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Noah was elected speaker. “Crystal.”
“There will be no rushing into this without careful planning. No ignoring me,” he added.
“As if we would do that,” Buster said politely.
“You’ve done it multiple times before, so I want your word.” The sheriff looked mean. “I’m just grateful Jake had to go back to The Yelp and Newman is with Hope. You lot together are trouble.”
“Okay,” Noah said meekly. They all nodded.
“Call the Texans, Katie, and tell them to get in the air and be ready if we need them,” Cubby said.
Once again, Faith was pressed into the back of the cruiser, and again she held her brother’s and Buster’s hands. The drive was close to forty minutes, and the tension in the car grew with every mile. When Cubby finally turned off the main road and headed toward Tiger Point, she tried to draw in a deep breath and failed.
“I’m cutting the lights now,” Cubby said. “No one put a foot in any direction I don’t tell them to.”
“Yes, Cubby,” she, Buster, and Noah said.
“I’m stopping here, and we’ll walk in. Faith, you stay in the car.”
“No.”
He sighed. “You were knocked unconscious and nearly fried.”
“I have enough adrenaline to keep me going.”
He didn’t argue, and they got out. Cubby opened the rear for Fin and soon they were walking silently down the track, following Cubby and Katie. Noah put her behind him, between him and Buster. She grabbed her brother’s jacket when she saw the lights up ahead. Was Ryan in there?
Chapter 27
“You were always meant to be mine, Ryan. We were supposed to be together. I told them that.”
The woman driving the car had told him her name was Grace. He’d seen her outside his apartment in LA, but not here in Lake Howling. She was clearly insane, and he’d need to tread carefully until he could work out how to escape.
She’d tied his hands and feet before pushing him into her car. Then they’d driven to Tiger Point. The entire way, she’d told him how much she loved him and what their life together would be like.
He’d spent the journey talking to her, trying to find some thread of sanity inside her head. She’d simply smiled when he’d said what she was doing was wrong and told him how much she loved him.
He pushed Faith, Hope, and the others from his head. This woman was the reason he’d run. With her gone, he and Faith could have a life. Ryan latched on to that one fact and held it tight.
It was not over; he was going to fight with everything he had to ensure that. He and Faith would have a life together; Ryan had to believe that. He shouldn’t have left, but fear had had him reacting. He’d run to keep the woman he loved safe.
They pulled up behind a cabin, and she motioned him out with her gun.
“If you loved me, you wouldn’t tie me up.”
“You love me,” she said with that insane smile on her face.
She nudged him in the back with the gun to enter the cabin, which wasn’t easy as he had to hop, then shut and locked the door.
“Sit in that chair, my love.”
He thought about tackling her, but he wouldn’t get far with his feet and hands tied. He had to get her to release him.
She started pacing the floor before him, gun pointed his way.
“They said we couldn’t be together.”
“Who said we couldn’t be together?”
