“He’s on his way to the station.”
Paul drew in a shaky breath.
“Look, no one gives a rat’s ass about Bennett.He was armed and threatening my sister.If you killed him…”
“I didn’t.Mendez beat me to it.”
“Why?”Jackson asked, turning on the engine.“Why would he do that?”
Paul told a bare-bones version of the day’s events as Jackson drove away from the lake.The story didn’t make sense, and he wasn’t proud of the details, but it was the unadorned truth.Jackson listened without comment.
“He tied me up to buy more time to get away,” Paul finished.
A muscle in his jaw flexed.“Same reason you tied up my sister?”
Paul flinched at the question, which struck him like a gut punch.“I did it to protect her from Bennett.”
“Does she know about Mendez?”
“Not really.”
“But she knew you’d been shot on duty, and she knew you were in hiding.She broke up with you because of it.”
Paul didn’t argue.He was too exhausted to defend his poor choices.
“You came to Lost Lake to evade the Mendez family, because they’re a bunch of psychos, and you thought you’d enjoy some local flavor while you were visiting.”
“No.That’s not what I thought.”
“What did you think?”
Paul considered admitting he was in love with Vanessa, but he was afraid the confession would make his actions seem worse.
Jackson clenched his hands around the steering wheel.“I’m taking you to the station to make your statement.When you’re finished, I want you and your brother to get out of my town.Find another hiding place, lose my sister’s number, and forget you ever met her.Don’t even think about coming back here.”
Paul narrowed his eyes and said nothing.Staying in Lost Lake wasn’t an option.He would leave town, and he would leave Vanessa alone—for now.But he would come back to her.He wouldn’t lose her number, and he’d never forget her.
Chapter Thirty-One
Jackson didn’t callwith an update.
He sent a cryptic text to notify her that he’d found Paul and they were coming to the station.She responded with a flurry of questions about Paul, all of which he ignored.She paced back and forth in her father’s office, nibbling at the edge of her thumbnail while Emily napped on the couch.When Jackson’s truck finally pulled into the parking lot, she hurried to the only window and watched as Paul exited the vehicle.
She felt a wave of relief at the sight of him, alive and upright.He was barefoot, his arms streaked with blood and dirt.He wore a torn T-shirt and a pair of striped boxer shorts she recognized from their morning encounter.She fought the urge to run outside and embrace him.She wasn’t concerned about making a fool of herself in front of her father’s deputies or sending mixed messages to a man she’d rejected.She hesitated because his arrival was met with a flurry of activity.Wade Hendricks, Deputy Lopez and another officer formed a tactical circle around Paul as Jackson guided him forward.They looked like a special investigations unit bringing in a high-profile criminal.
A cold hand snaked down her spine at the sight.She’d been worried that Bennett would kill Paul, perhaps naively, considering Paul’s law enforcement training.Now it seemed far more likely that the reverse had happened.
Swallowing hard, she grabbed her father’s first-aid kit.Before she could rush out, Jackson came in.The tension in his stance reminded her that he risked his life every time he donned a uniform, and today had been especially treacherous.Fresh tears flooded her eyes as he wrapped her in a tight hug.He was safe and sound.She didn’t need another family member in a hospital bed.
When she released him, he glanced at Emily’s sleeping form with a mixture of sadness and sympathy.
“Bennett?”she mouthed.
He shook his head once.
Clutching his arm, she led him out to the hall and pulled the door shut behind her.“What happened to him?”
“We don’t know for sure.His body hasn’t been recovered from the lake.”
