Page 23
“I’m guessing it wasn’t a coincidence, then.”
He shakes his head. “The man who had abducted her dropped her off at our front door and he had a message for us.”
“What was the message?” My heart is pounding in my chest and I am hanging on his every damn word, somewhere between fascinated and terrified.
“I am just getting started…”
Christ.
I pull my hand from his and we both fall back into our seats as silence descends over our table and my mind races. Travis is right, this is so much bigger than anything I ever imagined and just thinking about the planning and patience it must have taken this person to put all of this together is astounding. Shaking my head, I meet his eyes across the table.
“Do you know anything else?”
He shakes his head. “Nothing concrete. That’s why we were going to talk to Tawny today.”
“Right,” I whisper. God, that feels like it was days ago and we literally just left her apartment. “So did she tell you anything that you didn’t already know?”
“Yes and no… She gave me a name which is something but that doesn’t mean I’ll find any information on him and she said the thing about how angry he was but that’s one of the things that doesn’t really help my investigation.”
Sighing, I nod. “True, but I guess it’s good to know who you’re dealing with because there is a difference between someone who is in control of their rage and someone who isn’t.”
“And what would that be?”
“Someone who isn’t in control of their anger makes mistakes.”
He nods, turning to look out of the large window next to our table as he sighs, stress lining his face, and my heart breaks for him. “Then I’d say this guy is very much in control of his rage.”
I want to tell him it’s going to be okay but I don’t know that it will and there is no part of me that wants to lie to him so instead, I turn back to my food and take a bite of pancakes. It’s tasteless now and my mind can’t stop going over everything he told me. Maybe I should have stayed in Alaska. It would have been lonely but at least I’d be safe. Then again, I’m glad I’m here with my brother… even if we’re technically in the trenches right now.
“You regretting that move from Alaska right about now?” Travis asks and my head whips up, my gaze meeting his as I shake my head.
“How in the hell do you do that?”
He arches a brow. “Do what?”
“Read my fucking mind,” I answer, pushing the food around on my plate aimlessly with my fork and he laughs.
“Well, in this particular instance, it was all over your face.”
I sigh. “Oh… well, just so you know, I’m not sure if I regret it yet. I love Alaska and it’s where I grew up but it was quickly becoming hell so in that sense, I’m happy to be here.”
“What made you leave?”
“What didn’t?” I shoot back with a dry laugh as tears sting my eyes. God, how is it that even just the mention of my home state can bring back all of the awful memories I’ve been trying so hard to forget since I got here? “My mom died a month ago and I didn’t have any family left there…”
“So you came to Baton Rouge for Kodiak?”
I shake my head. “No, I came for me. I needed something… different and new. Plus, after I walked in on my ex-boyfriend banging this girl I worked with, there was nothing keeping me there.”
“Shit,” he mutters, making a face of pity and I shake my head.
“No, it’s okay. I wasn’t actually that hurt by it all which means it was past time to end things anyway. I was just pissed and embarrassed and the fact that he did all that while I was dealing with my mom’s death was a kick in the teeth.”
“Yeah, that’s fucked up,” he agrees with a nod and I shrug.
“Better to find out now than after I wasted anymore of my life on him,” I say. He narrows his eyes and cocks his head to the side as he studies me. Fuck, I hate it when he does that… but I also kind of like it. I squirm in my seat, uncomfortable with his scrutiny but he doesn’t seem to care as he continues watching me. Finally, I slap my hand down on the table and sigh. “What?”
He shakes his head. “I was just trying to decide if you really meant all that or if you were just putting on a brave face.”
