“I didn’t— ”
“The evidence suggests otherwise. The insurance money. The timing. The fact that you left town rather than stay and help find who ‘really’ did it.” Adam’s hands clenched into fists. “You’re a killer, Gillis. And I’m not going to let you hurt anyone else.”
Gina stepped between them. “Get out.”
“Not until— ”
“Out!” Brooke’s voice cut through the tension. She’d sat up on the couch, her face pale but her expression fierce. “Get out of Gina’s house. Now.”
Adam turned to her. “Brooke, you have to see—”
“I see a deputy harassing someone without evidence. I see you making accusations you can’t prove. I see you trying to scare me into believing something that isn’t true.” Brooke’s voice was steady despite the pain she must have been in. “Tyler didn’t attack me. He was at work. And even if he wasn’t, I know him well enough to know he’d never hurt me.”
“You don’t know that. You thought you knew Kelsey—”
“Don’t,” Brooke said sharply. “Don’t throw that in my face again. I’m capable of learning from my mistakes without you pointing them out every five minutes.”
Adam stared at her for a long moment. Then his expression shifted, became something almost pitying.
“When he hurts you—and he will—don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He turned to Tyler. “I’m watching you. Every move. And when you slip up, I’ll be there.”
He left, slamming the door behind him.
The silence that followed was deafening. Tyler realized he was shaking, his entire body trembling with the effort of not falling apart.
“Tyler.” Brooke’s voice was gentle. “Come back and sit beside me.”
He crossed back to the couch, sitting carefully beside her. She took his hand again, her grip surprisingly strong.
“I know you didn’t do this,” she said quietly. “No matter what Adam says. No matter what anyone says.”
Tyler couldn’t speak past the lump in his throat. He held her hand like it was the only thing keeping him anchored.
That night, after Gina helped Brooke to the guest room and Nick set up blankets on the couch before heading off to his own place, Tyler lay in the darkness and tried to process everything.
Brooke had been hurt. Someone had attacked her, tried to drag her away, tried to do something he couldn’t let himself think about too carefully.
And it was probably his fault.
But she’d defended him. Told Adam to leave. Chose to trust him despite everything Adam had said, despite all the reasons she had to doubt.
He closed his eyes and thought about the fire. About Jen’s smile. About Garrett’s laugh. About the life he’d lost and the questions that had haunted him ever since.
Someone had killed his family. Killed Sheila. Left a threatening note on his truck. Someone had attacked Brooke.
Were they connected? After all these years, had the person who destroyed his life come back to finish what they’d started?
Tyler didn’t know. But lying there in the darkness, listening to the quiet sounds of the house settling around him, he made a decision.
He wasn’t running this time. Wasn’t leaving town to escape the whispers and suspicion. He wasn’t letting fear drive him away from the first real connection he’d felt since Jen died.
He was staying. He was fighting. And he was going to protect Brooke, no matter what it cost him.
Chapter 21
Brooke
Brooke woke to the fluttering of unfamiliar curtains and a dull throb behind her eyes. For a moment, she couldn’t place where she was. Then her memory came crashing back—the trail, the attack, the pain, Gina’s guest room.
