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TWO
“What?” Eden said, and Chandler managed to hide his cringe, barely. His friend had plenty of great qualities, but he totally lacked tact. Fortunately, Adam managed to stop talking before he dug the hole any deeper—for now, at least.
Eden blinked at him a moment, then did the same to Chandler. Slowly, her color returned, though her blue gaze remained wary. She sat forward, her expression unreadable. “I have questions.”
Chandler wasn’t sure whether it was a good sign or a bad one. He nodded a little hesitantly. “Ask away.”
“When was this murder?” Eden said.
“About two months ago,” Chandler answered.
“What happened? Why was I there?”
“It was a hold up,” Adam said. “At a gas station. The thief got spooked when the cashier took too long to get the cash out of the safe, and he shot the man. You were inside to pay for your gas and buy some snacks. The perp didn’t realize you were there—or that you’d seen the whole thing. There is security footage, but the image quality is bad. There’s other circumstantial evidence against the guy, but your eyewitness identification is crucial. The case goes to court in a few weeks.”
“Shit.” Eden sat back again, wrapping her arms around herself like a barricade. “I seriously have no memories of any of that.”
“We know,” Chandler said. “And we’re sorry to throw this at you when you’re fresh out of the hospital. But the car accident that sent you there…it looks suspicious.”
She scowled at them. “Suspicious how?”
“There are definitely signs of impact from another car,” Chandler said, wanting to give it to her straight. “Now, it may just be that another driver lost control for some reason, and it was a complete accident…but we can’t ignore the possibility that you were deliberately driven off the road.”
“That’s why we think you need a bodyguard,” Adam added before Chandler could stop him.
“Wait, wait, wait!” Eden stood and began to pace in front of the sofa, a throw pillow held to her front like a shield. “Why do I need a bodyguard? Isn’t this guy in jail by now? How can he get to me from inside?”
“Because we think he’s working with someone on the outside,” Chandler explained, hating himself for the way she went pale a second time. Under different circumstances, there was no way he would be here laying all this on a woman who’d just been released from the hospital, but they didn’t have a choice. If he was right about this, they needed to put some precautions in place ASAP.
“What if you’re wrong?” she said, sounding a little desperate. “You said yourself—it might have just been an accident. Maybe this has nothing to do with my testimony, and I don’t need a bodyguard after all.”
Adam opened his mouth to talk again, but Chandler stopped him with a look this time, taking over. Adam loved Eden, but even Chandler had seen how that sometimes translated to helicopter brothering his little sister. If Eden thought this was just Adam being overprotective and jumping to conclusions—which, to be fair, he’d certainly done before—then she wouldn’t understand the very real danger she might be in. Chandler could only hope she’d take it better from him.
“I’ll tell you everything we know, okay?” Chandler said, holding his hands up, palms out. “Then you can decide whether to accept our help.”
“But we talked—” Adam objected, scowling.
“It’s her choice,” Chandler stated again, his gaze darting between the siblings. “We don’t do anything without Eden on board. It won’t work.”
A tense few seconds passed before Eden’s stiff posture relaxed slightly and she gave him a curt nod. “Explain to me what’s going on, Chandler.”
Objective achieved.
“Like I said before, we can’t be one hundred percent sure your car crash was actually an attack—but it’s definitely looking that way. My dad has a buddy on the police force who let me see the evidence from your crash.”
After more than twenty years of running his security agency, Henry Ruthven had friends everywhere. Everyone in law enforcement knew and respected the work he did—it had made his agency one of the best in the state. It was a hell of a legacy to live up to, even if Chandler did still have his dad around—usually at home, puttering around his garden and whining about the diet Chandler’s mom had put him on since the heart attack—whenever he needed advice.
“Another car was definitely involved in sending you off the road,” Chandler continued. “There are no skid marks—no indication the other driver tried to stop before plowing into you. And it seems like both cars were going well above the speed limit, at a rate that just wasn’t safe on that winding road. We think you were flooring it to try to get away from someone—and we think he caught up with you.”
“Jesus,” Eden whispered, her lips pale and compressed. Her wide eyes began to sparkle with unshed tears, and Chandler’s heart pinched a little more. “What the hell am I going to do?”
Adam moved over next to his sister, putting his arm around her and pulling her into his side. Now, she let him, all defiance gone. “You’re going to let us help you, sis,” he said. “Please.”
Eden buried her face in her brother’s shoulder. Chandler had to stop himself from reaching out, wanting to comfort her too. Honestly, it was the first time he’d ever seen her cry. She’d always seemed so strong, so resilient.
So attractive.
Wait. What?
