Chapter Sixteen
At lunchtime, the twins wanted to have a picnic by the lake with a blanket on the ground and all the food the ants could eat. Ava had tried to point out to both Colt and Brianna that every meal technically was a picnic since they were camping, but the children said it didn’t count if they weren’t sitting on the ground.
Which was why Kaylee was spreading out two large tarps on the lush grass close to the banks of the shimmering lake. It was a gorgeous summer day in the mountains, sunny but chilly. The men were grilling hamburgers and hot dogs while joking around about jumping into the icy water and playing polar bears. Ava had the twins “helping” by setting out the napkins, paper plates, and plastic cups on a folding table.
It might not last long, but the current vibe was one of almost-happiness. The entire camp seemed more relaxed, although the reason they were all here was still running loose.
“Need help?”
Reed knelt down and straightened a corner of the tarp so it was smooth.
“Too many men by the grill?” she teased, wanting nothing more than to make their relationship good and happy. She was tired of being tired. And sad. And lonely. She wanted to fix her marriage, although it wasn’t going to be magically healed by a night of sex and a lot of hugs. They had work ahead of them. Lots of it, but she was determined. Reed loved her, and that was something she hadn’t been sure of only a few days ago.
But to be honest, she hadn’t much loved herself. There had been a great deal of self-loathing going on.
“Logan and Jared have it under control.” His fingers brushed hers as they laid down the second tarp. “I thought you might need a hand.”
Thoughts of what those hands could do had her cheeks hot. Reed had always been able to do this to her. “Thank you. Are you hungry?”
Chit chat. Small talk. It was still hard to feel completely comfortable around him. It was almost like in the early days of their relationship.
“Starved. How about you?”
The only saving grace was that it appeared to be none too easy for him as well. Perhaps it was because they were both trying to avoid any subject that would break the harmony and cause discord.
“I could eat. The twins look excited, don’t they? Ava and I have been trying to keep them occupied when you guys are discussing the real reason we’re all here.”
“You’ve been doing a great job. They think we’re all on vacation and let’s hope it stays that way.”
Logan raised his arm and waved. “Hey everyone, just got a text from Mike. He says that Griffin and Jason have arrived.”
Mike was currently on guard duty watching the entrance to the driveway along with Amy. A cheer went up at Logan’s news and Jared quickly threw more food on the grill. From what Kaylee had heard, the sheriffs would have been on the road most of the night, so they had to be tired and hungry.
Sodas were pressed into the newcomers’ hands and they were ushered into a couple of folding chairs. Both men were ridiculously large for the flimsy lawn chairs and Griffin especially looked like he might break it. He was like a giant sitting in a child’s chair. He was also the more talkative of the two men while Jason was far more quiet and reserved. Jason had been held hostage for months by a brutal drug cartel years ago and since then always seemed to be slightly on edge, watching his back at all times.
Jason glanced at Griffin before speaking, his phone in his hand. “Evan wants us to call him right away.”
An icy cold swept over Kaylee as she closely watched the men’s faces. Both Jason and Griffin appeared grim and exhausted, their demeanor tense and stiff. The way Jason had made that statement it didn’t sound like it was good news.
Logan downed the last of his soda and tossed it at the large cardboard box they’d set up as a trash can. “Fuck.”
It wasn’t the height of eloquence but he’d certainly summed up the situation. Something bad had happened. Something worse than Wade breaking out of jail.
Who had he killed now? They’d all been expecting more deaths, but they hadn’t known when. For a few hours this morning, they’d forgotten that they were waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Everyone was quiet waiting for Jason to go on. Even the birds seemed to stop singing and the wind stilled in the trees. A twig cracking could be heard a mile away.
“I’ll get him on the phone and put him on speaker,” Jason said, pushing a few buttons. Most phones didn’t work out there, but the group was using satellite phones that should function no matter how remote the location. Kaylee’s own cell didn’t even have one bar here at the cabin. “We got a text from him right before we arrived here. He said it was news about Wade.”
Evan’s voice was soft but clear. “Hey, guys. Thanks for calling me back.”
“You’ve got news?” Logan asked, moving closer to the phone. “About Wade?”
“Sort of about Wade. It’s about him and it’s also about a couple of marshals that have been working on finding him.” No one said anything so Evan went on. “The SUV that the marshals were traveling in was ambushed. Two men were killed. Gunshot wounds. They found a piece of paper on the driver’s seat of the car with the location of your cabin marked on a map.”
Jared swore under his breath as Logan turned his back and stared out at the calm waters of the lake. Reed grabbed Kaylee’s hand and squeezed.
“There is good news,” Evan said.
Logan snorted and whirled around. “Shit, we could use some about now. What’s the good news?”
“One of the marshals got off a call before he was killed. There were at least three men that ambushed them. Turner identified Wade but he didn’t know the other two. There might have been additional backup but he didn’t see them. So now we know that Wade is in the area and that he has the help of at least two men. That’s more than we knew before.”
“Wade’s a complete psychopath,” Reed growled. “What does he get from killing those men?”
Kaylee placed another hand on top of her husband’s in what she hoped was a soothing action.
“Wade wants to torture me,” Logan replied, his lips a flat line. “He wants me to worry about everybody else when I should be worried about what he’s going to do.”
Logan had said out loud the words they’d all been thinking.
“He wants to win the game,” Logan said.
Kaylee shivered at the expression on his face. Remote and icy. Dangerous. She’d seen that same look on Reed’s face and she’d always feared it. When the men were like this, they couldn’t be swayed from whatever they were planning.
