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She laughed. “I vote for the dog.” She’d heard from Tristan once since yesterday, and she’d read his text numerous times, looking for a hint as to his feelings. There wasn’t one.
Can you live with not revealing Kade and friends were here? If not, no problem. Kade will deal.
No, she did not have a problem keeping Kade and his teammates’ involvement out of her report. She and Tristan might not have come out of that house alive if it hadn’t been for those guys, and she had no interest in causing them problems with the military. So, the statement she’d prepared made no mention of Kade and friends. She handed it to Bentley.
“How’s Danny Peterson doing?” Not that she cared. She only asked because it seemed like she should inquire after a man she’d once been engaged to.
“He’s still in a coma. I talked to his captain before I came over. They’re sending a medevac plane for him tomorrow.”
She knew that. Dustin had called this morning to tell her they’d found Grant’s money in a bank safety deposit box that was in Danny’s name. He’d said the police department wanted Danny back where they could keep a guard on him while they filed charges against him.
Maybe when he came out of the coma, he’d explain why he didn’t just take off for some remote island with the money he stole instead of joining up with Grant to go after her. She thought it likely that Danny didn’t consider a half million enough to last the rest of his lifetime. That he saw teaming up with Grant as a way to get his greedy fingers on more of the pie.
He probably pointed the finger at her in the beginning to divert any suspicion away from himself, and for revenge. His ego couldn’t take her breaking up with him. He would have thought he could control the situation with Grant and didn’t know how to deal when he’d found himself in over his head.
Whatever his warped reason, it was over, and she really didn’t care anymore. A part of her wanted to keep him here and charge him with kidnapping, but honestly...good riddance.
“The chief is letting Peterson go back to Florida, but he’s going to file kidnapping charges against him,” Bentley said. “At some point, if Peterson lives, he’ll have to stand trial here, too. That’s probably a few years down the road since Florida wants him first. The chief refused to turn Drake over, though. He said Florida could wait their turn on that one.”
The chief. The man she loved and had walked away from. Again.
“I do have a question off the record,” Bentley said.
“Hmm? What’s that?”
“Drake insists that there were some ninja men there. Three of them. Know anything about that?”
“Not a thing. Apparently he suffers from delusions. Either that, or he can’t admit that one man, a girl, and a dog got the best of them.”
“No doubt it’s the man, girl, and dog one.” He stood. “By the way, when you see Kade again, give him my regards.” Bentley winked.
She managed to keep a straight face. “You bet.” This was why she loved her adopted town. They took care of their own. Tristan had tried to tell her that. She hadn’t listened, and now she wasn’t sure she could stay. She wasn’t sure she could handle seeing him on a regular basis.
She picked up her phone and read the text again. It hadn’t magically changed. There were no encouraging words, no hint that he missed her or even wanted to talk to her. That was made clear by the text. He could have called her but didn’t. Not that she blamed him after she’d pushed him away.
It probably didn’t help that she’d left the cabin without talking to him, but because of her, he’d been shot and could have been killed. It had been too much, and she’d almost burst into tears. So, with her heart breaking, she’d walked away from him again. Her mistakes were piling up.
After delivering Drake to the jail and Cupcake to the firehouse, she’d checked into the Marsville Motel. Thankfully, the room was better than she’d expected, so she’d booked it for the rest of the week. It hadn’t taken long after moving to Marsville to feel like she had found her home, but she didn’t belong here. Not anymore.
It was funny. She’d thought Danny had broken her heart, but compared to the godawful pain in her chest, Danny’s betrayal was a mere pinprick. It hurt to breathe. The burning in her throat hurt.
Everything hurt.
Food was the last thing she wanted, and the frozen pasta dinner she’d nuked was about as appealing as eating mud. Would probably taste about the same. Thankfully, there was a microwave and mini fridge in her motel room. She couldn’t bring herself to walk through the door of the Kitchen or any other place in town, so she’d picked up a few frozen dinners and bottles of water at the grocery store in the next town over. Yes, she was a coward. Couldn’t even shop in Marsville’s grocery store. What if she ran into Tristan? Or Parker? Or anyone?
She forced herself to eat the pasta, and when she finished, she wondered what to do with herself for the rest of the night. Three days had passed since she’d walked away from Tristan. Three days of fighting back tears at work, of forcing food down her throat, of sitting in a room at night where the loneliness was so heavy that even breathing hurt. Three nights of crying for what she’d lost and regret for her mistakes. The regret haunted her dreams.
This couldn’t go on.
A decision needed to be made, but she was incapable of deciding anything. It was as if she’d stopped being a person and was a thing. An inanimate object without a brain capable of thinking. If only that were true, then she wouldn’t hurt like this.
The loud knock startled her. Tristan? She tried not to hope as she walked to the door, but her foolish heart dared to hope. “Oh, Parker.” Tears burned her eyes at seeing the wrong brother. She blinked them away. She was so tired of crying.
His smile was soft and kind. “Took a while to find where you were staying. Can I come in?”
“Oh, sure. Sorry.” She stepped back. There was only one chair in the room, and she waved a hand at it. “Have a seat. Would you like a water? It’s all I have to offer.”
“I’m good, thanks.”
