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Langford nods. “I know someone at the FBI who can dive into this.” He’s silent, and then his gaze moves to me. “Looks like you got yourself into a pickle, honey.”
“That’s an understatement if I ever heard one.” I lean in. “We have to find Melly. We have to find and help all of those girls.”
“We will. But we’re going to need you, Delilah.”
I inhale a steeling breath. “Tell me what to do.”
“Would you be willing to travel if—”
“No,” Cole interjects. “She stays here. You get someone to come out.”
Langford mulls it over. Then says, “It might take some coordination to get a Fed out here to interview you.”
“So coordinate,” Cole demands roughly.
“I will, but that means…” Langford’s eyebrows rise as he gives me a pointed look. “You’re not safe.”
The same panicked fear I’d felt in Syd’s garage when we were watching those movies floods my system. Nowhere feels safe. Everything’s a threat.
“That means you don’t leave the ranch.” Cole’s eyes lock on mine and I feel his pain, his worry, his rage. Those glacial orbs are dark with haunted shadows. “You can’t go anywhere alone.”
Suddenly, I’m not afraid, I’m angry. Angry at what men can do. Angry I can’t do anything but sit around helpless as a damsel and wait. How can I? It’s not about me anymore.
“Delilah, I know that look.” The hard set of Cole’s jaw tells me arguing is pointless. “You need to listen to me.”
Dino’s words ring through my mind. He doesn’t give up when it comes to something he wants.
“It’s not going to matter. Please is coming here. Or he’s already here.” My lip trembles. “For me.”
Cole’s by my side, his calming presence steadying me for a brief second. “He won’t get near you.” His palm, calloused but gentle, rubs up and down my arm. “I won’t let anyone take you from me.”
I stare into those intense blue eyes, loving him so fiercely that for one long second, I can hardly breathe.
Then I look around the room, and my heart drops. An icy dread fills my stomach. What am I doing? Staying only means danger. For everyone. Cole. Evangeline. Hassie. These kind people I’ve grown to love this summer like my family, the Westons, they’re all at risk. Because of me.
“So she stays.” Warren examines his empty glass. “What happens next?”
“I’ll be in touch.” Langford rises from the stool, pockets the USB. “My contact at the FBI will reach out when we know anything. Until then—”
“No,” I cut in, and all eyes turn to me. “I should go.” I need to help in some way, and if that means leaving, so be it.
Cole stiffens, breath hitching. “Delilah…”
Ezra, quiet until now, lifts his pale face. “Maybe it’s not a bad idea, Cole.”
Wells flinches.
“Back off, Ezra, I fucking mean it,” Cole snaps. Fear and rage quake through his huge body, his scarred knuckles bleaching white as he grips his whiskey glass like he doesn’t know whether to drink it or hurl it across the room.
“I’m leaving.” I shoot down the rest of my whiskey. Rallying strength, I press away from Cole. Breathe out.
“Absolutely fucking not,” Cole growls low.
“We have no plan except waiting, relying on someone else to help. That makes us all sitting ducks.” My voice shakes, but it’s loud, firm. I raise a hand, gulping out my next words. “I won’t put anyone else in danger.”
Cole storms toward me, expression darkening as he presses me back against the counter. “If you leave, I leave.”
The room goes deathly silent.
