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“I heard you last night,” I said. “I’m not going to choose, and I’m not going to come between you. I’m sorry for how this past week has gone. I’m sorry for a lot of things, but I’m not going to stay here and create more animosity between you two. I won’t. I lov—”
Both of them perked up and their eyes fused to mine. I just shook my head and looked down.
“Don’t stop talking now,” Cal said.
“Say what you need to, Lana,” Jack agreed. “Otherwise, I’ll interpret your half-explanations and I can guarantee it’s better in my mind.”
With a heavy breath, it took everything not to take the bait. Because I was ready to scream, “I love you, jackass!” but couldn’t. It’d make everything worse.
“I’m tired of being scared. I’m tired of running,” I glanced at Cal, then met Jack’s eyes, “and hiding.”
It was painful to say and even more painful to see their expressions fall. The truth was, I wanted to be lost. Wanted to not be in this situation anymore. I didn’t want to be a bad thing in either of Jack or Cal’s life.
“Running or hiding aside, you’re going to stay here until your safety is no longer an issue,” Jack said. “The idea that you’re causing problems between Cal and me is irrelevant and not completely true. If you heard us last night, then you also heard that you are our concern.” He waited a beat until I was fully staring at him. “Do you understand?” he asked once more with less venom. And that was what did me in. Jack was asking.
“Yes,” I whispered.
“Don’t worry about me, I’m fine,” Cal chimed in. “Jack?”
“Perfectly fine,” Jack said confidently. “And I’m not looking to trap you. I just want to keep you is all.”
“See?” Cal winked. “Let’s get through the New Year, figure out what this key is that your dad left, and sort all these questions out about the fire and his death, then we can move on from there.”
“Move on?” I asked, looking at Cal.
He nodded. “I have every intention of moving on from this whole mess I—we—made with you. And I’m sure as hell going to try to get you to move with me.”
“In the meantime,” Jack said, cutting in. “Do you want to go to the police station?”
“Yes.” I wanted to hear what they’d found about my dad. Wanted to be a part or help in any way I could.
“And, after, you’re coming back here,” Cal said, half asking, half clarifying. I looked at him and had to trust that he and Jack really were okay. That things would somehow work out. They knew my stance. I knew theirs. Now it was time to let life play out how it would.
Do what I have to do to get through this…
“Yes,” I said.
With a smile, Cal nodded, and I was pretty sure Jack grinned as well. I was treading in dark waters and I couldn’t pull myself to shore. The only alternatives were to keep fighting the current, or drown in the sea.
They left me to get ready, and as I watched two strong, intense men walk away, knowing they wore their pride on their sleeves, I couldn’t help but wonder if drowning in that kind of darkness would be so bad.
Chapter 15
I didn’t realize how bitter the air was until I was sitting in the Denver police station. After having several days of breathing in the crisp scent of wide open space back at the cabin, the smell of the city was lacking. Or maybe it was the situation I found myself in.
I sat near Detective Darrell Selander’s desk and shifted a bit in the plastic seat. It squeaked and jiggled a bit on its uneven legs. The detective ran a palm along the side of his stiffly gelled salt and pepper hair. His face held signs of wear that came with twenty-plus years on the force. He looked like an older, rougher version of Elvis.
The faintest scent of Cal’s spicy soap danced beneath my nose. It was the only thing of comfort I clung to at the moment. That, and the way Jack’s eyes constantly swept over me from across the room, as he spoke with another officer.
Cal’s hand rested on my shoulder, letting me know he was there, right behind me, supporting me.
“Can you walk me through what you did the night of your father’s death one more time, Miss Case?” Darrell asked, clicking his pen and hovering it over an open file of what looked to be my original statement.
“I was watching my house burn,” I said.
He nodded. “I know you’ve had some issues of your own…”
“Issues of her own?” Cal said, that fierce alpha voice coming to the surface. “Brock VanBuren assaulted her, her house was set on fire, and weeks before that, her home was burglarized and her car vandalized. These aren’t issues, this is a big fucking problem.”
