That’s very true, but they’re also what saved us this time.
Despite the horrific fallout of what the Lorells did, including the death of Tanya Briggs, everything else went as planned. The information got to Agent Michaelson and his trusted FBI coworkers and to the editor of The Atlantic Times. Once they both vetted all my sources, the story hit the wire and Michaelson hit the Lorells, placing the vast majority of their criminal empire in handcuffs.
The laundry list of federal charges against all of them now includes the assault on me, the murder of Barry, an attack on McBride Mountain law enforcement, and the murder of a sheriff’s wife, which turned out to be precisely the types of crimes supported by the kinds of evidence they needed for RICO to stick.
So, while there still may be a few lingering low-level henchmen out there, the ones we really need to worry about are locked away without any prospect of getting out anytime soon. According to Michaelson, this is one of the most solid RICO cases ever prosecuted, thanks to all my hard work.
Which means I should be sleeping at night, the way that Willow, Killian, Lucky, and Liam are, but I’m not.
Not in my cold, lonely bed above the bakery.
It feels too big.
Too empty.
Too…so many things.
Willow pushes up to her feet. “I’m going to go get this one down in a real bed.” She locks gazes with me. “You should go talk to him. Really. It will be a lot easier to do it now than to climb up that mountain to get to him once the snow hits.”
Lucky nods, offering a soft smile. “I agree. Liam and Killian are up there right now, helping him. They can be your buffers.”
I snort. “We all know they’re not actually helping him and they’re all arguing and trying to prevent him from going, right?”
A grin pulls at Willow’s lips. “Of course. And we all know they aren’t buffers for anything; they’re instigators.”
“Also true. So, thanks for the incredible advice.”
Lucky smiles and pushes up from her chair, too. “Anytime. Go talk to him before you come sleep in the guest room.”
Willow winks at me—the suggestion that I may end up sleeping elsewhere if things go well is very clear in the not-so-subtle gesture.
I thought maybe a change of scenery, coming to stay here tonight, might allow me to get some rest. I hoped maybe it was about not being on the mountain anymore, not hearing those night sounds that became the soundtrack to my life for weeks that has been keeping me awake rather than my empty bed.
But I know that isn’t the reason I haven’t been sleeping.
Connor McBride is.
CONNOR
I can feel Killian and Liam’s gazes boring through my back as I work on packing up my supplies to take up the mountain.
Killian leans against the wall near the door, while Liam sits on the arm of the couch in the living room area with Giz in his lap, neither of them saying a word.
So much for helping…
“Don’t you two have something better to do? Like going and hanging out with your wife and girlfriend?”
I raise a brow at them, expecting them to see I am not in the mood for anything they might have to say tonight—or any night, for that matter—about what I’m doing and why.
They both shake their heads.
“Nope.” Liam flashes me a toothy smile, petting Gizmo’s head as the dog snores. “Nothing better to do than sit here until you realize what an idiot you’re being.”
I push to my feet and throw up my hands. “I’m not being an idiot!”
“To go back up the mountain? To still go through with this bullshit plan of yours? You absolutely are.”
Killian’s voice booms around my cabin, almost making me flinch, but I fight it. That big brother voice used to always rattle me, but I’ve been doing my best to try not to let it get to me. To not let him get to me.
