Leaning against the wall in the small hospital room, Ryan couldn’t take his eyes off Cassie. The curtains were pulled, but the morning light came through, giving the room a soft, creamy glow. Above her left eye was a nasty gash that was swollen, with black stitches sticking out like garish eyelashes. Her bruising hadn’t fully come in yet, but the promise bloomed across her right cheek in vibrant purple and yellow hues. Each mark upon her pale flesh a testament to how he’d failed her.
Doctor Helms had explained that Cassie was fortunate that she was only suffering from a bad concussion and minor lacerations. However, Ryan knew she was far more fortunate than the doctor understood. No one had ever survived The Wolf’s capture. Cassie being found alive was a blessing, one he thanked God for and one he vowed not to take for granted.
He looked at her lying in the hospital bed. Her eyes drifted shut during her questioning by US Marshal Sanderson.
This was the fourth time she’d been interrogated, the fourth time he had stood here listening to her answer the same type of questions. It could have been the hundredth time, and still, her words would bring visions of all the things The Wolf had done to her like it was the first. His jaw clenched as he tried to banish the images. This was all his fault. Why hadn’t he been paying closer attention to her security?
Ryan glanced around the room, devoid of the usual cards and flowers. It seemed odd to see her in a space so empty of color and joy. He thought about her friends back home and how they would have been here in droves, supporting her with love and attention. How had he gotten everything so wrong about Cassie? And why hadn’t he listened to Logan? Everyone else in Bakerton loved and trusted her for the good person she was, and he’d acted like a fool.
“You didn’t mention that before.” Marshal Sanderson’s voice broke into his thoughts.
Cassie groaned, shifting down in her bed. “I’m trying my best.”
“Then let’s go over this again...from the top.”
Ryan straightened. “The doctors said fifteen minutes, Sanderson. Time to back off.”
“Who died and made you king of the hill? I have a few more questions,” Sanderson said without taking his eyes off Cassie.
Ryan stepped away from the wall, his voice brooking no argument. “You’ve been hammering her with questions for over thirty minutes. She’s done talking.”
The agent shifted his weight on the wheeled stool and flipped back a few pages in his notes. “You said you left Agent MacIntosh’s kitchen...”
Stalking forward, Ryan tore the marshal’s notebook from his hands and lowered his face to within inches of the man. No one, marshal or not, was going to push Cassie beyond her limits. “She’s tired, and I said she’s done for the day.”
Not one to back down, Sanderson rose slowly to his feet until the two men stood chest to chest, their eyes locked.
“Boys, that’s enough,” Cassie said.
Neither man moved. Eventually, Marshal Sanderson grabbed his coat from the hook on the wall. “I’ll be talking to Agent Dunlack about this.”
“Be my guest,” Ryan said and took the man’s seat without a backward glance. No one was going to hurt Cassie ever again.
“I’ll be back in an hour.” The hospital room door banged shut.
“Was that necessary?” Cassie asked, rubbing her temples.
“You tell me.” Ryan rose and gently sat on the edge of her bed. His head tilted with concern. “Looks like your headache is back. Do you need the doctor?”
“No, I’m fine. It’s just those questions.”
“You don’t have to answer any more of them if you don’t want to,” he said. “I can talk to Walter and...”
Cassie’s hand rested on his, making his heart skip a beat. “It’s not that. I want to answer the questions.” She sighed. “It’s just frustrating. I remember what happened, it’s clear, and then I go to talk about it, and it’s like grasping at memories through a fog. They take shape, and then everything becomes so muddled.”
“Give yourself a break. You have a pretty nasty concussion.”
“We don’t have time for breaks,” she snapped, and then immediately apologized.
“It’s okay,” he said, stopping himself from folding her into his arms. There was nothing he wanted more than to hold her close, but he wasn’t her boyfriend. Not trusting himself, he moved off her bed and back onto the stool.
“Ryan, I—” She suddenly stiffened, her hand moving to the neckline of her hospital gown. “My clothes? Where are they?”
“They’ve been bagged for evidence. Is there something you wanted?”
Cassie met his eye with a look of distress. “I put some important photos in my jeans pocket.”
“You’ve already given them to us.”
“I did?”
Ryan rolled the stool closer and stroked her hair. “The concussion is affecting your memory,” he said. “But, it’s good that you grabbed those photos. Some of the women were still listed as missing.” The sorrow that rose in her eyes made his chest squeeze tight. Ryan knew there were no words to ease what she was feeling, but he tried anyway. “There are families that will find closure because of you.”
