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“Even he’s not dumb enough to pull a move like that.” Isaac stood.
Gina did the same and slung her purse over one shoulder and the diaper bag over the other.
“You want help with that?” He motioned toward the diaper bag. His offer was met with a look of confusion. “What? I’m offering to hold the diaper bag. Did I say something wrong?”
Her face muscles relaxed into a tentative smile.
“I’m just not used to having help.” The honesty in those words were daggers. He couldn’t help but wonder what all that statement covered and how far it went back.
Noah excused himself to go to the bathroom.
“Tell me he was good to you.”
“Des?”
“Yes. Based on our conversations so far and some of your reactions, I get the impression he didn’t treat you the way you deserve to be treated.” Isaac didn’t want to accept the fact that he would’ve been better for her than Des. Years ago, Isaac had walked away for exactly that reason. She deserved so much more than he could give. The sacrifice had been worth it. Or, at least, that’s what he’d repeated over and over again when he couldn’t shake her from his thoughts. It had become his mantra on those long hot days in training. To realize she wasn’t better off was a gut punch.
She shrugged. A smile ghosted her lips. “We did okay. Whatever happened in our marriage was just as much my fault as his. He was a decent enough guy but I should’ve expected more from him. He couldn’t fix what he didn’t know was wrong and I never spoke up. We got stuck in a pattern and by the time I brought up the fact that I was unhappy he was confused. He thought I was changing the rules and in a way, I was. It was hard for him to accept.”
Noah returned, interrupting the conversation. Isaac decided to table the discussion. It wasn’t his place to judge another person’s relationship even if his mind wanted to argue this was different.
He slipped the strap of the diaper bag off her shoulder and shrugged it over his. Her smile, all warmth and light, caused a fireworks display to go off in his chest. Damn. Gina was trouble and for the first time in longer than he could remember he was in deep.
“Ready?” Gina asked.
He wasn’t touching that question with a ten-foot pole.
Time flew on the way back to Gina’s mom’s house where Noah’s vehicle was parked. Conversation was easy between the three of them. Everly seemed to have her own party going in the back seat. Noah didn’t seem to mind. The kiddo fit in his family.
Isaac pulled up next to Noah’s Jeep.
Gina gasped. She pointed to the east side of her mother’s two-story red brick home. “There. Do you see him?”
A man wearing a ski mask turned and ran toward the back of the house.
“Stay here with Gina.” Isaac was out of his truck and hoofing it toward Ski Mask in two seconds flat. The head start he had gave him enough advantage to disappear around the house at the end of the street before Isaac could catch up. Damn. Isaac jogged up and down a couple of streets and around half a dozen houses before he gave up.
He walked back to his truck, surveying the area for any signs of Ski Mask. The man had disappeared in a hurry.
“He must’ve had a vehicle stashed somewhere. Once he rounded the corner behind the house I never saw him again.” Isaac climbed in the driver’s seat.
“No sign of him this way, either.” Noah exited the truck.
“My mom can’t stay here. What if he comes back?”
“She can stay at the ranch. The place is plenty big enough,” Isaac offered.
“I’ll let her know what’s going on. Hearing there was someone around the house will probably scare her enough to agree. There’s no way I’d let her sleep here alone knowing he’s been here.” Gina’s skin paled. “He knows where my mother lives.”
“Gives me the impression Brittany wasn’t the only one who knew the—” Isaac glanced in the back seat at Everly before whispering, “jerk.”
“If you need me, get a message to Eli. He keeps pretty good tabs on where I’m at.” Right. Noah had lost his phone.
Isaac glanced in the backseat and then back to Gina. “You okay with dropping her off at the ranch before we head to Griff’s office?”
Gina’s lips pinched together.
“The only reason for the suggestion is that I think she’ll be safer there than with us.” If Ski Mask was targeting Gina’s family, he wanted to take every precaution to keep Everly safe.
Gina worked her bottom lip and it looked like she was trying to form an argument. Then, she bit down before saying, “You’re right. I know you are. It’ll be hard not to be able to keep my eyes on her. I know she’ll be well care for and protected.”
“I can take her with me. I’m headed back there anyway. It’ll save you guys the trip and Griff needs to know what just happened as soon as possible.” Noah made good points. This was Gina’s call.
Before she could say one way or another, Isaac’s phone vibrated. He fished it from his pocket and checked the screen. “It’s Griff. He wants us back as soon as we can get there. Logan’s wife just showed up and she’s demanding to know where her husband is.”
The car seat was strapped in the back of Noah’s Jeep within minutes. Gina kissed Everly’s forehead and the little girl beamed up at her mother. The tender moment chipped away a little bit more of the casing around Isaac’s heart. He marveled at how much he’d changed in the past twenty-four hours and how many surprises life could bring if he could hang on another day.
He was also keenly aware of how suddenly people he cared about could be taken away from him. That thought sat heavy on his chest as he thought about his future—a future he couldn’t help but think was unfolding before his eyes.
Isaac parked at the sheriff’s office. Gina had phoned her mother and arrangements had been made for her to stay at the ranch for a few days. There was no way to check on Everly considering Noah didn’t have a cell phone.
He walked around and opened the door for Gina. Her injuries were already starting to heal, so she didn’t need his help to walk. He linked their fingers and tugged her toward him.
Kissing her had been on his mind all morning. So, he did. Her pressed his lips to hers, pinning her against the truck. She melted into him and he kissed her again. She brought her arms up to loop around his neck, and her breasts pressed against his chest. He thought about how good she’d felt skin-to-skin, tangled in the sheets. Need stirred deep inside him.
When both of their hearts pounded their ribs and their breath came out in rasps, he pulled back and rested his forehead against hers. “Damn.”
He could feel her smile.
“I was just thinking the same thing.”
“Save more of that for later.”
“I hoped you’d say that.” He’d never been so aroused from one kiss and a few words. The sound of her voice had a way of striking him in the heart.
Looking into her eyes, he saw home.
When their breathing slowed as normal as it could considering he was standing this close to her, he squeezed her hand. “Are you ready to face what’s going on in there?”
“As much as I can be.” The hope for answers and for an arrest, for safety, brimmed in her green eyes.
He brushed his fingers across her cheek. “Let’s go get some answers.”
Isaac took the lead, keeping Gina protected behind him.
Sherry met them in the lobby and they quickly filled her in on what had just happened. “I’ll let everyone know what to look for.”
“Thank you.”
“Ashley Simmons is in the interview room. Griff wanted to let you listen in when he spoke to her, so she’s been in there alone with her thoughts for almost half an hour.”
“How does she look? Nervous? Guilty?” He wanted to know if she was part of the murder or the attack on Gina in any way, shape or form.
“Mad as
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