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Hang on in there, I think as we make it out of the house and head toward Matt’s pickup truck. We’re going to find you and set you free.
***
“You miss him, don’t you?” Merc asks, and doesn’t wait for me to answer. “I understand. I miss my girl and I’ve only been away from her three days. She’s visiting her sister.”
“What’s her name?”
“Cosima.” His eyes light up when he speaks her name.
“You love her.” I smile at him.
No question about it. Every line of his body tells me so. Still, he replies, “Yeah. And you love Ross.”
“You can’t know that...”
“You wouldn’t be here, fighting for him, if you didn’t. People think that love is complicated, hard to explain. But it’s not. You like to spend time with someone. You want the best for them. Would do anything for them. That’s love.”
“You’re oversimplifying.” But I’m still smiling, my cheeks warm.
“But it is. It’s that simple.”
Maybe he’s right. As we pile up in Matt’s pickup truck, the thoughts I’d managed to push away come back to haunt me.
If Ross had a chance to make phone calls, why didn’t he call me?
If Dad can see that Ross isn’t a bad person, that he makes me happy, why won’t he help me?
If love is this simple, why is being with Ross so complicated?
John Elba is a tall, handsome man with intense dark eyes and short black hair. He seems to be strong, but standing next to Matt Hansen he looks slender and frail.
Then again, most men would, I guess. Not Ross, though. White and golden though he is, I bet Ross is no less intimidating than Matt, with shoulders big and wide, his chest broad and muscular, and that square jaw you can cut glass on.
Yeah, I miss him already. So frigging much.
Elba takes us into an empty office and closes the door. He looks uneasy. “Ross says Edward proposed that he joined them in some illegal activity. But he never told Ross what exactly they planned to do. This isn’t helping his case, if he knew about it from before. One could argue he was in on the thing, that he willingly participated, if not orchestrated the robbery.”
Matt scowls. “Nonsense. The boy would never do that and you know it.”
Relief swamps me. Yeah, it looks like Matt is on Ross’s side.
Elba shakes his head. “What about an alibi? Doesn’t Ross have one?”
“Not for the time of the robbery.”
“Damn. What does he claim he was doing at the time?”
“Walking about the woods near the river. He’d been to visit the house of his girlfriend, Luna, but only found her brother. They talked for five minutes and then he left. He could have gone on to rob the bank right after.”
“That’s my house,” I say, feeling cold and numb. “I’m Luna. What about that meeting with my brother? Can’t he use it as an alibi?”
Matt shakes his head. “It was early, much earlier than the robbery. He had plenty of time to drive over to the next town over and rob the bank after meeting your brother.”
My throat is dry. “Can I see Ross?”
“Not now,” Elba replies. “The sheriff is having him interrogated again.”
I don’t like the image the word evokes. Brings to mind spikes and blades and fire.
