Jenna Night - Killer Country Reunion

“I think Matt can probably get me home safely,” Caroline said to Zane as they reached the end of the walkway. “You might as well head on home. And thank you, again.”

He looked down at the hand she’d extended to him and then up into her eyes. He lifted an eyebrow. “You want to shake hands and say good-bye?”

“You saved my life today.” Her voice wavered a little and she cleared her throat. “You don’t need to do anything else.”

On the ride from the office complex to the hospital she’d formed a long mental list of questions for him. But she’d held back on asking any of them. It didn’t seem like the right time or place. Then, while she was in the hospital’s treatment room, she’d thought about how much she truly deserved answers. And apologies. It was just a step beyond that to deciding that no apology would ever be sufficient; no explanation would make up for the pain he had caused her. She’d focused her energy on building up her anger for Zane because that was more tolerable than facing the dark, twisting fear for herself and her family that threatened to overwhelm her.

Anger felt less threatening right now. And she had a right to be angry. Her entire family had welcomed him into the fold. They all had loved him. Or thought they did. Obviously he hadn’t been the person they had believed he was. After all, he had decided to leave town rather than stay and face his criminal father. He could have assisted the Cobalt police department, but he had chosen not to. Which made it especially strange that he was employed by them as a reserve officer now.

She’d worked herself into a pretty good snit while getting her shoulder patched up, telling herself that he probably wouldn’t even be there in the waiting room when the doctor was finished. That he would have abandoned her again. But there he was. And at the sight of him she felt something like an arrow pierce her being.

She wasn’t happy to see him. She couldn’t be. She decided she was annoyed that he hadn’t left her side like she’d asked when they’d departed the office complex. Yes, he saved her life and she was truly grateful. But his staying around made everything more miserable and complicated. It stirred up memories and feelings she wanted to keep neatly tucked away. She didn’t want to yell at him or argue with him. She just wanted to be done with him—the way she thought she had been for all those years.

It was on the tip of her tongue to confirm that she really did want him to go away as they stood at the end of the walkway. But then she thought of something she’d always heard but truly learned only after her father’s death. She’d been reminded of the same lesson again after Owen’s passing—life is short. And fragile. We can’t afford to hold on to our grudges as long as we’d like to. The time to forgive is now.

She took a deep breath, blew it out and felt her body relax just a little. Sure, she may not be ready to forgive quite yet, but she could at least be polite and give him an explanation.

“Look, my mom’s already upset,” she said in a calmer tone. “She doesn’t need the shock of seeing you right now after all these years. It’ll just make things worse.”

“What happened with your mom?” Zane asked gently. “Has she been ill?”

Caroline hesitated. It wasn’t something she wanted to talk about right now.

“I’ll stay outside of the house,” he quickly added. “I’ll make sure your mom doesn’t see me.” He cleared his throat. “Please let me help you. It’s something I can do for Owen.”

She felt a pang in her heart. “He loved you like a brother.”

“I felt the same way.” Zane rubbed his chin. “We crossed paths and I spoke to him a couple of times after I came back to Cobalt.”

Caroline felt her jaw slacken and for a few seconds she was speechless. “I can’t believe he didn’t tell me.” She shook her head. Why would Owen keep that from her?

“It was only twice. And the first conversation went pretty rough.” A half smile flashed across his face. “Owen wasn’t a kid anymore. And he was very protective of you. Didn’t want to tell me where you were. Told me he would let you know he saw me and find out if you wanted to talk to me before he’d share a word about you. But I think he wanted to get a handle on me first before letting you know.”

Her little brother had thought he needed to take care of her? Ridiculous.

And touching. Owen had been carrying more of a burden on his shoulders than she’d realized. Weathering a painful divorce after being abandoned by his wife. Summoning all the emotion and patience and energy it took to raise a small boy while starting his own business. And maybe getting dragged into something else that had gotten him killed.

Zane was watching her intently, waiting for her response.

“I guess it would be all right if you came along on this one ride out to the house,” she said. “Just stay out of view of my mom and my nephew. And afterward you stay away from all of us.”

“If that’s what you want.”

They reached Matt’s patrol car. He had Caroline sit in the back seat with Zane beside her. One of the officers that had been watching the street slipped into the front passenger seat. He introduced himself as Shane, but didn’t say anything more.

A shiver passed through Caroline as they pulled away from the hospital. The life she’d carefully built in California had started unraveling the moment she’d heard Owen was murdered. Now someone was trying to kill her . She also had her mom and nephew relying on her and no idea what to do next.

She glanced out the window at the disappearing lights of town as they followed the curving road along the lake. The Cobalt Resort shone like a golden beacon and reflected on the rippling surface of the dark water. After a couple of miles the road became a highway and turned away into the forest. Caroline blew out a breath. Please, Lord, keep Dylan and Mom safe. And help me know what to do.

* * *

Zane had had plenty of experience with night patrols in enemy territory. At least this transport of Caroline along an Idaho highway wasn’t being conducted on foot. And the chances of coming across an improvised explosive device were pretty slim.

On the other hand, they had little protection. No helmets. No body armor. No air support to fall back on.

Yeah, he was overthinking things. He knew it. It was a post-combat survival instinct that would likely never go away. That’s what the therapist told him when he’d sought help six months after returning from his second tour in Afghanistan, after he’d found himself unable to drive past a broken-down car by the side of the road or anything else that looked like a potential trap. Anything and everything out of the ordinary made him wary.

He’d had a lot to talk about that first year after he’d returned to civilian life, staying with friends near the base where he’d been stationed in North Carolina. Most of it was related to combat, but some of it went back to things that had happened before he’d even enlisted.

The headlights of their patrol car cut through the darkness and shone on the curving road ahead. Cobalt was in mountain country, barely seventy miles south of the Canadian border. The deep mountain lake, for which the town was named, was surrounded by heavily forested jagged mountain peaks.

Owen’s house was located in a small community south of the lake. They were modest homes, mostly occupied by people who worked in the Cobalt Resort, downtown restaurants or the local ski resort.

Zane kept his gaze sweeping across the surrounding terrain as he’d been trained. Not that he could see much looking out into the darkness. The police radio crackled with regular transmissions. Routine stuff, mostly about traffic stops. So far he’d heard little related to the search for the men who’d attacked him and Caroline. But he also knew any substantial information would likely be transmitted by cell phone so anyone with a scanner couldn’t listen in.