn’t that kind of man.
“Fuck you, asshole,” he bit out.
Did that entire family make the F-word a part of their casual vocabulary?
I huffed and slouched forward, bracing my hands on my knees to regroup. I needed a minute. The blood whooshing in my ears was deafening.
Why hadn’t Ethan called to warn me they’d left Scotland? I told him to monitor it. Maybe they’d given him the slip, or maybe Ethan’s attention was elsewhere.
I looked up again just as a small silhouette peeked into the shed behind Nash, causing the dog to stop barking.
The figure’s head swiveled, taking in the scene for a moment before calling out,“Nash!” It was a woman’s voice.“Nash, for heaven’s sake, put that down!” The small figure stomped forward, right up to Nash, and placed a hand on the arm holding the gun.
“Sybil,” Nash hissed.“Get back. Let me handle this.”
“Don’t youSybilme, dickhead. Put. It.Down,”she challenged.“You can’t handle shit.”
I was shocked when he actually complied. The dog was barking at Nash now, taking Sybil’s side.
Larry was currently well into act three of playing dead, draped over me like a scarf.
“Bill!” she hissed next, addressing the dog.“Would you please shut up and sit down? You don’t get to yell at Nash too. That’s my job.”
The dog, Bill, immediately did as he was told.
Holy hell, who was this tiny thing, and how did she hold so much power?
As she took a step closer, I recalled her features and placed where I’d seen her before. She was Betty’s new sister-in-law, Nash’s wife. I’d seen her last fall when she accompanied them to the warehouse to steal back the PERL art. Though most of my attention had been on Betty back then, I remembered this tiny woman became his fiancée that night.
They bickered back and forth, hands animated and faces catching the occasional ray of overhead light. They both looked angry and stubborn, not unlike Betty and me in a fight.
I crossed my arms, figuring I might as well get comfortable since it looked like it was going to be a while. Moments passed, and the water reached the top of the tub. I stepped to turn it off; the sudden movement startled them out of their bickering and back into the present.
