Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
LETTY
Letty’s shoulders eased after Will left, though the tension in the air lingered longer than his SUV. She looked out over the water. Something had shifted, but she wasn’t sure. Her pulse had settled after his SUV hit the main road.
“He came to intimidate,” Cal mentioned behind her.
“I know.”
“And he didn’t flinch when you didn’t back down,” Cal added.
“You’re right.”
Cal’s gaze flicked to Wyatt, who stood with his hand on her back. “He’ll escalate, because men like him rarely back away once their pride is involved.”
Wyatt didn’t respond. He was watching the road with a tight jaw.
Cal left them alone after that. She thought about Cal. He had the kind of leadership she appreciated: steady, easygoing, and without the need to over-analyze everything. She snickered to herself as the silence settled.
“He thinks I’m wrong,” she said finally.
Wyatt didn’t look at her. “He thinks he’s smarter.”
“He always did.”
That drew Wyatt’s gaze. “Always?”
She exhaled through her nose. “In grad school, he’d volunteer to present group findings even if they weren’t his.”
“Confident.”
“Arrogant,” she corrected.
The muscles in his face tightened. “You trusted him.” It wasn’t a question, and she had no intention of dodging it.
“Yes.”
Wyatt’s shoulders went rigid. “Why?”
“He was good at what he did,” she said. “He was calm in chaos. His experience was different from mine. For example, he knew fire behavior inside and out.” She cringed.
“Great instincts, that’s what one of the professors said.
He predicted how a fire would respond when a warehouse blew after a hurricane. ”
“And that impressed you.”
“Yes.” She raised her shoulders before they fell. “I didn’t realize someone could look one way and be someone totally different, but yes, I was impressed.”
He turned fully toward her now. “I don’t like that.”
She blinked. “You don’t like what?”
“That you once trusted him.”
The vulnerability in that surprised her as she stepped closer. “You can’t rewrite my history.”
“I know.”
“But you aren’t competing with it either.”
“I’m not competing,” he blurted.
She arched her eyebrow. “Are you jealous?”
“No.” He shifted his stance and focused on her eyes. “I hate the idea that he had a chance with you.”
She laughed. “I’m not so sure. He was always too polished, too fake. Seeing him now, I understand that he didn’t respect me.” She shook her head. “He was never the one.”
He exhaled sharply as his gaze studied her. “You worked beside him.”
“Yes.”
“You respected him.”
“Yes.”
“And you don’t now?”
“No.”
He stepped closer. “Why?”
“Because safe and impressive are not the same thing.”
His mind heard the words and took a moment to understand.
“He seemed impressive at the time, calm and confident in ways that made people believe he understood chaos better than anyone else in the room.”
Wyatt ran his hand across his head. “And me.”
“You’re steady.”
The echo of that word passed between them.
“He made me believe I needed to prove myself,” she said. “Like if I didn’t outwork everyone, I’d disappear.”
“And I make you feel?”
She hesitated for only a second. “Like I can do anything, and you’d stand next to me waiting for me to shine.”
His expression changed as the smile lit up his face. “Thanks for that.”
She kissed his cheek.
Wyatt embraced her. “I’m grateful you don’t scare easy.”
“I don’t.”
“And he doesn’t scare you.”
“No.”
“But I do.”
She met his eyes. “You scare me in a different way.”
“How?”
She swallowed. “You matter.”
Wyatt’s mouth opened without sound.
“I didn’t know what safe was like,” she whispered. “Not like this. Not without conditions.”
His throat worked. “You don’t have to prove anything with me.”
“I know.”
He put his head against hers so that their breaths mingled. “Then stay.”
She looked up at him. He’s not demanding; he’s asking. That vulnerability nearly undid her.
“Stay,” he repeated, softer.
“Yes.”
His hands slid to her waist, firm but not claiming. “I don’t know how to build something without bracing for it to leave,” he admitted.
“You don’t have to brace with me. It’s going to take a little while for me to believe you’ll stay, too.”
He kissed her then. A slow joining as his mouth moved against hers with intention.
Her hands slid around his neck as she leaned into his space without hesitation.
He deepened the kiss, fingers tightening at her waist. Letty moaned as he ended the kiss, and when he pulled back, his voice was rougher. “I don’t want him anywhere near you.”
“He won’t be.”
“I mean ever.”
She studied him. “That’s not something you will always be able to control.”
“I know.”
“But you want to.”
“Yes.”
She offered a half-smile. “You’re possessive.”
“I’m invested.”
The correction mattered to her heart. She brushed her thumb along his jaw. “You’re allowed to be.”
His eyes darkened at that. “I’m not losing you to a man who thinks he can make things the way he sees them.”
“You won’t.” Letty paused. “I trusted him once,” she whispered. “But…”
His grip tightened just barely. “You never have to doubt me.”
