Chapter Eleven
Presley was absolutely livid and if her handsome husband had any sense at all he’d be afraid. Very afraid.
To keep information like this from her was damn near unforgivable. Suddenly her transgression with the pregnancy test didn’t seem like such a big deal. She’d only been guilty of not thinking something through; he was guilty of lying. Something they’d sworn they would never do in this marriage. So far as Presley knew they’d keep that promise.
Until now.
He’d patiently explained the situation right down to the flowers not being from him and she’d tried to listen without judging or interrupting. When he was finished he sat down on the edge of the couch next to her, his hands on his knees as he waited for her to speak.
“So Danny Harbaugh wants me dead?”
“Yes.”
“And our children?”
“I don’t think Danny Harbaugh even knows we have children but just in case I decided to be safe and send them with Mom and Dad. They have Reed and a bodyguard following them. Basically Harbaugh said he wants to take away the people I love.”
Now Presley had a whole new reason to worry about being separated from her children. This entire situation was getting better and better with each passionate moment.
“And all your friends are trying to find this guy in Montana?”
“Yes.” Sucking in a breath, Seth snuck a glance at Presley. “Are you mad?”
“Very,” she said between gritted teeth. “You deliberately kept this from me. Like I wasn’t someone who has been through this before but like I’m the little woman.”
Their relationship had been predicated on being partners and Seth had thrown that concept out of the window.
“I told you why I did that,” he protested, hopping to his feet again. “The migraines, your blood pressure, and then the pregnancy. If anything happened to you or the baby because of the stress I never would have forgiven myself. Look at it from where I was standing.”
She could hear the plea in his voice but at the moment she wasn’t quite moved by it. A lie was a lie was a lie. His argument was that it was a lie by omission and he’d done it because…
“So you did it for my own good?”
“Yes,” he replied but then he thought better of it. “I mean, no. I did it to keep you safe and healthy.”
“Because I couldn’t handle the truth? I was too weak?”
Seth’s face was red with frustration. “You’re twisting my words.”
She shook her head. “I’m just repeating what you’ve told me. I don’t want to tell you what to do, Seth, but if I were in your shoes I’d admit that you, the manly man in your infinite wisdom, decided I wasn’t strong enough for all of this. Arguing all the reasons you were right to do it isn’t a winning strategy here.”
“I was worried about you physically. I was worried about the baby,” Seth said, the words coming out more like a groan than an actual sentence. “I know that you could handle it mentally.”
“Thank you so much,” Presley replied sarcastically. “Thank goodness you thought I wouldn’t faint with fear and go hide under the covers. I feel so special since you believe in me so much.”
“I was worried about your migraines.” Seth’s voice had risen dangerously.
She pressed her fingertips to her temple. “I didn’t have one before but now I do.”
Seth threw his hands up. “What do you want me to say? Mea culpa? I should have told you? I’m not sure I would have done anything differently, Presley. I thought you were in the early weeks of pregnancy and I wanted to protect you. End of story.”
“My being knocked up isn’t a Get Out of Jail Free Card.”
His feet were planted and his arms crossed over his chest. He was dug in for the duration.
“I did what I did to keep you safe. I’d do anything for you, Ben, and Lulu up to and including giving up my own life. You can be mad but I know I did the right thing.”
“Then why were you so scared to tell me?” She wagged a finger at him. “Because you knew you had fucked up, but now you want brownie points for being all protective alpha male. I’m still pissed off and I don’t feel a bit guilty about the pregnancy test in the trash anymore because that was just an oversight. This was a bald-faced lie.”
They were getting nowhere. Seth wasn’t going to back down. He hated to be wrong or admit a mistake. They could discuss this later when she’d had time to cool down. She could understand his reasoning – a little – but she had to make her point known. He better not do it again. She wouldn’t be treated as lesser because she was a woman. She wasn’t fragile or weak.
Because there was a fact much more important than Seth being a jerk. Someone wanted them dead. There was a man out there hunting them like prey and here she was in a hotel room in Las Vegas while her babies were in a vehicle headed for Memphis. Her motherly instinct was screaming that she needed to be with Ben and Lulu, protect them with her own body if need be.
“I didn’t lie,” Seth said with a heavy sigh. “I just didn’t tell you everything.”
She was done with this topic. There were bigger fish to fry.
“We might as well eat dinner before it’s ice cold, then we need to talk so we can figure out what we’re going to do. From now on, I need to be a part of these discussions. I’ll leave the cop work to all of you but it’s my ass on line just as much as yours.”
Seth nodded, seemingly relieved she wasn’t still angry. She was, but that was a luxury she didn’t have at the moment.
