Chapter Eight
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Harlan pulled the new truck into the drive, the scent of fresh leather still strong enough to mask the faint tang of gunpowder that lingered in his memory.
His boss, Noah Riggs, hadn’t wasted time getting a new truck to him, and it was fully equipped, every inch of it meant for protection and pursuit.
Laney sat quietly beside him, her fingers curled in her lap. The pale set of her mouth told him she was still rattled. Truth was, so was he. They had come close to dying today. Hard not to be rattled to the core by that.
He cut the engine and just sat there, letting the silence stretch for a beat.
There was so much at stake. Not just their lives but Evie’s and Carol’s, too.
Because this son of a bitch had already been here, at the house, in Evie’s room, and that kind of gall, or desperation, meant this person wouldn’t stop until they stopped him.
Lots of people were already working on doing just that. He and Laney would soon be joining that effort by doing whatever they could to help with the investigation and the search for the shooter.
Harlan hoped the CSIs and Redwater cops were tearing apart that stretch of road right now.
With luck, they would find something. Tire tracks.
Shell casings. Anything that would lead them straight to the bastard who had just tried to kill them.
Anything that would put an end to these attacks before someone ended up in a body bag.
He climbed out just as Laney did, both of them immediately scanning the property as the October wind hissed through the trees.
The security crew was still there, moving with brisk precision, coiling cables, drilling sensors into window frames, and anchoring cameras along the roofline.
The hum of power tools and the steady thud of boots on the porch boards were oddly comforting because they were reminders that each step in this process could make things safer for Carol, Evie, and Laney.
Garrett opened the front door, his expression calm but his eyes tracking every movement in the yard. On the drive back to the ranch, Harlan had already texted him the short version of what’d happened. Then, he’d followed it with a call, so there was no need for a debrief now.
“Evie and your mom are upstairs in the tent room,” Garrett said, stepping aside so they could enter.
Laney didn’t slow down one little bit. The moment she crossed the threshold, her boots hit the stairs in quick rhythm, Evie’s name on her lips as she called out to her daughter.
Harlan let her go. She needed to see her little girl, to feel her close, to replace the memory of bullets and shattered asphalt with something whole. He stayed by the door for a beat, letting the security crew pass in and out, before following her inside and shutting the door behind him.
Garrett’s gaze lingered on him, reading more than Harlan wanted him to. “How you holding up?” Garrett asked.
“Fine,” Harlan said automatically, but then he muttered a curse under his breath. “Hell, I came damn close to losing her out there. She could have been killed.”
Garrett’s expression shifted, sharper now. “Does Laney know you’re in love with her?”
Harlan gave a short, humorless laugh. “It’s not like that. There’s heat, that’s all.”
But the words felt wrong in his mouth. Like a bald-faced lie.
He knew better. It had always been more than heat.
Always. But even he wasn’t sure if the being “in love” part still applied.
What he felt for her was a stormy mix of their shared past, of David.
Of everything. Hard to sort through a tangle like that to sort out his feelings.
Harlan pushed any thought of that aside. “How much longer on the security install?” he asked.
Garrett let it go on the sudden shift of topic, though not without giving Harlan a knowing look. “Should be finished soon. Another hour, maybe less.”
Harlan glanced toward the stairs, listening for any sign of Laney’s voice, and then he turned back to Garrett.
“You able to hang around for a while longer? Once Laney settles, we still need to see Deputy Sherry Dalton. And the sheriff rescheduled Billy’s interview for three this afternoon.
Laney won’t want to miss that.” Neither would Harlan.
Garrett nodded. “Sure. I can stay as long as you need.” He paused. “Any of your suspects have alibis for this latest attack?”
“None,” Harlan confirmed. “The sheriff called all three while we were giving our statements. Not one of them could account for their time.”
Garrett’s expression hardened. “So Sherry, Billy, and Brannigan are still in play.”
“Yeah,” Harlan said. “Every last one of them.”
Harlan climbed the stairs, his boots somehow managing to hit every single creaking step. He found Laney in the hall, leaning against the wall near her mother’s room. She looked at him and put a finger to her lips in a stay quiet gesture.
“Both of them are napping,” she whispered.