Cassie moved onto her back and stared at the ceiling, pulling away from his touch. “I can’t stop thinking about those women. Some of them weren’t even out of their twenties. I imagine their parents and how...” Cassie’s voice cracked, and she shook her head as if unable to voice the thought. “Did you know that The Wolf calls them his loves?”
“His victims?”
“Yes. He believes it too. Fully believes that he loves them.” Cassie shifted her head on the pillow, and her glassy eyes met his.
Ryan wasn’t prepared for the naked vulnerability he saw on her face. He couldn’t breathe. A rising need for vengeance tore through him like a howling wind. It took everything within Ryan to force that monster of emotion back into its cage. Cassie needed him here for her. He squeezed her hand, a lump rising in his throat. “We’ll get him, Cassie. I promise you we’re going to get him.”
Rain pattered gently at the window while Cassie sat on the comfy chaise lounge in front of it, her mind a maze of thoughts. She looked up from her devotional, unable to focus on the words, and watched Ryan position kindling in the massive stone fireplace. Since coming here, to this safe house on the far outskirts of Willowridge, Oregon, she felt hyperaware of him. The way he always smelled of wood and leather, the sounds as he moved, the feel of his calloused hand on hers. These feelings made the disconnect between them all the more puzzling.
Ryan muttered under his breath, and he repositioned the wood in the hearth.
Internally, Cassie sighed. She had merely asked for a blanket, and there he was, making her a fire. If she so much as made a peep, he’d instantly be by her side. While the attention was sweet, it was getting to be a bit much. The fire caught, and Ryan added some larger logs onto it.
The kettle began to whistle. “I’m making myself some tea. Do you want some?” Ryan asked, moving into the kitchen.
Her stomach twisted. They needed to talk, and this was her opening, but she didn’t want to make things more awkward between them. Words from the pages she had just read flooded her mind: For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7. She looked up and knew the prodding came from Him. Point taken, she silently prayed back and placed the leather-bound book on the coffee table.
Reluctantly, Cassie made her way over to the island, which also functioned as their table, and pulled out a stool.
“We need to talk.”
He hesitated but didn’t turn around. “About tea?”
“No. Yes. In a way.”
Looking over his shoulder, he accidentally touched the side of the kettle, burning his hand. He flinched and began running it under cold water.
“You okay?” Cassie asked.
He gave a small smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Completely.” He wiped his hands off on the tea towel and then filled a mug, placing it in front of her. “Are you hungry? There’s not much here, just some stale crackers, but Kate will be back soon with groceries.” He pulled open a tall cupboard and began poking around the pantry shelf.
“Please don’t avoid this.”
“I’m right here. What am I avoiding?” he asked, not turning around.
Cassie dropped her head into her hands. This wasn’t going well. “You’re not acting like yourself.”
Closing the cupboard, Ryan turned and faced her, his brow furrowed with a hint of fire in his eye. “What do you mean?”
Her heart skittered. She knew that look all too well, but it was too late to back out now. “Well, it’s just that you’re being overly nice.”
“You want me not to be nice to you?” he said coldly. “That’s what you’re asking?”
Her cheeks flushed. “No...sorry, I don’t mean like that. I mean you’re always getting me tea, making me a fire, grabbing my book. If I sneeze, you have a tissue...”
“So, I’m not allowed to make kind gestures toward you?”
“No, that’s not it at all. It’s just, whatever is happening here, this isn’t us, and I want to go back to how things were.”
Ryan grimaced. “Life doesn’t go backward. If it did, trust me, I’d go back to before I met you.”
A sucker punch directly to her gut would have been gentler. Cassie pushed away from the island and headed for the stairs. “Well, if that’s how you feel, then I’ll tell them I made a mistake and request a new security detail in the morning.”
“Cassie, wait,” he said, quickly reaching her side. “Let me finish.”
She kept walking, and he grabbed her arms, forcing her to face him.
“Let go of me.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, releasing her. “What I said came out wrong. Please, just let me explain. I’ve been thinking a lot about us the last few days.”
She stared up at the ceiling, blinking back her tears. There was no way she was going to let him see her cry.
“I always accused you of not telling me everything, but I realize now, I was just as guilty of holding back.”
“What?”
“I never told you why I left the FBI.”
“What has that got to do with anything?”
