His gaze held mine. “I think we’re about to embark on a dangerous task, and you need to be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice. We can’t afford for you to get hung up over your concern for Hank.”
He was right about that, and it was part of the reason I’d gone to see Wyatt earlier. I knew it was possible. Still, the thought of leaving Hank put an ache deep in my chest.
Marco took a breath, then said, “You know that Wyatt will help Hank whether you have breakfast with him or not. You don’t have to let him rope you into it.”
“Yeah, probably, but he’d drag it out, making me think he won’t help. And I don’t know how much time I have to waste. If I have to leave, I need to know Hank’ll be okay.”
“I’ll stand behind whatever you decide,” Marco said. “You’re a grown woman capable of makin’ your own decisions. I’ll never tell you what to do.”
Yet I could see how badly he wanted me to tell Wyatt no. Nevertheless, he wouldn’t ask, let alone demand or insist. He would always let me have complete control over my choices. It only made me appreciate him more.
So why didn’t it silence that little voice in my head wondering when the other shoe would drop?
“One more thing,” Marco said, his gaze dropping to his half-eaten sandwich. “I think you need to prep a go bag.”
I narrowed my eyes in confusion. “What’s a go bag?”
“A bag you have packed and ready so that you can leave at a moment’s notice. There might not be time to say goodbye, Carly. You might just have to leave.”
I swallowed. This was getting all too real. “Yeah, that’s a good idea. I’ll stop at the Dollar General and get a bag.”
“It should probably be a duffel bag,” he said, still not looking at me. “I’ve got one you can use. I’ll help you figure out what you need to get. And let’s not get the things here. Let’s plan on going to Greeneville first chance we get. We don’t want anyone watching you and getting suspicious.” His face lifted. “How much cash do you have?”
“About a hundred dollars.”
“And how much in the bank?”
“About seven hundred.”
He stared at me in shock. “I know for a fact you make good money in tips, and you don’t spend money frivolously. You don’t pay rent or make a car payment, so where’d your money go?”
“Lots of places,” I said, getting frustrated. “I’ve bought books and supplies for the Kids’ Club. And then Hank’s roof was leaking back in April so I paid a handyman to fix it, and the kitchen sink needed repairing too.”
His gaze held mine. “You have to stop doin’ that. You have to save your money, Carly. You’re going to need it if you run.”
I swallowed a lump of fear. I’d had nearly two thousand dollars when I’d gotten stranded in Drum, and it hadn’t been enough to fix my car. If ran, I was going to need a lot more than the meager amount I currently had. “What was I supposed to do about Hank’s roof? Or the sink?”
“Tell me,” he said insistently. “I could have looked at the drain.”
“But you couldn’t have fixed the roof.”
“No, but I might have been able to find someone to do it cheaper.”
“You don’t even know what I spent,” I said in frustration. “And I’m not relying on someone else to fix my problems. I can stand on my own two feet.”
“I know you can,” he said, becoming frustrated himself. “But the roof and the sink weren’t your problems. They were Hank’s.”
“Not true. I live there too, rent free as you pointed out. It’s only right for me to contribute.”
He started to say something again, then stopped, his hand tightening over mine. “Why do you think it’s okay for you to help Hank with his problems, but it’s a sign of weakness for you to accept help from me?”
“Because I counted on men before and look where it got me.” The words tore out of me before I could stop them.
He didn’t say anything, but I could feel the disappointment rolling off of him. I was disappointed too. What was it going to take to make me trust him completely? Would I ever be capable of it?
“So,” I said, drawing out the word, ready to change the subject. “For now, I’ll try to find Ashlynn and make sure she’s okay, then I can talk to Selena before work. Do you have the police report for Thad’s accident in your car? We can look it over together. Oh, and Thelma suggested I go to the courthouse and ask a friend of hers to pull the paperwork for the civil suit.”
He pushed out a breath and sat up, likely disappointed that I’d changed the subject. “Let’s hold off on that. Right now, the story is that you’re being neighborly and you only showed up at the jail to pick up Ashlynn. If you go to Selena, you’re still within the scope of that story. But if you start pulling documents for a civil suit for an accident several years ago, your behavior becomes a lot more suspicious. I’ll look into it.”
“What about talking to Karl Lister?” I asked.
“Hold off on approaching him. Maybe question Pam’s friends more after you talk to Selena.”
“Sandy’s the most talkative of the bunch, and she didn’t have much to say this morning. But I can try the others.”
“I know you’re careful, but I still feel the need to tell you to watch your back and pull back with the questions if you start making people anxious or suspicious.”
“That’s what I’ve been doin’,” I said, my frustration getting the better of me, and I got to my feet.
“Why are you mad?” he asked, then grimaced. “I’m sorry if I insinuated that you don’t know what you’re doin’.”
“But I don’t know what I’m doing,” I said. “I’m just a teacher turned waitress. I was never trained to do anything like this. What if I screw it all up? I don’t want Bart to keep getting away with this!”
“You won’t screw up,” he said, still sitting on the bench. “You’re a natural. But if things start to get tense, backtrack the conversation, and make a graceful exit. Try to leave the sources happy and open to talking to you again.”
I nodded. “Okay.” But anxiety was oozing out of my pores. I didn’t feel qualified to do this. I’d already messed up with Ashlynn.
“Hey,” he said softly, patting the concrete bench next to him. “Come here.”
I walked around the table and sat next to him, resting my head on his chest when he wrapped an arm around my back.
After a few moments, he said, “You don’t have to do this, Carly.”
I lifted my head to look up at him.
“You don’t have to do any of this. I’m not stuck in Drum. I can leave. We could go somewhere else. Start fresh.”
“But what about the sheriff’s department? You’re working on becoming a detective.”
“I only became a deputy sheriff to help out Max,” he said. “My degree’s in communications. I can change jobs.”
I held his gaze. “You’re not the running type, Marco Roland. You stare danger in the face and don’t flinch.”