“I’m going to send the boys a text. I’m anxious to hear if Dare has found out anything about Harbaugh.”
“I have my own agenda,” she informed her husband as she sat down at the table, unfolding the linen napkin on her lap. “Ben and Lulu. I need to know what you’ve set up to keep them safe. Then we need to double it and talk about going to get them. I need to hold my children, Seth. I need to protect them. I’m their mother.”
* * * *
Seth was breaking Presley’s heart but he wouldn’t be budged on this. Ben and Lulu were safer away from them than with them. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be with his babies; he most assuredly did, but right now anyway, they were better off with their grandparents.
“We can’t go get them,” he said again, wishing he had better news for his lovely wife. “We have bullseyes on our backs and we’d only be putting them in the line of fire. They’re with my parents, Reed, and Tanner’s deputy. They’re safe. Far safer than they’d be with us.”
Presley was sitting at the table, dinner long ago cleared away. Her lips trembled and her eyes were bright with unshed tears. His own heart was being shredded into a million pieces but he had to stay strong.
“I want to be with my babies,” she whispered, her voice tortured and making him feel even worse than he already did. It was as if he’d physically ripped Ben and Lulu out of her arms.
“So do I,” Seth assured her, kneeling in front of her, his palms resting on her thighs. He had his friends on speaker phone to help him convince her that she wasn’t thinking all of this through. “Believe me, I want them with me too but honey, it’s too risky.”
Presley’s gaze flickered to the phone where Griffin, Tanner, and Dare waited on the line.
“What do you think? Do you agree?”
None of them three men answered immediately but eventually Dare cleared his throat to reply.
“I do agree,” the other sheriff replied. “If Rayne and our child were in this same situation I would, reluctantly I admit, separate them. I know your instincts are telling you something far different, Presley, but Seth is right. It’s safer for them if they’re not with you.”
Rayne had just given birth to their first child, a sweet little girl named Cherish that had her daddy wrapped around her tiny fingers. For Dare to say that he’d separate mother and child was a compelling argument.
Hopefully.
Tears spilled onto Presley’s cheeks and Seth’s chest tightened painfully. Lifting her up, he sat back down in the chair and situated her on his lap. “I know, baby. Cry it all out. I know this is bad and I wish I could make it better. I’m so sorry about all of this.”
But he couldn’t and that was tearing him apart inside. He wished he could make everything better for his wife and children but it was times like these that reminded him that he couldn’t. And he hated that. He felt…powerless.
It didn’t help at all that this was his fault. It was the job and he’d long ago become used to it, but then most of the time it didn’t affect his family. Not this way. At most they had to put up with his lousy schedule but a death threat was something far worse.
“I want them to be safe,” Presley gasped between quiet sobs. “But I’m their mommy, I should be keeping them safe. Me.”
“I know and I feel the same way,” he said as soothingly as possible. “Mom and Dad are taking good care of them, I promise. They’re being watched all the time.”
Sniffling, she scrubbed at her red and swollen eyes. “All the time? Every minute?”
“Every second,” Seth vowed. “Tanner’s guy and Reed are working in tandem. They’re not going to let anything happen to Ben and Lulu.”
Presley relaxed slightly in Seth’s arms and for the first time since finding out about Harbaugh she looked almost peaceful.
“I trust Reed.” She leaned forward to speak into the phone. “I’m sure your deputy is good too, Tanner, I just don’t know him personally.”
“I can vouch for him,” Tanner said sympathetically. “But I know that probably doesn’t make you feel any better right now, Presley. Just know that we’re all going to do whatever it takes to keep you, Seth, and your children safe and alive.”
Clearing his throat again, Dare spoke up. “Which brings us to the next topic. Danny Harbaugh. I did some unauthorized digging into the case file when he attempted to rob that bank. You’re going to want to hear this. It changes everything.”
Seth’s ears perked up. “I’m listening.”
Presley swiped at her tears. “I’m listening, too. What is it?”
“I haven’t had a chance to tell anyone this but Seth, you didn’t kill Lyndsey Harbaugh. The ballistics from the bullet taken from her chest didn’t match your gun.”
That wasn’t possible.
“I shot her. I saw it happen.”
“The timing made it seem that way but there were several guns going off at the same time, yes? You, Harbaugh, plus your deputies? That’s a lot of firepower bouncing around a small alleyway.”
Seth could still see the scene in his mind. “Are you saying that one of my deputies did it? Because I’m not going to throw them under the bus.”
“No, I’m not saying that. What I’m saying is that the bullet didn’t match your gun or any of your deputies. It matched Harbaugh’s. Danny shot his own wife. It was probably a ricochet.”