The dark road was bathed in red and blue light from all the cop cars. The area was roped off, leaving me yards away from Reagan as she sat in the back of an ambulance. Someone was bandaging her feet.

I glanced over to where Dad spoke with some FBI guy off to the side. Mom placed a comforting hand on my arm.

Dad looked up and met my eye before coming over.

He didn’t waste time. “She’s fine, physically at least. You can’t see her right now.”

Shifting my focus back to her, I watched as her parents arrived and enveloped her in a hug. Tears leaked from her eyes.

“You’re not going to be able to see her tonight,” Dad reiterated.

“I’m not leaving,” I said, lifting my chin stubbornly.

“Son, there’s nothing I can do.” He sighed before leaning in. “It’s possible she killed someone. They are going to keep her for questioning until they sort it all out.”

Killed someone.

“Self-defense,” I said, as that was the only explanation.

“Maybe. As of right now, there aren’t witnesses. But there is a dead body, not sure if it’s the driver. And she has blood on her hands. That’s all I know, except—” he held my gaze, “—they aren’t going to let you talk to her. Not tonight, anyway.”

The flipped over car was just another puzzle piece. What the hell happened?

“I need her to know I’m here.”

Dad sighed again.

“Brian, let the boy stay,” Mom said. She shifted to me. “Dad and I should go before too many reporters show up.” I nodded and accepted her hug. “We’ll talk in the morning.”

My parents slipped through the crowd while everyone’s focus was on the wrecked car and the flashing lights. I didn’t blame them for leaving. Dad had done me a favor by getting me some answers. There was nothing left for them to do. I couldn’t go. If there was a chance I could talk to her or let her know that I was there for her, I couldn’t leave.

Waiting paid off. Her parents stepped back and she glanced up. Our eyes met for the briefest of seconds. Her expression was unreadable before EMT personnel came, swallowing up any view I had of her. I watched as her mom got in the ambulance. They closed the doors, and then left.

After Gavin’s broken arm, I already knew that there was only one hospital in the area. So I went to my car to follow. Only police guarded her room. Her parents never came out. After hours of waiting, I’d fallen asleep and woken up to find out she was gone.

At the police station, I was given the runaround. Her phone went to voicemail and I’d left plenty of messages. In the end, I’d retrieved our bags from the hotel and went to the lake house.

The phone never rang, despite my willing it to do so. Days went by and I ignored every other ring and every other text, waiting for her.

I needed to know if she was okay. Selfishly, I also wondered where we stood. She was the light in my darkness. I’d meant every word when I told her I loved her. But had she?

The door opened, and I blinked at the brightness. The curtains had been drawn, and I hadn’t known whether it was night or day when my parents strolled in. I wiped at the corners of my mouth, even though I didn’t care what they thought of me.

“Tade, honey, you look horrible.”

In frustration, I punched the blanket that covered the sofa where I’d slept the past few days. The idea of sleeping without Reagan in my bed, or any bed for that matter, gave me heartburn.

“Thanks, Mom,” I said sarcastically.

They sat in the chairs opposite me, both appearing resolute in this intervention of theirs.

“Tade, this has to stop. You’re going to miss your race,” Dad began.

Rowing didn’t matter, not until I knew for sure she was okay.

“What do you know?” I asked.

Dad stiffened. “She’s being held on charges of murder.”

“What?” I gasped. “That’s bullshit.”

“The driver of the car survived. He claims that the other girl ran out into the street or maybe she was pushed. They found another dead body in an underground bunker at a remote cabin. He’d been stabbed to death. His blood was on the dead girl and Luana’s hands.”

I glared at him. “Reagan’s hands.”

“Son, until they do an autopsy on the girl and find some evidence, like signs of mistreatment,” Dad said instead of rape, “Reagan will be held. We offered to get her an attorney, but her parents refused. I can’t be sure of what Reagan’s mom said to the police about you. Though I think nothing, considering you weren’t there and the girl she claims you murdered wasn’t dead until after their daughter was taken.”

At least I understood why she hadn’t called. I hated the idea of her in jail. She didn’t deserve it.

“Why isn’t the FBI involved?”

“They don’t have jurisdiction. The crime happened here and didn’t cross state lines. The locals don’t want to let it go.”

“This is a bunch of horseshit. That dead guy is probably the same one that took her before.”

“We have no one’s word except hers that he’s the guy. And until she’s cleared of wrongdoing, they can’t use anything she says to take over the case.”

“This is bullshit,” I said, getting to my feet.

I paced, feeling antsy because there was nothing I could do.

“The autopsy should happen in the next few days,” Dad said with a calm I didn’t feel.

“They can’t put a rush on it?”

“I don’t know about their case load and priority, Tade.”

I would have called and pleaded with her parents if I could. I didn’t have their numbers.

“Can you get me into the jail to see her?”

He glanced away. Mom said, “You’re not on the approved visiting list, honey. I’m sorry.”

I dropped back to the sofa and rubbed my face.

“She doesn’t want to see me,” I said with disbelief.

“You don’t know that,” Mom said. “There are a number of reasons why you’re not listed. Don’t read anything into this.”

“She doesn’t want to see me,” I repeated.