“That’s what I originally thought too, but now looking back on things, I think it’s got a whole lot to do with it.” Ryan took a deep breath. “Being a federal agent, I was always dealing with the worst of the worst.” His hand gently touched the bruise on her cheek and then fell to his side. “There was this string of bank robberies where the guy was rapidly escalating. We knew who was doing it, but we had nothing strong enough to make the charges stick.” His jaw tightened. “My team got assigned to watch him, but he managed to slip through our net. He committed a robbery two days later where he shot and killed the teller, a single mom with a six-year-old boy.”
“That’s awful, but why are you telling me this?”
He looked her square in the eye. “Kate caught me planting evidence.”
“No,” Cassie said, stunned. There was no way the Ryan she knew would ever do something like that. “No. I don’t believe it. Not you.”
“Kate talked me out of it, and no one knows how close I came to crossing the line. It rattled me. I knew I needed a fresh start, so I moved back to Bakerton and I met you.” A wry smile lit his face, and he took her hands in his. “I wasn’t ready. I saw the world as this dark place, and you made me look at it differently. I was falling in love, and I panicked when I realized I didn’t really know anything about you.”
Cassie pulled away. “You know why.”
“But I didn’t then. I began thinking horrible thoughts about you, that you were using me for something. I knew I couldn’t think clearly, and there were all these red flags around you.”
“Ouch.”
“I tried to cut you out of my life for the last year. I avoided your restaurant, switched churches, did everything I could to forget you. It didn’t matter what I did. Every night before I closed my eyes, I felt the need to pray for you. Every morning I wondered what you were doing. The more I missed you, the angrier I was at myself. The more I tried to forget you, the more I’d find ways to catch sight of you. And now, now that I know the truth about your past, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry that I leaped to the worst conclusions. You didn’t deserve that, but as much as I want to, I can’t take back the past year. You were an amazing girlfriend, and I failed you. I continue to fail you, and sometimes I wish we had never met. Because if I had never met you, I wouldn’t know what I had lost. I wouldn’t worry about you like I do. I wouldn’t...”
Her fingers came to his lips and stopped his words.
The front door opened, and Kate walked in, her arms loaded down with groceries. “Man, that store was a zoo,” she said, dropping her keys on the entryway table. “I wasn’t sure what to pick up, but I think I’ve got enough stuff.” Her voice trailed off when Cassie quickly came to help her with the grocery bags, and Ryan turned away, resting a hand on the fireplace mantel.
“Looks wonderful, Kate,” Cassie said, her voice a little too high in her own ears.
Kate didn’t move from her stance at the door, her assessing eyes bobbing between Ryan and Cassie.
Staring at the crackling fire, Ryan cleared his throat. “I’m sure Cassie will be able to turn that into something incredible.”
“I have to admit, I’m enjoying having a chef along,” Kate said, with an undertone of suspicion. “Usually, these babysitting gigs have the worst food.”
Cassie met Kate’s eyes and turned away, not wanting to answer the questions that rested there. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
With a whistle, Ryan signaled the dog to his side. “I’m going to walk the perimeter with Duke.”
“Sounds good,” Kate replied. “I’ll give Cassie a hand in here.”
At the offer, a hard knot formed high in Cassie’s chest. Her whole world was reeling, and now she had to face down Kate in what was sure to be an interrogation. She pulled the groceries from their tall paper bags and began carefully inspecting the fruits and vegetables, doing everything to appear calm. “I’m thinking mashed potatoes, vegetable ratatouille and broiled salmon.”
“Delicious.”
Keeping her hands busy, Cassie set the veggies next to the sink. “Okay, then can you scrub up the potatoes and carrots?”
“I can.”
Cassie pawed over the spices at the bottom of the bag, trying not to think of what might have happened if Kate hadn’t walked in when she did. What else would Ryan have said? Was it merely her forgiveness that he was looking for? Kate turned on the water beside her.
“So, are you going to tell me what I just walked in on?”
“You didn’t walk in on anything.”
Kate found a regular rhythm with the potato peeler and smiled knowingly. “Oh yes, I did.”
“There’s nothing to tell.” Cassie opened the lower cupboards, searching for pots and pans.
“Look, I’m honor bound to report if there is something romantic going on with you and Ryan.”
Cassie kept her voice professional. “We’re friends. Nothing more.” She found some pans at the far back of the cupboard and wrinkled her nose.
