Falling into his arms like a damsel in distress is so unlike me.

Thing is, it felt right.

I felt completely safe for the first time in months, if not years.

I’m as anxious as Ryan is to find out the asshole who was in my house, so I call Tanner.

“Abigail, you all right?” he asks. I never call him during working hours unless it’s an emergency—and there have been a few of those over the last six months.

“No,” I answer, sitting down on the bar stool at the end of the island. Ryan watches me from the doorway. “Can you come to the ranch? Something’s happened and I don’t want to discuss it over the phone.”

“Yeah. Can you give me about fifteen minutes?”

I nod as I answer, “Sure.”

“See you in a few.” Then the line goes dead. I toss the phone on the kitchen island and place my hands over my nose with my elbows on the counter.

“Let me go check on Avery,” Ryan says as he walks toward her bedroom. As he passes me, he brushes his hand along my arm.

There's that static again.

That crackling in the air that happens whenever I get within a foot of him. It’s enough to make the little baby hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

I stand and shuffle to the refrigerator, pouring myself a glass of white wine. I don’t drink often, but today, it’s justified.

As I sit back down, Ryan returns with Avery—or I should say Avery returns with Ryan. Her tiny fingers are wrapped around his huge index finger as she leads him into the living room. Pointing to the television, she says, “Cartoons.” He complies, picking up the remote and turning it on. She claps when her show comes into view.

“Care to join me?” I ask as he walks back into the kitchen.

“Sure. Don’t get up. Just tell me where the glasses are.”

He moves toward the cabinets. “Second cabinet to the left, bottom shelf.” Locating a glass without a problem, he reaches into the refrigerator and finds the bottle of white wine on the door. After he’s poured himself a glass, he takes a seat next to me. “Tanner should be here in a few minutes,” I tell him between sips.

“You think he’ll be able to help? I can always call—”

“Let’s see what he has to say. Could just be a random break in.” Saying it out loud doesn’t help me to convince myself.

He was in Avery’s room.

He knew what he wanted and where it was located.

That makes my skin crawl.

“All right.”

Just as I finish my glass and I’m about to get up for another one, there’s a knock at the door. “I’ll get it,” Ryan commands, moving toward the entrance before I can object.

Standing, I peek into the living room. Avery is entranced as usual with her favorite Disney show. I pour myself another glass just as the two men walk back into the kitchen. Tanner moves toward me and pulls me into an embrace. “Ryan told me what happened, are you all right?”

“Yeah. Just a little shaken up,” I answer, holding the glass of wine in the air.

“You didn’t get a good look at him?” Tanner asks as I sit back down. He takes out a small notebook and a pen from his back pocket.

“No. He had a ski mask on and was wearing all black.” Tanner takes the seat across from me and writes down all the information, including the make of the vehicle, and the license plate Ryan got off the getaway car.

“Give me a minute. I’m gonna call this in and see if the car was stolen or if the idiots used their own car.” He stands and pulls out his cell phone from his jacket pocket, then walks toward the front door to make his call.

“What do you think?” I ask Ryan, who’s standing next to me.

“I don’t know. I’m not familiar with this part of the country. If this happened in Jersey, the car would’ve definitely been stolen.”

Ever since the masked man left, I haven’t been able to shake the feeling that something’s off. That this wasn’t some random break in. My gut tells me Danny’s involved…but he’s in prison.

Tanner walks back into the kitchen, his face grim. “What is it?” I whisper.

“Well, the plates on the car definitely didn’t belong to the vehicle Ryan saw,” he starts, taking a seat at the counter. Turning to Ryan, he says, “Are you sure you saw a black sedan?”

“Clear as day.”

“Well, the plate should be on a white SUV.” Tanner places his elbows on the counter and intertwines his fingers. Leaning his chin on his thumbs, he adds, “The white truck was reported stolen.”

“I had a feeling that plate wasn’t going to turn up anything,” Ryan mumbles, moving to stand behind me. Placing his hands on my shoulders, he starts to knead my knotted muscles.

“There’s more,” Tanner sighs.

“Spill it,” I insist, rolling my neck.

He takes a deep breath, then says, “Danny’s lawyers got his case dismissed.”

I tense underneath Ryan’s skilled fingers. “Wait. How is that possible?”

“It appears there was a break in the chain of custody.” Tanner runs his fingers through his short hair, appearing just as frustrated as I am.

“Wait—what exactly does that mean?” I ask, confused.

Placing his hands flat on the counter, Tanner explains, “The chain of custody for evidence is a paper trail that documents who collected, handled, analyzed, or otherwise controlled pieces of evidence during an investigation. In order to keep these standards, it’s crucial that the chain of custody is an unbroken trail without any gaps.”

“So, where was the gap or discrepancy?” Ryan asks Tanner as he continues to work on my twisted muscles.

“I can’t prove it, but I’m pretty sure Richard had someone on the inside mislabel his blood test bag, deeming it inadmissible.”

“Mislabel how?”

“Well, it disappeared.” Tanner’s face twists as he shrugs.

“We all know he was shitfaced! I watched him drive away with my daughter after he’d had at least a bottle of bourbon! To go and get her ice cream for Christ sake. He hit and killed that innocent woman!” My voice increases in volume with each word uttered, and I bite the inside of my lip to try to calm down. I don’t need Avery getting upset.

“Without that blood test, it’s hearsay. According to his lawyers, the woman ran a red light.” The look on Tanner’s face says it all. His eyes drift to the floor as he clenches his jaw.

He’s given up.

Danny wins.

Again.

“Wait. Who the hell is Richard?” Ryan asks.

“Richard is my ex-father-in-law,” I snap. “He absolutely had something to do with this! Tanner, there must be something we can do!”

“It’s too late. His team of lawyers already filed the motion to dismiss.”

“When?” I blurt, fear paralyzing me.

“Yesterday morning. Danny was released last night.”

The absolute horror of Danny being released completely immobilizes me. The more I think about him roaming free, the more I feel discouraged and utterly terrified. “He came for her,” I whisper under my breath. “It was Danny.”

“Abigail, let’s not jump to any conclusions,” Tanner says, trying to calm me down. “He’s not that stupid. He knows you have a restraining order against him and Avery is in your sole custody.”

“He won’t care. His family has money. He’ll take her far away.” This can’t be happening. It’s my worst nightmare come to life.

Tanner reaches across the table, placing his large hand in my tiny one. “I’ll request surveillance on Danny. If he sneezes, I’ll know about it. In the meantime, stay home—it’s the safest place to be right now.” Releasing me, he stands and turns to Ryan. “Keep her safe,” he mutters as he walks toward the front door.

“Always,” he whispers back.