“I love you,” I said, feeling like the words weren’t enough to tell him how I felt.
He smiled. “I love you too. I’m gonna go check on our lunch.”
But he didn’t leave until I was settled comfortably into the front seat. He came back out a few minutes later, carrying a bag. I reached over the driver’s seat to pop open the rear hatch and got out of the car.
He met me next to my door, giving me a questioning look. I took his hand and led him to the back, then sat down with my legs hanging over the bumper.
“What’s this?” he asked.
“It beats sitting in the front seat.”
He gave me an apologetic grin. “I guess we tend not to eat in restaurants.”
“This time it was my fault.”
He handed me a to-go container before sitting down next to me. “I think we should focus on you, Care, and let this Louise issue rest right now. It worries me that Tiffany knows so much. If your father contacts her again, there’s a chance she might give something away. Even if she doesn’t intend to.”
“Agreed,” I said, opening the lid of my container. “But that’s not to say we should take off. We have at least a few days to decide what to do.” I took a bite of my turkey sandwich, and even though it was probably fine, it tasted like dust at that moment. “It would look pretty suspicious if we just left, you know. Especially since neither one of us has been talking about leaving. Besides, you’re a deputy sheriff, Marco. They might think you did something wrong and start digging.”
It hit me that everything Wyatt had warned me about was true, and part of me hated him for it.
“Okay. Then we need to keep you safe until we can leave,” he said. He’d opened the lid to his burger and fries but hadn’t taken a bite. “I’m gonna talk to Hank about moving you back in with him. I can’t be home all the time, and there’s no one else in Drum that I’d trust more to protect you.”
“So that’s our plan? Just hole up and hide?” I said, something rebellious in me starting to rise.
“Until we can work out an exit strategy.”
“What then? You were right earlier. I’m tired of running, Marco. I’d rather fight my father from somewhere I know. Where we have people watching our backs.” I shoved my sandwich away. “Facing Tiffany scared the crap out of me. I felt like scared, weak Caroline Blakely again, not Carly Moore. It was like every bit of strength I’ve gained over the last ten months had vanished.”
“Not at the end,” he said. “You were strong at the end.”
“But I had to work up to it.”
He gave me an encouraging smile. “But at least you found it. Consider that a win.”
I wasn’t so sure. “If I face my father as Caroline, I’ll never survive. I can only do this as Carly. Besides, we can’t leave Max alone with his mother and father. We can’t leave Hank either, not knowing that Bart and Louise both have it out for him.”
“But you won’t go out in the open,” he said.
“No, not yet. We still have work to do.”
“What are you suggestin’?” he asked, sounding guarded.
“Let’s finish what we started. We’ll bring Bart down before we even think of leaving.”
“Your father is still a threat.”
“So we tell the people close to me that I’m in danger, and they’ll watch my back.”
His brow lifted. “Or turn you in for the reward. Half a million dollars is a lot of money.”
I snorted. “He’ll never pay it. Not when he can just send someone to kill me.”
He frowned. “He’s not going to send a sniper. Based on his history, he’s more likely to send someone to tamper with your car.” A surly look washed over his face. “We need to talk to Wyatt.”
I shot him a surprised look. “Why? To see if he’s been asked to cut my brake lines?”
“No, to ask him how to tell if someone’s tampered with it.” He hesitated. “He still cares about you.”
I shook my head. “No. I don’t think he really likes me. I think he’s a Drummond who is used to getting his own way, and I was the first person to tell him no. He can’t stand it, so he can’t let me go.”
“I’m not sure it’s that simple, Care.”
“Honestly,” I said, already exhausted by talking about Wyatt, “I don’t care why he can’t let me go. He just needs to learn to accept it.”
“But he hasn’t yet, which means he’ll help protect you.”
I leaned my head back and groaned.
“You want to stay in Drum, and you know this is the best way to keep you safe.”
“Fine, I’ll talk to Wyatt.” Besides, I could use the opportunity to ask him if he remembered the bar fight between Bruce Abernathy and Todd Bingham.
“Tonight.”
I checked the time on my phone. “If we head back now and don’t get delayed by traffic, we should be back in Drum by five. I won’t be late for work, but there won’t be any time to spare.”
“So ask him to come into the tavern. If you don’t want to call him, have Max do it. But talk to him tonight.”
“Okay. I’ll talk to him.” I leaned over and gave him a soft kiss. “Happy now?”
“As long as I have you safe and still loving me, then yes.” Worry filled his eyes. “But I’ll never be truly happy until we’ve eliminated the threat of your father.”
I couldn’t help wondering if that would ever come to pass.
Chapter Twenty-Four
I drove for half the trip so Marco could study the file Tiffany had sent. She’d also sent me a personal note in the email, giving me her cell number and begging me to call her.
“‘I want to make up for all the years I let that monster hurt you,’” Marco read. “‘I’ll never forgive myself for letting Mary Caroline down.’”
I kept my eyes on the road. “I won’t even consider it until after my father is apprehended. And even then . . .” I drew a breath. “I have a lot of resentment, whether it’s deserved or not. It’s going to take some time.”
“Understandable,” he said.
The PI’s report didn’t have much more information than what Tiffany had shared with us, but it did include my mother’s and grandparents’ accident reports. My mother’s report said she’d lost control of the car and had run into a nearby tree. They hadn’t determined an external cause for the crash, and her toxicology report had come back clean. The cause was determined to be a distracted driver, although the only person who knew for certain was dead.
“What about the people in the other car?” I asked. “I’d never heard another car was involved.”
“Killed on impact,” Marco said. “He killed three people that day.”
I bit my lower lip to keep from crying. How much destruction could one man cause? And he wasn’t done yet. It also confirmed what I’d already suspected—he’d have no qualms about killing the people around me to make sure I was gone.