Page 78 of Dark ’N’ Deadly

Eric’s eyes narrowed to glittery blue slits. “Jesse is over eighteen. How do you know he didn’t go with Gant willingly?”

“Because I know.” She clenched her hands in her lap. “He never would have told me he wanted out if he planned on going back to Alabama. As soon as we finished helping you, we were going to start a new life somewhere.”

Eric’s lips compressed, and she reached out to grab his forearm. “Please,” she cried. The steely muscles beneath her hand tightened, but he didn’t pull away. “Help me get him back. I don’t know what Harley will do to him now that he knows he was cooperating with you. That we both were. You know he didn’t go willingly. You know that.”

When he spoke, Eric’s voice was no longer cold. It was…dead. “I don’t know anything anymore. How can I?”

“Because I—” Love you. Those were the words she wanted to say, but they would only push him further away. “Because I was going to stay,” she whispered instead. “In Flemington. With you.”

His brow furrowed, and for a brief moment, his eyes seemed to soften. When he rested his hand on hers where she still gripped his forearm, she thought she’d gotten through to him. Then, he curled his fingers beneath hers and very deliberately detached her hand from his arm. “I just need…space. Nailing Gant is my priority right now. It has to be. Lives depend on it.”

The immense weight of everything happening around her was too much to bear. It’s over. It’s really over. Eric sat no more than two feet away, but she’d never felt more alone in her entire life. Including the night she’d fled Alabama by herself, with no one there to hold her hand or whisper reassurances that everything would be okay.

My heart is breaking, and he feels nothing for me.

“Who really ordered Jesse to drive those drums to New Jersey?” His voice was low, completely devoid of emotion. “Was it Gant? I need to know if you were both lying to me about that, too.”

“No, I swear it,” she cried. “Jesse didn’t know the man. He only wanted the money, and he was going to use it to get away from Harley. What does it even matter at this point?”

“What does it matter?” His face twisted with disbelief. “The ATF has resources. I have resources. If we’d known earlier that Gant and Pritchard were behind this, we could have been tracking them. We could have gotten in front of this thing, and now we’re fighting to catch up. We might even have known by now where they’re making the bomb and what the target is.”

Oh, no. What have I done?

As she clamped a hand over her mouth, the awful truth hit her. She hadn’t realized that by withholding her and Jesse’s familial affiliation, she’d hindered Eric’s investigation. The only reason she’d done it was to protect Jesse. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Now, people could die from her mistake.

I have to do something. I have to fix this. But how?

The door whipped open. Dayne stood on the threshold. Like Eric, the man didn’t exhibit much emotion, maybe less so, but the glint in his eyes didn’t hide the fact that something was wrong. “We lost Pritchard and the other men. Surveillance teams saw all three get into Pritchard’s SUV then followed them from the hotel. The teams stopped at a railroad crossing and got stuck behind a truck while Pritchard made it across the tracks. A hundred-car freight train rolled through, and when the safety barriers went up, the SUV was long gone.”

Eric shot to his feet, shoving a hand through his hair. “Were the teams made?”

“Doesn’t sound like it. They’ll keep searching.”

Eric’s chest expanded with a deep breath. “We could put a chopper up, but all SUVs look pretty much the same from the air. Until we can reacquire it on the ground, the chopper won’t be much help. Let’s get one on standby anyway.”

“Already done,” Dayne said.

“Did the teams get those trackers on the vehicles yet?”

“Negative.” Dayne shook his head. “We just received the signed warrant. Trackers were en route when this went down.”

“Great.” Eric’s lips compressed into a tight line. “We’re up a creek without any leads. We’re totally fucked. That seems to be a theme, lately.”

“What do you mean? We still have eyes on the drums. Sooner or later, someone will go back to the barn.” Dayne paused to scowl at Tess. “Or not, I’m guessing.”

“Not,” Eric gritted out. “Not only is Harley Gant Tess and Jesse’s stepfather, but he now knows they’re working with us. Those drums are as good as abandoned.”

“You’re right.” Dayne dragged a hand down his face. “We’re fucked.”

“Maybe not.” Tess looked from Dayne to Eric. “There’s something else I haven’t told you.”

Eric let out an exasperated breath. “Let’s hear it.”

“Harley called me.” She braced for the expected look of renewed fury on Eric’s face, and he didn’t disappoint. “He wants a deal.”

“Not gonna happen.” He shook his head. “The federal government doesn’t negotiate with terrorists, and that’s exactly what Gant is.”

“Not a deal with you. A deal with me,” she threw back. “You wanted a way in to Gant, you got it. In exchange for letting Jesse go, I’m turning myself over to him, and I’m going alone.”