“That’s what I thought,” Kate said, scrubbing some carrots. “I mean, if you two were in a relationship, Ryan wouldn’t be rejoining the FBI and moving to Portland.”
What? Her heart dropped in her chest. She’s just trying to rattle you; don’t let her. Cassie stood up and placed her pans calmly on the counter. Stealing the water from Kate, she rinsed off a lemon and began cutting it into precise wedges. “He never mentioned that,” she said.
“Walter has been talking to Ryan over the last year about rejoining the team, and it looks like he’s finally accepted.”
The words coming out of Kate’s mouth erupted in Cassie’s brain like tiny bombs. Was that what Ryan’s speech had been about? Was he asking her forgiveness before leaving Bakerton, tying up loose ends? Cassie squeezed the lemon into a bowl, added some spices and began vigorously whisking it all together. The thought of Ryan moving bothered her, and she didn’t like that it upset her as much as it did. If she were honest with herself, somewhere along this journey, she’d begun thinking that when The Wolf was caught, she would end up back in Bakerton. It scared her to realize how much she wanted Ryan there too. But according to Kate, he was moving on. Just like she needed to.
“His talents are wasted in a small town. It’s a wonder he didn’t get bored sooner,” Kate said.
Bored? He found life in Bakerton boring? Cassie filleted the salmon with quick knife strokes and then brushed it briskly with her marinade. “It is a wonder,” she muttered. With rough hands, Cassie encased the fish into a tinfoil package and placed it into the fridge.
“Can’t wait to see him officially back with the nation’s finest,” Kate said, chopping the vegetables.
Cassie’s fingers squeezed the door handle of the fridge. She had no reason to be angry. Ryan had every right to live his life as he pleased. She stared at her reflection in the stainless steel and took a deep breath. “When is the transition supposed to happen?”
“Not sure, but I don’t think it’ll be long. Ryan seemed eager to get out of that town.”
Cassie felt sick to her stomach. “I’ve got the fish marinating, and you’ve got the veggies ready. Dinner looks like it’s all prepped, and I’m exhausted. I think I’m going to go lie down for a bit.”
“Okay, anything else I can do here?”
“Nope, you’ve done plenty.”
Dinner had gone well, if not a little silently.
Ryan watched Cassie from the corner of his eye. She sat with her feet up on the couch, occasionally turning the pages of her book. It was a cozy scene, with Duke happily snuggled up close to her. From the way dinner had gone, he suspected if he approached Cassie, the temperature would instantly drop about forty degrees. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t confused by her frostiness. While their conversation earlier today hadn’t gone as smoothly as he would have liked, it hadn’t ended badly, or so he had thought. Ryan glanced at the clock. Thirty more minutes until Kate did her perimeter check, and he would be able to talk to Cassie privately. He wanted Cassie’s forgiveness, and to at the very least, be friends.
“So, are you going to do anything with those letters over there or am I going to die of old age first?” Kate asked, drawing him back to their Scrabble game.
“Sorry.” He sighed and gave his head a little shake. What he needed to do was get his mind back under control. Scanning his tiles, he spelled axed onto the board while Kate took a sip of her coffee. Her phone began vibrating and hopping across the kitchen island, banging against the Scrabble board and causing the tiles to rattle. Their eyes met, and his nerves lit up like a Christmas tree.
“MacIntosh. Yes. Copy that,” she said formally to whoever was on the other end of the line.
Cassie pushed a disgruntled Duke off the couch and joined them at the island. “Everything okay?”
Kate raised her eyes to Ryan. He knew that look, and it didn’t calm him. “Walter is on his way up,” she said. He nodded, agreeing with what Kate wasn’t saying. For the special agent in charge to come up here in person meant something was gravely wrong. Without hesitation, he took his position by the door, pulled back the blind and watched the headlights of Walter’s car traverse up the hill. He took his gun from its holster and looked for any sign that something was amiss with the vehicle.
“What’s going on?” Cassie asked.
“We’re about to find out,” Kate answered. “But for now, I’d like you to stay out of sight. Behind this corner, please,” Kate said, gently shoving Cassie into the hallway.
Surprisingly, Cassie didn’t argue, which told Ryan she was scared. He wished he could take that from her, but fear heightened the senses, and she just might need that. Walter parked his car in front of the house and plodded across the yard to the lit front porch. Nothing seemed suspicious, and yet Ryan remained on edge.
“Brrr,” Walter said, coming in with a waft of cold air. “It’s bitter out there.” He unwound his scarf and set it on the hook by the door along with his coat.
