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My brow pulled down as my heart rate kicked up a notch. My voice shook as I said, “Okay?”
“Lee and Rylan were arrested this morning. The FBI thinks they did it.”
“But Lee was with me—” My voice caught and I turned my head away, slamming my eyes shut as if I could make this all go away.
He was here with me because I’d nearly killed myself.
It didn’t matter if I meant to or not.
I’d nearly died because of my own stupidity.
Something lifted my good hand, curling around my fingers with the slightest squeeze. “I know, sweetie. I know he was. But the FBI doesn’t believe it. They’ve been investigating them for the past couple months, and this agent…”
When she didn’t continue, I forced myself to open my eyes and look back at her. Her face was pinched, her eyes watery and red.
“Agent Carlson wants a promotion, and he’s intent on solving this case and using it to get him there. He’s going to put Lee and Rylan away for murder unless we do something to stop it.”
“What can we do?”
“We need proof,” Van said, taking a step into the room. “Proof that they weren’t where he thinks they were. Video evidence would be best, but barring that, witnesses. Like you and your mom and dad.”
Me.
“You want me to…”
“Come to the police station where they’re holding him and tell them the truth.”
“But…” I couldn’t talk. All my self-confidence and self-respect had lodged in my throat, wrapping around whatever was left of my failing pride.
If I told them where I was, they’d know what I did. That I almost killed myself. That I’d tried it in the past. The color drained from my face, washing away an ounce of that self-hatred, enough for me to remember this wasn’t about me.
It was about Lee.
And if roles were reversed, he’d likely throw his own sword down and dive on top of it if it meant saving me from myself.
I could do this for him, because there was no doubt in my mind that he’d do it for me without a thought.
But…
“But I wasn’t with Rylan. I can’t help him. I don’t know where he was.”
“Don’t you worry about that.” Van stepped closer, putting a hand on Joss’s shoulder and looking down into her watery eyes.
“Where was he?” I couldn’t stop myself from asking. The smartass inside me was begging to come out.
Joss turned her tear-filled eyes to meet mine and gave me a sad smile. She lifted a hand to her chest, like she was reaching for a necklace, only she wasn’t wearing one. Instead, she pressed one of her fingers against her breastbone. “He was with me.” She swallowed visibly, then added, “His wife.”
* * *
As I stared up at the front of the police station, a quiet voice asked, “Are you warm enough, sweetheart?”
“Mom!” I dragged the word out as she tucked a blanket she’d pulled from the back seat of Dad’s car between the bottoms of my legs and the seat of my borrowed wheelchair. The hospital had only allowed us to use theirs to get to the front door, but I was still too weak to walk.
Joss had come through, which I was beginning to realize was normal for her. Not only had she offered up Rylan’s old wheelchair, she’d insisted Van put it in the back of his truck before they even came to the hospital.
She knew I would do what I could to help Lee. Just as I could see she’d do anything she could for Rylan.
Her husband.
