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I shoot Sunny a look, but she nods. “It’s okay. Go. I’m just taking him to the bonfire beach. Meet us there.”
“Okay.” I know I shouldn’t be nervous, but with her other brother Anderson lurking like a phantom, and Monroe possibly out for revenge, I don’t like leaving her. Tucker doesn’t look like he’ll be worth much in a fight. It’s clear his older brother wailed on him.
“Rhett!” Carl yells again.
I press a quick kiss to Sunny’s cheek before jogging for the house. Before I make it, car doors slam behind me. I shove the negative thoughts from my mind. Monroe wouldn’t take a risk in daylight. And Anderson, he’d come here before he went to the beach. It’s fine. She’s safe.
I hurry down the hallway, searching for Dad. He’s not in his office or his bedroom. Mom isn’t around either. Carl must have slipped out the back after he called for me. My abandonment demons start wailing in my mind. I try to silence them, but panic wells up in my heart. What if Anderson came earlier? What if he has them?
I jog to the back door. Grip locked around the knob, I twist slowly, pushing it open, stepping outside.
“Nice and slow. No sudden movements.”
My heart catches.
The bruises on his face are darker than Tucker’s.
He has a gun.
He has my family.
I can’t breathe.
Chapter 26
Sunny
“You look good, you “You look good, you know that?” Tucker smiles as he follows my directions to the highway. “I don’t think I’ve seen you this happy in a long time.”
“Yeah, I guess not.” I laugh to myself, but there’s sadness in the sound. “Strange, it seems like Dad was right all along.”
“What do you mean?” He shifts his grip on the steering wheel and accelerates. “What have you been up to? Bunkhouse full of cowboys, and don’t think for a second I missed that smooch from your gallant protector back there.”
Just thinking of Rhett makes my smile spread. “As far as what I’ve been doing, I’ve been working as a groom and then a day ride girl. I take people out on the beach on horseback.” My eyes stray to the miles of beach stretching out on our right. “I’ve been working on the horses too. I’ve been getting back to what Dad wanted for me all along.”
“You’re not even gonna mention that bit of romance I saw?”
“What do you want to know?” I can’t help the blush in my cheeks. “It’s new.”
“He’s awfully attached for you to call it new, Liza.” He signals when I point for the turn to take us to the beach. “Do you feel the same way about him?”
It doesn’t take much to think about it. “Yeah, I really do. Rhett has been so good to me.”
“And he knows everything?” The last word carries weight, more than I feel like it should have. As if he’s trying to shove extra meaning into it like a stowaway. I cast a glance at him, trying to understand the things he hasn’t said aloud.
“He knows what I remember, and that’s the best I can do, Tucker.” Unwanted tension slips between us. “Whatever Charlene gave me, it messed me up.”
“You keep saying that, but those pills shouldn’t have that effect on you.” He pulls the sedan to a stop and shifts to park. When he rubs his shoulder, his sleeve moves, displaying another bruise on his upper arm. “I should know.”
“Yeah, I get that as a psychiatrist you would understand how it all works, but I’m telling you, something takes me over.”
“It’s just not possible.” He pinches his thumb and forefinger over the bridge of his nose. “It’s far more likely that the stress is causing you to disassociate. I didn’t want to say anything in front of your new friends, but we can’t exclude the possibility that you suffered a mental break that night. If that’s the case, then I’m sure your father’s lawyers can enter a plea for insanity.”
I can’t believe he’s willing to consider it. “But I didn’t. You said you believed me.”
“And I do, but as a psychiatrist,” he sighs, “as your brother who knows you, I understand the stress you were facing.”
“I didn’t do it, Tucker.” I search my faint memories of the night, all tangled with the clips from my nightmares. My voice sounds confident, but my heart isn’t sure. The gun was in my hand. I had blood all over my clothes. If only I could remember.