“We’re not going to let him,” Evan declared. “I already called Tanner and Seth and they’re on their way to the site of the ambush to see if they can find any clues as to where they might have gone off to. In the meantime, I’m still digging as to who might be helping Bryson. If we can find them, we might be able to find him.”
Ava’s gaze ran from her husband to Jared to Reed and then back again. “So what do we do now?”
Kaylee had been wondering that very thing. From the look on Logan’s face, they weren’t going to like the answer.
* * * *
Ava managed to drag Logan into the cabin without garnering the attention of her two children who were playing kickball with Kaylee and Reed. Her husband had that look on his face, and she knew quite well what it meant.
He wanted to go after Wade Bryson.
If she were honest with herself, she’d known this was coming. With every passing hour that Wade wasn’t found, they ticked closer to this outcome. Logan was a man on a mission and that mission had just killed two more people. It wasn’t in his DNA to sit around and hope things all worked out. He was a man of action and staying still like this went against every instinct inside of him.
Which was why it was going to be damn difficult to get him to see reason.
“We need to talk about this.”
Slamming his fist down on the kitchen counter, Logan’s jaw tightened. “This isn’t the time, babe.”
“This is the time. I know what you’re thinking and you need to put it out of your mind. You can’t do it.”
It was a mistake to draw the line so bluntly. Logan didn’t like being challenged and if she’d been thinking straight she wouldn’t have done it but dammit, she was emotional, too. This was her life and her children and all she wanted to do was go home. She’d hoped this would only be a few days but it was stretching on longer than either one of them had ever imagined.
“Don’t tell me what to do.”
Snorting, Ava rolled her eyes. “As if you’d ever listen. You’re as ornery as a mule and twice as stubborn. I knew that when I met you and I knew it even more when I married you, but I never thought you’d be stupid.”
“I’m not stupid,” Logan growled, that muscle in his jaw working overtime. If the red color on his neck was anything to go by, she’d hit a nerve. That was good. He needed a dose of truth right about now.
“No, you’re smart. Most of the time, but at this moment you’re not thinking straight. Wade wants you to come after him. You’d be playing right into his hands.”
“I know that,” Logan scoffed. “But that doesn’t mean I have to play his game. Can’t you see that as long as we sit here scared and frightened he’s in control? At least if I’m out there, I’m in control.”
“I don’t see it that way at all,” Ava argued. “If you’re doing what he wants you to, how can you be the one in control of the situation? By defying Wade, you’re pissing him off and the madder he gets–”
“The more people he kills,” Logan finished for her.
“I was going to say that the madder he gets, the more mistakes he’ll make.”
“That too.” Logan sat down heavily into a kitchen chair. “But how many have to die before that happens? How many is too many?”
The lives were weighing on her husband. He took far too much on his broad shoulders. She walked behind him and placed her hands on the top of his head, her fingers brushing the short but silky strands before rubbing his temples.
“Even one is too many but you’re not responsible for all of this. Wade is. He’s the one making those choices, not you.”
“Wade is a fucking sociopath.”
“Yes, and you’re the sane one here, and you have to know that going after him is walking right into a trap.”
His head fell back, his eyes closed. “I can’t sit around here with my thumb up my ass. I can’t sit here and let him kill more innocent people. We have to find him sooner rather than later.”
“And the marshal service has people trying to do just that.”
Ava wanted to believe that but her voice wavered when she said it. If the government could find Wade, they’d already have him behind bars.
Logan laughed, but not because it was funny. It was actually the opposite. “Give me twenty-four hours in the field and I could find him and bring him in.”
“Is that a request, cowboy?”
His eyes opened, the usually warm blue almost gray with his stormy emotions. He was gazing directly at her, looking right into her heart and soul. “Yes.”
“We said we would put the family first. Our children, Logan.”
He sat up and spun around, linking his arms around her waist. “I’ve thought about that. You, Kaylee, and the twins… You go to Florida where Evan can watch over you. I know you’ll be safe there. Wade can’t get that far.”
Logan had wanted to send them to Florida first thing and she’d convinced him not to, certain that once they were out of the way he’d go after Wade on his own. But now…he might have a point. She’d wanted to stay with Logan but she had to put the kids first. Logan was resourceful and a hell of a lawman. He could take care of himself.
I have to believe that.
“Talk to your friends,” she finally conceded. “Talk to them and get their input. If they agree that it’s time to go after him, I won’t argue. Kaylee and I will take the kids to Florida and wait this out.”
Her husband, bless him, didn’t appear to believe her. He was no dummy but this time she wasn’t kidding.
“Really? You’ll go? No fighting about it?”
“No fighting. Heck, maybe we’ll even go to Disney World. Seth and Presley had a good time there when she was on the run.”
It was a feeble attempt at a joke and her husband didn’t laugh or smile.
“That’s…good, then.”
Leaning down, she pressed a soft kiss against his lips. A tingle ran through her and she marveled that this man could still rock her world two kids and a myriad of years later. Especially when they had about a hundred other things going on.
“I trust you.” I will. I have to. “But if you end up dead, I’ll kill you.”
Smiling, Logan stood and pulled her even closer to his solid, muscular frame. She couldn’t imagine him not in her life. It scared her to even think about it. Kaylee and Reed’s issues had put the fear into Ava. No one’s marriage was immune to trouble. No matter how good things are going, they can always get fucked up.
“Fair enough, babe. But I don’t plan on gettin’ dead.”
It was the unplanned actions she was worried about.