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“He couldn’t hurt me.”

“You don’t know what he’s capable of.” A shiver rocked her body. “He doesn’t fight fair, Kent.”

“When something is important to me, neither do I.”

He wasn’t certain if she believed him or not and in the end it didn’t matter. Because it was the truth. And he had no intention of letting her brother hurt either of them.

“There’s going to come a time when you and I will have a chat about all of this, keeping promises, telling me when you are in trouble so I can take care of you. Not telling me when you’ve been hurt or threatened or forced to pay off a debt you don’t owe. But that time is not now. All I want from you right now is to trust me.”

“I do.”

A throat cleared and he glanced over to where he knew Ed had been standing the last couple of minutes. Abby jumped in his arms and he thought she might try to climb off, so he held her gently against him.

“My guys are here,” Ed said, walking forward. “Abby, I’m going to need a description of the guy who threatened you.”

“It was so dark. I didn’t see much of him. He was tall. Had dark short hair. That’s all.”

“Think you could look at mugshots for me? Be good to know who we’re dealing with and I’m thinking that he might have something to do with what went on here.”

“I-I guess.”

“Not tonight, she can’t,” Kent said firmly.

“She’s going home with you?” Ed asked.

“Yes.”

“Wait. What? I am?”

Kent leaned back and grasped hold of her chin, raising her face to his. “You are. You can’t stay here. It’s a wreck. And it’s not safe. I’ll get someone here to deal with the door. And I’ll arrange a cleaning crew.”

“I can’t let you do all that.”

“You’re not letting me do anything. I’m doing it. And I’m taking you home so I can care for you properly. Okay?”

She took in a breath and then nodded slowly. “Yes. Okay.”

“What about Markovich? Want to press charges against him?” the sheriff asked.

She shook her head. No way. Ed sighed. “Figured that was gonna be your answer. Do you have any idea where Max is now? What this guy might have wanted from him?”

“No. He wouldn’t tell me, he just said it was his pay-day and he wasn’t giving it back. I don’t know where he is now.” She rubbed at her head and he reached up with his other hand and massaged her neck gently.

“All right. You think of anything else, you let me know. I’ll be in touch about coming in to look at those mugshots.”

Kent lifted her off his lap. “Let’s get some clothes packed for you and grab Bun-bun.”

She gaped up at him, devastation clouding her eyes.

“What is it, baby?”

“They...they destroyed Bun-bun.”

14

His heart actually hurt for her.

He glanced over at where she sat in the passenger seat of his truck. She seemed so small and delicate. When she’d told him that they’d destroyed Bun-bun, he could actually feel her pain. He’d hoped there might be some chance of resurrecting her stuffed rabbit, but when he’d seen it, he’d realized it was hopeless.