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Jake thought for a moment, then shook his head. “No. But I think we don’t know what we’re dealing with. And we do know the Shenandoah Falls PD isn’t equipped to do much more than issue speeding tickets, break up domestic disputes, and investigate purse snatchings.” He lifted one hand from the steering wheel to ward off the protest Ryan was about to make. “In the morning, I’ll call the station. That rookie, Halloran, he’s not a complete potted plant. I’ll talk to him.”
“And say what?”
“I’ll tell him the barn was broken into but that nothing was stolen.”
Ryan shot him a sidelong glance.
“What? They didn’t take anything. They moved a steel road barrier to another area of the campus.”
“To crash Leilah’s car.”
“Sure, but that’s not for me to report. That’s for her to report—if she wants to.”
“Someone tampered with her brakes, Jake.”
“And we’re pulling all the security footage from her garage and the driving club. Her chief mechanic is going over the car. I trust Keisha to do the crash forensics more than I trust the Shenandoah Falls police. Don’t you?”
“She has the expertise,” Ryan grudgingly agreed.
“Right. If it makes you feel better, once Keisha’s examined the car and we’ve looked at all the footage, I’ll ask Leilah to call Halloran.”
Ryan grunted. “And the car bomb?”
The motion-sensing lights blared to life as Jake approached his long driveway. Ryan knew that, inside the cabin, the small monitor in the kitchen would be displaying video of the Jeep drawing near.
“I’ll mention it, in passing. We’ll play it off like a training exercise in disarming improvised explosive devices that got out of hand. I sent a team out to douse the fire and tow your sedan to our garage. We need to keep your name out of the news.”
“Won’t whoever tried to blow me up wonder what happened?”
“Sure will. And the radio silence might flush them out.”
Jake circled the house and parked in the back. Ryan raised an eyebrow. The cabin was perched on a rise with a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view. The nearest neighbors were several miles away down in the valley. There were no prying eyes to see him get out of the Jeep. The fact that Jake was taking the precaution made Ryan feel worse, not better. If his unseen enemies had eyes on Jake’s fortress of solitude, the situation was even grimmer than Ryan believed.
They exited the Jeep and jogged up the back stairs to the wraparound deck. Another burst of bright halogen light pierced the darkness as the rear floodlights switched on.
“Did Cyrus Ahmadi play me?” Ryan asked. The thought had been rattling around inside his brain ever since he’d watched the Accord combust. The billionaire had both the human resources and the capital to get to Ryan anywhere—even Jake’s heavily secured home.
Jake pressed his index finger against the reader on the keyless lock and shook his head. “I don’t think Ahmadi’s our guy. My sense is he’s exactly what Olivia and Leilah think he is—a creep who views women as objects. Leilah’s made it clear that she’d rather chew her arm off than be with Ahmadi. So, getting rid of you doesn’t help him. He’ll have to find a new woman to obsess over.”
The fingerprint reader confirmed his identity with a soft beep, and the lock disengaged. He shouldered the door open. “No, this, whatever this is, isn’t about Leilah. It’s about you, brother.”
Ryan trailed him into the cabin’s open, airy kitchen. Chelsea flew around the big center island and grabbed Ryan by the arms.
“Are you sure you aren’t hurt?” She studied him with wide, worried green eyes.
“I’m fine. Just shaken up.”
Jake dropped a kiss on the crown of his fiancée’s head. She released Ryan and planted a hard kiss on Jake’s mouth in return but didn’t linger.
“Okay, job one is getting some coffee into you two. Although I’m not sure Ryan needs the caffeine.”
Jake shook his head as he pulled three mugs down from the open shelving. “That adrenaline buzz is gonna fade soon, and he’ll crash hard.”
Chelsea poured the coffee and Jake plunked a tray of cheese, nuts, and jerky onto the island.
Ryan collapsed onto one of the high swivel chairs at the island and slumped against the seat back. He wrapped his hands around the glazed ceramic mug and let the heat soak into his skin.
Jake plopped down next to him. “Eat,” he ordered.