Since it was clear there was no immediate danger, Kate and Cassie came out from behind the corner. With a grim smile, Walter motioned them all over to the couch. He sat in the wingback chair adjacent to the fire and looked as drained as Ryan felt.
“Cassie, how are you doing?” Walter asked stiffly.
“Pretty good, all things considered.”
“Glad to hear that. I apologize for my abrupt appearance. But there’s been a couple of developments, one of which you need to be aware of.”
Cassie looked to Ryan, and he took her hand in his, not caring what Walter or Kate thought about it. “All right,” she said.
“The congressman’s security agent, Gabriel Finch, was murdered in a prison fight three days ago.”
A gasp escaped Cassie’s lips, and she slid her hand out of Ryan’s.
“Murdered,” she repeated. “Was The Wolf behind it?”
“It’s hard to say for sure.” Walter shrugged. “Everything is pointing toward a beef Gabriel was having with an inmate, but we’ll have to wait and see what the investigation turns up. At this point, we can’t rule out that The Wolf got a prisoner to tie up a loose end on his behalf.”
Cassie’s eyes narrowed shrewdly. “What does this mean for me?”
“I need to discuss that with my agents. But for now, it is one less person that wants you dead.”
Ryan coughed.
“Your agents and me,” Cassie said. “If this is about the direction my life is going to take, I should have a voice in this conversation.”
“Quite frankly, no,” Walter said, putting up a hand to silence Cassie’s further protest. “This is a federal investigation, and not everything is in your purview. Look, I’ve had a long drive, Cassie, and I need to speak with Kate and Ryan privately. I’m going to ask that you give us the room, please.”
Cassie looked to Ryan, her eyes pleading for him to insist she stay, but he remained quiet. If Walter were a different person, his request for privacy would have been handled more diplomatically, but there was no helping that right now. As much as he disagreed with how Walter was handling this situation, this was work. This wasn’t about Cassie’s feelings. Cassie could be mad at him all she wanted, but he, Kate and Walter had a job to do.
Bristling from the dismissal, Cassie rose stiffly from beside him. “Fine,” she said. “But I want it noted that Ryan does not make decisions for me.”
Walter nodded.
When she reached the bottom of the stairs, Cassie paused. “Duke, come.” With a jingle of dog tags, Duke found his place at her side.
Ryan sat still but could feel Cassie’s eyes burning through him. He focused on Walter’s polite smile as the man watched Cassie and Duke journey up the stairs. Walter waited until he heard the bedroom door click shut and then turned his attention fully onto Kate.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
Walter leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees.
“Look, there’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just going to say it. Kate, this afternoon someone set fire to your home.”
Her mouth dropped slightly open.
“Who? The Wolf?” Ryan asked, redirecting Walter’s attention and giving Kate time to collect herself.
“We’re awaiting final confirmation, but that’s what we’re thinking. The accelerant used at the Pine Springs cottage had a unique chemical makeup. Preliminary tests are showing it’s the same accelerant used at Kate’s house.” Walter reached out and squeezed Kate’s hand. “We didn’t expect The Wolf would turn and target you and your home like this. I’m sorry. I really am.”
“How bad is the damage?” she asked, shutting down his condolences.
“When firefighters arrived, your home was fully engulfed. There was nothing they could do to save it.”
Her eyes closed briefly.
“If you want to go and see it for yourself, I can have another agent replace you here,” Walter offered.
“No,” Kate said, her voice lacking all emotion.
“Are you sure?”
“I am.” She cleared her throat. “Investigators will have it sealed off. It’s not like I can go in and sift through the damage. I assume you have a car watching it.”
“I do,” Walter confirmed and then drew his gaze back to Ryan. “I’ve reached out to Logan, and he has officers watching your home in Bakerton. The Wolf is rapidly escalating, and the two of you appear to have targets on your back.”
Ryan steadied himself. “This changes the plan, doesn’t it?”
“It does,” Walter replied. “We were hoping that The Wolf would go underground until after Christmas, giving Cassie a few days to recoup, but that’s not the case. He’s on the warpath, so we have to assume an attack here could come at any time. I’ve ordered a small surveillance team to back you guys up, and they should be here shortly. But, Kate, if you need to tap out, now is the time. Are you good?”
A log crackled, then shifted in the fireplace.
Her eyes sparkled. “Trust me, I’m good.”