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“What did you do?”
“I helped him.”
“What did you help him do?” Nathan was afraid of the answer.
“He told me that he saw her car at the local auto shop and worried that she’d had an accident. He sounded so upset about her. I…I believed him.” Her tone was dejected and sad. “And I helped him locate her.”
“How?”
“I told him that I was certain his wife was seeing Gabriel.”
“And? What else?”
“And that he worked here at the Old West Town. Earlier this morning, I tried to call her to have her meet me, but she didn’t respond or call me back. When we came to the front of the park, we saw it open and a delivery being made. Kendall was on the phone with Gabriel. We heard that he was on the way over. Marcus hit both Kendall and the driver over the head. He made me come with him to find Suzanna.”
“Where are they now?”
She shrugged.
“Best guess.”
“I don’t know. Somewhere in Old West Town. After I told him about the…um…cross words we had at Enclave Auto, I told him about Gabriel. He was very upset that there was possibly a new man in her life.” Cindy’s longing gaze went up in the air, and Nathan had no doubt she was thinking about Gabriel. “He told me that she might hurt any man she came in contact with like she had hurt him. He looked so dejected. I truly thought Gabriel was getting involved with a woman who was married. I only wanted to warn him.”
“Why?”
“I care about him.”
Nathan felt obliged to explain something Gabriel hadn’t been able to bring himself to do. “Gabriel doesn’t think about you in a romantic way.”
She sent a contemptible look his way. “Why not? Because you told him not to?”
Nathan truly wanted to explain to her their lifestyle. However, Gabriel had always refrained because he didn’t want to hurt her feelings. Maybe she needed a dose of reality in light of recent events.
“No. Because his sexual interests are at a different level than yours are.”
“I don’t even understand what you’re talking about. A different level? What does that even mean? All I know is that if she had been married, he would have been upset.”
“Perhaps. But she’s not married. And instead of finding another man, she found two men.”
Cindy’s brows arched. “I don’t understand. What do you mean by that?”
Nathan felt it was incumbent upon him to explain since he’d let the cat out of the bag, so to speak, regarding their lifestyle choices.
“Gabriel and I live a ménage lifestyle. We have for a number of years. Regarding Suzanna, we share her.”
Cindy’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion at first, and then her eyes widened. She swallowed hard. “I don’t believe it.”
“You don’t want to believe it.” Nathan’s level of anger hit a new high. He stood up, testing to see if he’d fall on his ass, but he managed to stay level. “He’s been trying to spare your feelings for years as you make a fool of yourself chasing after him. In my mind, endangering Suzanna means you just lost the privilege of ignorance in the matter. Deal with it.”
“I just wanted him to love me, Nathan. I’m not ashamed of that.”
Nathan shrugged.
A noise at the back entrance to the sheriff’s office made him want to rush out and investigate, but the ache in his head made him remain where he was. He didn’t want to lose consciousness again.
“Nathan?” Gabriel called out in a low voice.
“In here.”
His friend came in slowly, checking the area.
“We’re alone. Help get me out of here. He’s got Suzanna.”
Gabriel fetched the jail cell keys from the other room. He opened the door and helped Nathan slowly exit the jail cell. He swayed as black spots covered his vision. Damn it.
“Are you going to be okay?”
Nathan willed his brain to function. He thought about Suzanna and how afraid she must be. He was supposed to be her bodyguard. He wouldn’t fail her.
“I called for an ambulance. Do we need to go to the front of the park so an EMT can take a look at your head?”
“No. I’m fine. I don’t need one. Let’s go find Suzanna.” A wave of nausea assailed him, but he tamped it down with a sheer force of will.