That was the last thing I said. They left not too long after.

Days lingered into nights. And nights slowly tumbled into days. I’d almost given up on the idea that Reagan would return my numerous calls and messages.

Jack, Johnnie, Jose and Jim, the four amigos, had become my new best mates after I’d caught the news she’d been exonerated and released a few days ago.

I turned away from my liquid diet and drew myself vertical, to reacquaint my limbs with gravity. Yeah, I’d gotten up for the occasional bathroom run, but I finally stepped out into the sunlight, holding a hand against the brightness of the sky marred with intermittent clouds.

The boat was just where I left it, beached on the sand with a layer of rainwater filling the bottom. I turned it over and watched the liquid rush free to find the rest of its kin at the waterline. After getting the oars, I pushed it out into the water, getting in as my muscles protested movements they’d forgotten over the last week or so. Calluses flared in my palm as I sculled with a painful grip.

Rowing had always put things in perspective for me. The tranquil waters offered me time to catalog my thoughts. After a number of times around the lake, I’d come to certain conclusions. One, I still loved her. Two, I was more than a little angry with her. Three, none of it mattered if she came back to me.

On my next pass by the house, I glanced over my shoulder, my trajectory toward the short pier that jutted out from the path that led to my house. I did a double take before I believed my eyes.

She was all pale and lovely with nothing but red lips to give her color. The white dress began to float as she stepped into the water. Her face held the expression of a puppy found by strangers after a jaunt in the woods. She never looked at me. A sick feeling crept up my throat. I stood and dove in the chilly water just as the boat tipped.

I pushed my way through with broad strokes, opening my eyes in the murky depths, searching. My heart thumped in my chest as the worst emotions filled me with dread and threatened to take me under. I surfaced within feet of her, gulping in air. She floated, her head resting just above water as if she planned to take a nap.

The day she ran out, my heart had been frozen, unable to beat without her. The cool water did nothing as heat flooded my senses. I reached for her. When her eyes opened and focused on me, she took my hand.

Glassy eyes framed in blue met mine and I tried to be brave for what she was about to say. It felt as if my life teetered on the edge of an abyss.

“They tried to keep me away from you.” Her voice was a whispered caress across my eardrums. She blinked, letting the tears fall. Standing now, she took a step closer to me and I dared to toss my doubts about what she felt for me out the window.

“But I couldn’t stay away.”

Rain that had only been a mist earlier turned into a steady fall, drenching us. We ignored it as I matched her steps in the shallow water, finding distant strength in my weak limbs. My hand found her cheek to thumb away her tears. They scalded my skin as my heart broke again, this time for her.

“Then don’t,” I said.

She moved with fortitude in her eyes. Her hands cupped my face, pulling me to her and I didn’t resist the pull I’d felt since the first day we met. When our lips collided and her mouth parted for me, she felt and tasted the same. Nothing had changed. The taint of revealed secrets hadn’t tamped down what I felt for her.

“I just want to be brave.”

I used my fingers to draw a line from her cheek to brush over the curve of her lips.

“You’re one of the bravest people I know,” I whispered.

What she’d endured was bigger than the tears that fell like dewdrops from her eyes. She’d overcome obstacles most would never face.

She breathed out, “Only because of you.”

Her eager hands set the tempo as she pushed at my shorts. The love in her eyes amplified the hunger I felt for her deep in my heart.

She twined her limber legs around my waist, lining herself up to impale herself on my shaft. Joined with her, it was more than sex. With her, it was so much more.

I took us into deeper water not willing to share our private moment with potential onlookers.

There wasn’t any hesitation on my part. I wanted her just the same as I had before.

“I—”

My words were cut off as she placed a finger on my lips. Apparently, talking was over. I dug my hands into her hips and rocked her up my length. I pistoned in and out of her tight sheath, groaning as I got closer. When her nails dug into my back and her pussy clamped down on my dick, I let loose a strangled groan of my own, emptying myself inside her.

I briefly glanced around to see my boat had capsized and drifted near the shoreline. I considered rescuing it, but opted instead to carry her up the incline with my dick still inside her, my shorts hanging on for dear life. My body shielded her and the dress had turned opaque from the water and rain.

Once we made it to my room, I set her down, allowing my semi-hard cock to pull free from her. Our twin expressions showed equal dismay at the loss of contact. We shifted gears as I matched her moves when she began to undress me. The plop of my T-shirt hitting the hardwood floor was only the first of such sounds as we quickly shed our clothing, never breaking eye contact.

She led the way to the bathroom where we tumbled into the shower to stand under a blast of hot water that heated our chilled skin. We became one in the best possible way; my dick defied the need for recovery time, bouncing back to quick stiffness just from her soapy hand on my skin.

I allowed her the time for silence. We communicated to each other through touch and taste. I poured out my heart in long strokes and demanding kisses. There was time for talk later. The need for each other was foremost in our hearts and minds.

The bed hadn’t enticed us to sleep. There we relearned each other slowly. I found a hidden freckle between her parted thighs and spent a long time there making up for not noticing it before. When sleep finally claimed us, we didn’t go willingly. I was certain I went to sleep still inside her.