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More tears fell. She felt under attack, and without an ally. Scott, Zep, her mother, they were all out to break her. Abby was exposed, and there was nowhere to run for cover.
“I want to hand Zep over to the taskforce.”
The change in direction threw her.
“But I won’t. Not yet, anyway.”
“I don’t understand.”
The muscles in Scott’s jaws worked. “The police can’t protect you and Rachel the way he can.”
Abby blinked, her thoughts scrambling again. She rubbed her forehead, trying to make sense of this new curveball.
“Rachel can’t leave, not with her health declining the way it is. Zep knows you won’t leave without her.” Scott exhaled an exasperated breath. “The Devils will stop at nothing to keep you safe. The police…”
“But, your job…”
“Probably won’t be there when this is all over.”
Abby gasped.
“If you’d given me time to think…” He hung his head. “If you’d just trusted me to work this out together.”
Guilt gripped her heart, tightening with each passing moment.
Scott shrugged. “It probably wouldn’t have changed the outcome with work.” He looked her in the eye. “But at least we would have been in this together.”
A wave of emotion crashed over her. She’d never intended to hurt Scott, or push him away. Abby understood that he felt betrayed by her actions, and that filled her with a profound sense of remorse. Had she broken them beyond repair?
He’d walked past her, and was looking out over the ocean. Tension held his body rigid. She missed his touch. Abby suddenly wished she could turn back time, reconsider her actions, and rewrite the script of their relationship. Why had she always kept him at arm’s length? She suspected it was probably to avoid the soul-destroying pain she felt at this very moment.
Within the maelstrom of her emotions, Abby longed to bridge the gap that stood between them. She just wanted to put this nightmare aside and focus on her mum. And stay out of the way of Zep’s war. Abby searched her mind for the words to make this right.
The knock on the front door made them both jump. Scott’s terse, “I’ll get it,” halted her briefly. She followed behind him.
The man with the light-coloured hair–it was dirty blond up close–and the permanent snarl, stood on their doorstep.
“Zep sent me to drive you both back to Rachel’s.”
“Dodge, I presume?” said Scott. He and Zep had clearly had a very long chat.
Dodge nodded. “Let’s go.”
“Why?” Abby moved to stand beside Scott.
“I’m needed elsewhere. Zep’ll keep an eye on you two.”
“We’ll follow you in my car,” said Scott.
“Nah, you’re coming with me. Prez’s orders.”
Abby wanted to protest–they didn’t need to be chauffeured–but Scott’s hand on her arm stilled her tongue.
“Give us two minutes.” Scott closed the door. “Pack a change of clothes and your toothbrush,” he said to Abby as he moved in the direction of their bedroom.
“Why?” She followed him.
“Better to be prepared.”
