“Anything more on the teens and the wildfire arsons?” he asked Jacob.
“I don’t think those boys are the perps. My guess is the arsonist saw where the boys had been partying in the woods and started the fires close by, assuming we’d instantly accuse the teens.”
“Which we did,” Griff muttered. “What if Bouldercrest set the fires to distract us from Joy’s murder and from Ginny?”
“That’s possible,” Liam agreed.
Jacob patted Griff’s back. “Don’t let down your guard, man. Bouldercrest has gotten away with four murders so far that we know of, and an attempt on Ginny’s life. He’s smart and methodical.”
* * *
GRIFF PROMISED TO be careful and call Jacob if he noticed any sign Robert was following him. Cora and Jade gave Ginny a hug of encouragement before they left, and Griff’s heart squeezed with affection for his sisters-in-law. His family had always come together in a crisis and were doing so now. He was a lucky man to have them.
Ginny was alone and had nobody. He couldn’t let her down.
“We’re going to find him and bring him to justice,” Griff assured her as he drove to his cabin.
Ginny stared out the truck window. “I hope so. He’s destroyed enough lives already.”
He didn’t know how to respond. She was right. It was her reality. But he had the sudden urge to pull her in his arms and assure her that no one would ever hurt her again.
She’d balked at the idea of staying at his place, but he insisted. “We should stop at the inn and let me pack a bag.”
He shook his head. “Not tonight. He might be watching, and I don’t want him to follow us to my place. I’ll drive you back in the morning.”
A sliver of fear flashed in her eyes. Was she afraid to spend the night at his cabin?
“Ginny, I swear you’ll have your own room and privacy at my house. I have a state-of-the-art security system so no one can get in. And I won’t bother you.”
“Robert had a security system, too. He used it to keep me locked inside.”
Griff inhaled a sharp breath. “I’m not him,” he said, anger toward the monster who’d abused her throbbing inside him. “I just want you to be safe for the night. Jacob is stationing his deputy outside the inn, so if Robert shows up there tonight, we might catch him and this nightmare will be over.”
She shivered and dug herself deeper inside her jacket as if the thin coat could hold the demons at bay.
He hoped she didn’t see him as one of them.
Chapter Fifteen
In spite of Griff’s reassurances, Ginny insisted he stop by and let her pick up her car. Call it a safety net, but it was important that she be able to come and go of her own free will. She would never let another man dictate her life or trap her again.
Griff didn’t like the idea of going anywhere near the inn, but he agreed to a compromise and asked Jacob to have one of the deputies drop her car at his house. She’d been alone so long now that she’d forgotten what it was like not to be alone.
To have a family, people who came together and supported you when you needed it. People who’d literally do anything for you. Griff had that with his brothers. They obviously shared affection for each other and worked together.
What would it be like to have a family like that?
You had it with Tess. Except you let Robert alienate you from her.
Her lungs squeezed with her need for air. Griff parked in front of his log cabin, and she realized how much he must love these mountains and the town to have stayed after his father’s death. She and Tess sold their family home after they lost their mother. It had been too painful to go inside the rooms where they’d grown up. Every place she’d turned she’d seen her parents, childhood memories, the love. The emptiness. That void had been overpowering.
“You must be tired,” Griff said as they battled the wind up to his front porch. “How’s your head?”
“I’m fine.” Although she winced at the reminder of her encounter with her attacker. If Robert had jumped her, he would have said something to let her know if it was him, wouldn’t he? Maybe she had angered Thad Rigden.
But he seemed too sophisticated to assault a woman in an alley.
“Your house is beautiful,” she said as they entered. “It feels warm and cozy.”
“Thanks,” Griff said. “After we lost our folks, we decided to sell the old homestead and each of us built a cabin. It was too hard going back to the house.”
Ginny smiled. “Tess and I sold our parents’ home after my mom passed, too.” Another thing they had in common.
Griff flipped a switch and the gas logs in the fireplace burst to life. The floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace and rustic features added charm, and the picture window and French doors leading to the massive deck offered a beautiful scenic view. Soft firelight flickered and danced, adding warmth and an ambience that would have been romantic if romance was part of her life.
“Did you do some of the work yourself?” she asked as she admired the millwork and rustic mantel.
“Yeah, it’s kind of a hobby. I built the bannister and made my table out of reclaimed wood.” Pride filled his voice. “And the columns were made from heart pine from my parents’ property.”
Impressive. “It’s lovely that you brought a piece of history with you.”
“My brothers and I all did.”
Just like she’d kept the quilt her grandmother had made for her and carried it with her wherever she moved.
Griff set the alarm system, then offered her a drink. “I have whiskey or wine,” he said.
“A whiskey would be great.” And alleviate some of her anxiety.
He poured them both a finger in a highball glass, then handed it to her. She swirled the liquid around in the glass while he began pulling items from the refrigerator.
“I hope you like omelets,” he said. “My specialty for dinner when I haven’t grocery shopped.”
“I hadn’t thought about dinner,” she admitted as she crossed the room to stare out the French doors. The trees shivered in the breeze, and stars fought through the storm clouds but failed, pitching the night into almost total darkness.
Exactly the way she’d felt for three years.
She glanced back at Griff, and her stomach fluttered. Before she’d been scarred and broken, she would have been attracted to him. Heck, she still was.
But she didn’t belong here. Not in his home or with his family.