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“I just want to leave and be done with it.”
“I know. But he’s not going to let you do that, not without us fighting him every step of the way. And we will. Together. I promise you won’t have to do this alone.”
Angela stood and so did Cyn. They met in the middle and shared another big hug. Angela buried her face in Cyn’s neck. “Thank you. I love you so much. I don’t know what I’d have done these last many months if I didn’t have you checking on me, making sure I was all right and always reminding me that someone really did care about me. I mean, Mom is not very... motherly. She’s kind of useless when it comes to us and what we need.”
“I will always come for you. I will always be there for you. You are never alone.”
Angela hugged her tighter. “I have the best sister ever.”
Cyn couldn’t wait for Angela to move in with her tomorrow. She didn’t expect it to be easy. Rad would put up a fight. Cyn would be ready for him. She’d done her homework. When a domestic abuse victim left, it could be the most dangerous time in the relationship.
They’d do it while Rad was away.
They needed to be very careful tomorrow and get away clean.
There was too much at stake now. Lives were on the line.
And maybe she needed to take her own advice and ask for help.
Chapter Five
Hunt drove by Jerry’s Body Shop, where Rad had worked since high school. Even as a kid, his buddy had loved to tinker with engines. Rad had helped Hunt out with the equipment on the ranch and his own vehicles over the years, and Rad had started working there as a teenager.
Rad wasn’t a bad guy back in the day. He could be a hothead, sure. But he hadn’t been abusive. Not the way he was with Angela. There was a time when, because he’d always had to be in control, he’d generally held it together. But this was another level of violence altogether.
Hunt needed to face the fact that his friend had serious issues.
No one in the department had been called out to the house for another domestic disturbance call in a while, but Cyn told him Rad took out his frustration and anger on Angela after the arrest. It turned his gut sour. So he was stopping in to check on Rad and see if he could get a read on how things were going now. He didn’t like that Angela, especially, and Cyn were in danger every time Rad couldn’t control himself.
He parked around back of the shop where they keptcustomers’ cars until they worked on them. He stepped out of his vehicle and headed for the big open bay door, but something caught his attention. Parked behind Rad’s truck, Hunt spotted a tilted back bumper on a silver car. He backtracked to take a look, something in his gut telling him this could be the car Mrs. Phelps had seen when she’d been pistol-whipped and robbed.
“What are you doing?” Rad asked, coming up behind him.
Hunt barely spared Rad a glance before he walked to the driver’s side door and peered into the vehicle. He didn’t see anything incriminating. That would be too easy. “Whose car is this?”
“I’d have to check the sheet.”
“Do you know how long it’s been here?”
“I parked it back here a few days ago.”
“And no one’s driven it since?”
Rad shrugged. “As far as I know, it’s been sitting right there where I left it. What’s this all about? Why are you so interested in this car?”
Hunt noted the uneasy look about Rad and wondered why he was being so cooperative when last they’d seen each other he’d wanted to give Hunt a good ol’-fashioned beat-down for breaking the bro code and not having his back.
Hunt rubbed his hand over the back of his tense neck. “A witness saw a car like this one at her home when she was robbed.”
Rad stuffed his hands in his front pockets and shifted his weight side to side, his voice rising when he said, “There’s probably a dozen cars just like this one in town.”
“Probably,” Hunt agreed. A gray or silver four-door sedan was too common, but the broken bumper made Hunt believe he might have found the right vehicle. It may not be conclusive, but he felt like he was on to something. “Mind if I take a look inside?”
“Not my car, man. You’ll have to get the owner’s permission. Or a warrant,” Rad added, like that sounded like the better idea.
Hunt grew more suspicious of Rad’s odd behavior. He hadn’t even asked why Hunt was here. “Can I get the owner’s information?” He could look it up using the vehicle plate and registration, but he wanted to see if Rad would give it to him.
Rad took a minute to think about it, then shrugged. “Let me ask Jerry if he’s cool with that.”