Good. At least two of them weren’t so knotted up that sleep wasn’t possible. That certainly didn’t apply to Laney and him.
Even in the dim light, he could see the strain still in her face, the tightness in her jaw. Yeah, there were knots all right, along with the motherlode of hellish new memories. Even experience and training couldn’t make you immune to nearly being killed.
Without a word, she tipped her head toward the far end of the hall. He followed her to a small room, the scent of fabric softener and cedar hanging in the air. A sewing machine sat on a table beneath the window, bolts of fabric stacked neatly along the wall. Carol’s craft room, probably.
Laney shut the door, the sound of it clicking softly as it closed behind them. In the same moment, she turned to him and stunned him by stepping into his arms.
“Just a moment,” she murmured, her voice barely above a breath. “I need to steady myself.”
Oh, yeah. He totally got that. He could do with some steadying as well.
Harlan wrapped her close, saying nothing, letting the silence do the work. Her hands fisted lightly against his shirt. He could feel her breathing slow, the tension in her body easing bit by bit, though the tremor in her muscles hadn’t completely gone.
He held her, not moving, not speaking, knowing this was what she needed more than anything right now.
Laney’s breath was warm against his cheek, her body fitting to his as if it had always belonged there. The charged air between them pulsed, and before either could think of reasons to hold back, his mouth found hers.
The kiss started soft, almost tentative, but it deepened big time when she slid her hands up his chest, clutching at his shirt as if needing the anchor. Harlan’s fingers threaded into her hair, drawing her even closer. Her lips parted, and the taste of her sent a surge of heat through him.
Every worry, every question, every danger they faced fell away for that moment. All that existed was the press of her body, the way she leaned into him as if she trusted him to hold her up.
He felt the tremor in her legs, the faint hitch of her breath, and tightened his arms around her. So much heat. So much need. And part of him just wanted to sink in and never let go.
When they finally pulled back, her gaze stayed locked on his, her cheeks flushed, her lips still parted. Harlan’s heart thudded hard, and he knew he had just crossed a line that he could never uncross.
He brushed his thumb along her cheek, fighting the urge to kiss her again. His voice came out low. “Should I apologize for that?” he asked.
Laney opened her mouth, but before she could get out a single word, her phone buzzed. She pulled it from her pocket, glanced at the screen, and her expression tightened.
“It’s Sherry,” she relayed to him, swiping to answer and putting the call on speaker. “Hello?”
“Laney, I just got off the phone with the sheriff.” Sherry’s voice instantly filled the sewing room, and it was loaded with frustration. “He told me what Billy said. I swear to you, there was never an affair between David and me. Billy’s just stirring up trouble.”
Laney’s eyes flicked toward Harlan before settling back on the phone. “Why would Billy do that?” she pressed.
“Because he’s angry,” Sherry shot back without hesitation. “Maybe this is his way of getting revenge on David, even now. David was the one who arrested him, the reason he ended up in prison, and I assisted in that arrest. Billy’s never let that go.”
Harlan stayed quiet, though the weight in his chest grew heavier. He wanted to believe her, but his gut kept him cautious. Billy’s DNA had been on that hair clip, and Billy had been in the area where they’d found that bomb. The evidence didn’t lie, but he knew plenty of people did.
Maybe Sherry was doing that now. Lying to cover her tracks.
Sherry’s voice softened a fraction on the other end of the call. “Laney, maybe I should just come over. We can talk this out face-to-face.”
“That’s not a good idea, Sherry,” Laney quickly said. “We’ve got installation for a security system going on.”
That was true, but Harlan figured the real reason Laney didn’t want the woman in the house was because she didn’t want her near Evie. And neither did Harlan.
“We can come to you instead,” Laney added a moment later.
There was a pause, the faint sound of Sherry exhaling. “All right. If that’s what you want. I just… I don’t like this hanging between us. I’d like to clear the air.”
“We’ll be there soon,” Laney said, ending the call.
The silence in the sewing room stretched after the line disconnected.
Harlan studied Laney, her shoulders tight, her expression pulled taut with the mix of doubt and determination he had seen building since the sheriff’s office.
She looked as if she was bracing for a hit, the kind that might land harder than gunfire.