She laid her hand on his chest feeling his steady heartbeat against her palm. “I know. He’s picked the wrong people to try to manipulate.”
He kissed her again as his hand slid up her back, fingers splayed wide, grounding her against him. “Let’s go back to the safe house. I want to be alone with you.”
Her heart picked up speed. “Let me grab my bag.”
LETTY
The message came at 6:42 p.m. They’d gotten up from a nap after he’d made love to her. She was sitting next to Wyatt, watching a movie, when her phone buzzed in her hand.
Unknown number? She almost ignored it until her eyes caught the preview.
Unknown Number: You’re looking in the wrong direction. Try Blackwater. Before he burns it too.
Her stomach dropped. Blackwater. She looked up with purpose.
Wyatt leaned in. “What?”
She turned the screen towards him.
His jaw hardened. “Blackwater Road has an abandoned shipping warehouse near the old inlet. It’s the same one Driscoll’s phone had pinged near earlier.” His eyebrow lifted. “Who sent it?”
“Unknown.”
He was already pulling out his phone, but before he could dial, Channel 16 chirped.
Rhea’s voice cut through, tight. “Salt & Steel units, possible rollover on Old Ferry Road. One vehicle, unknown number of injured. No EMS on the scene yet. Sheriff dispatch shows delay.”
Wyatt was already moving, and Letty didn’t hesitate.
“Coordinates?” he asked.
Rhea rattled them off. “Road’s narrow,” she added. “Low visibility. Use caution.”
Wyatt grabbed his med kit and tossed Letty hers without looking. He stopped and grabbed her hand. “We need to be very careful. You’ll be out in the open.”
“What choice do we have? It’s what we do.”
“Let’s go.” He released her hand.
They got into the SUV as Wyatt turned up the comms. Letty settled back, getting into the proper mindset to help at an automobile accident.
The road was dark beneath the pine canopy overhead, the branches swallowing most of the fading daylight.
Wyatt took the turn a little fast and threw gravel from the shoulder into the air.
He slowed as headlights caught the vehicle. An SUV rested on its side with one headlight busted and a cracked windshield.
Steam whistled from the engine as Wyatt got Letty’s attention. “Stay behind me.”
“I always do.”
He stepped out first as Letty reached into the back seat to grab the first aid bag.
Wyatt stopped as Letty turned her head and blurted out. “There’s no crying?”
“Shit. This isn’t good.”
Letty’s pulse ticked up as she pivoted her head. “Do you hear anything?”
Wyatt scanned the tree line. “No.” He stepped toward the SUV, crouched, and checked for fluid leaks.
“Hello?” Letty called out. “Salt & Steel…” She turned to Wyatt. “Maybe someone already took them to the hospital?”
A shadow moved behind the back of the car as Wyatt turned. Something cracked against the side of his head as Letty screamed his name. Two men came out around the SUV. Driscoll. Letty ran toward Wyatt as a hand grabbed her wrist. She drove her elbow back instinctively and connected.
He cursed as Driscoll staggered but didn’t go down. He swung once, fist connecting with a jaw hard enough to drop a man. “Run!” Wyatt barked.
She didn’t as a hand came from behind and slammed around her head onto her mouth. Metal. Her knees buckled.
The world tilted as Letty tried to reach him, but a hand fisted in her hair. A cloth covered her bleeding mouth with a horrible smell. It took her a moment to realize it was chloroform as she drifted under.
“Letty?”
She shifted. I’m cold.
“Wake up.”
“What?” The smell of oil and rust filled her nose. She cried out as she moved. Her body ached. She heard him before she found him on the floor. “Are you okay?” She shifted her body. Wyatt was on his side across from her with blood matting his hair.
Her chest constricted. “Oh, God, Wyatt.”
“The team will be here. Cal’s tracking us. We’re going to be okay.” He swallowed as footsteps echoed, coming closer. His hands were tied behind his back as he forced himself to sit up as Letty got to him. She reached down and pulled a knife from her boot and released his zip tie.
The steps got closer as Letty looked up. Not Driscoll. She gritted her teeth. Will.
Wyatt kept his hands behind his back as Will stepped into the light like this was a lecture hall. “You shouldn’t have come,” he said mildly.
Letty’s stomach dropped. “You staged it,” she whispered. “We heard about the rollover and came to help.”
Will tilted his head. “You responded exactly how I expected.”
Wyatt growled to get Will’s attention.
Will glanced at him. “Still predictable. Hero complex.”
Driscoll appeared behind him, rubbing his jaw. “He hits like a damn mule.”
Will ignored him. “Dr. Duval,” he said almost kindly, “you were always brilliant. Just… misdirected.”
“You hurt people.”
“I corrected a liability.”