The wedding is two weeks away

If they survive until then…

Following a fire at the New Journeys women’s shelter, Deputy Tanner Dempsey is on high alert, and his fiancée, Bree Daniels, fears that one of the shelter’s clients is being targeted. Outmanned and outgunned, Tanner and Bree must make a last stand for justice and unravel the twisted plot of a dangerous sociopath. Will it be “’til death do us part” before they can say “I do”?

JANIE CROUCH has loved to read romance her whole life. This USA TODAY bestselling author cut her teeth on Mills & Boon novels as a preteen, then moved on to a passion for romantic suspense as an adult. Janie lives with her husband and four children overseas. She enjoys travelling, long-distance running, movie watching, knitting and adventure/obstacle racing. You can find out more about her at janiecrouch.com

Also by Janie Crouch

Calculated Risk

Security Risk

Constant Risk

Daddy Defender

Protector’s Instinct

Cease Fire

Special Forces Saviour

Fully Committed

Armoured Attraction

Man of Action

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Risk Everything

Janie Crouch

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-09439-9

RISK EVERYTHING

© 2019 Janie Crouch

Published in Great Britain 2019

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

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Note to Readers

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This book is dedicated to Marci Mathers.

Thank you for the years of support and friendship.

You mean the world to me.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Note to Readers

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

About the Publisher

Chapter One

In the past year Bree Daniels had been chased across the country, shot at, kidnapped, almost blown up, strangled and had watched the man she loved almost bleed to death right in front of her.

But she could honestly say none of that was as treacherous as what she was going through now.

Planning her wedding.

Seriously. When a bad guy with a gun or a knife came at you, you knew you were in trouble. But nobody suspected that agreeing to get married and giving the ladies of the small town where you’d made your home free rein in planning said nuptials was also just as dangerous.

If they were ever arrested, wedding planners would need their own special section in prison. In isolation. Because otherwise they would take over and rule the place, for sure.

For the past seven months the women of Risk Peak—mostly Cassandra, her good friend and future sister-in-law, and Cheryl, owner of the Sunrise Diner and surrogate mother to Bree—had tracked Bree down, no matter where she’d tried to hide, demanding answers to impossible questions of all types.

Like what kinds of flower arrangements Bree wanted. And whether she wanted a custard cream, buttercream or whipped cream to go along with the raspberry ganache in the cake.

When Bree had finally had a chance to look up what a ganache was, she wanted to throw her computer across the room. Why the heck hadn’t they just said raspberry filling?

The ladies were so enthusiastic about the event that Bree wasn’t even sure they would notice if she fled the state.

The thought had crossed her mind.

But she was trying to be more normal. Normal women were excited about all this wedding planning, right? Cassandra had shown her the scrapbook she’d made from the ages of seven to eighteen. That thing had roughly four million pages of pictures of wedding gowns, color schemes, flower types and bridesmaids’ dresses.

Bree had mentioned there were much better ways to organize the information electronically, but Cassandra had just rolled her eyes and said that wasn’t the point.

Bree wasn’t exactly sure what was the point, but she knew that most women were a lot more excited about this whole planning process than she was.

Bree just wanted to be Mrs. Tanner Dempsey. She wished she could go back in time and punch her past self in the face for not taking him up on his offer/threat to drag her in front of the nearest county judge and get married right away after they’d gotten engaged.

Well, the second time they’d gotten engaged.

The first time he’d asked her it had been right after a monster from her past had almost blown them both up. They’d been covered in smoke, bleeding and a little shaky on their feet. But Tanner had dropped to one knee right there and asked her to marry him, not wanting to wait a second longer.

The second time, a few weeks later on Valentine’s Day, Tanner had taken her deep into the land of the ranch they both loved and asked her again—so romantically—at sunset, the gorgeous Rocky Mountains in the distance.

He’d explained that when she told their grandkids about how he’d asked her to marry him, he wanted this to be the story she would tell.

She planned to tell both.

But the next day when Tanner had threatened to drag her to get married right then, she should’ve taken him up on it.

Maybe then she wouldn’t be going through the most vicious of wedding planning torture: the gown fittings. The gown everything. She’d almost rather be on the run for her life than be twisted, pulled on, poked and prodded and, worst of all, oohed over.

“My brother is going to lose his…stuff when he sees you in this wedding gown.”

Cassandra Dempsey Martin was the only person Bree knew who could out curse a seasoned sailor yet still be in tears at the sight of the wedding gown.

Cheryl grabbed Cassandra’s hand that was fluttering emotionally in midair and nodded. “Oh, honey, it really does look more gorgeous every time you put it on.”

Bree grimaced. “It’s just so much money to spend on a dress that I’m only going to wear once. That’s just so impractical. Why would I do this?”

It went against every instinct Bree had to be impractical. She was nothing if not logical, orderly and pragmatic.

Cassandra rolled her eyes. “It’s your wedding dress. It’s supposed to be impractical. Because if you do it right, you only do it once. Because you deserve to wear a beautiful gown walking down the aisle. And besides, it’s really not that much for a wedding dress. Most gowns cost five times that much.”

Bree just stared at herself in the three-way mirror. She had to admit, it was a beautiful, elaborate dress. It made her waist seem trimmer, and her hips, which had filled out to a much more feminine shape over the last few months since she was eating regularly and not on the run for her life, flared nicely under the material.

But it was too fancy. Too much lace. Too many sequins. Too much of that itchy white stuff. It was a gorgeous gown, but it just wasn’t her. She shouldn’t have let herself be talked into it, but Cheryl and Dan—the people who had taken her in when she first arrived in Risk Peak basically living out of her car—had insisted on buying her a gown. Then Bree had made the mistake of taking Cassandra and a group of their friends shopping with her for one.

She’d put this gown on in the dressing room with the associate’s help and then almost taken it back off again. It was too fancy. But the damned associate had talked her into showing it to her friends.

There was so much crying and cursing from her friends when they saw the dress, Bree figured they must know something she didn’t. And when it came to dresses, that was a lot. So she’d gotten it.

And it was still just as beautiful. She couldn’t deny that.

Plus, if she was honest, she could admit it wasn’t really even the dress that had her in such a tizzy. It was the fact that in two weeks she was going to have to stand up in front of over five hundred people—that was more people than she’d ever talked to in her entire life combined—and say her vows to Tanner. Vows they’d agreed to personalize and write themselves.

If Bree speaking in front of a huge group of people about her emotions wasn’t a recipe for disaster, she didn’t know what was. The elegant bride in the beautiful dress looking back at her from the mirror broke out into a sweat at the thought.

She’d been engaged to Tanner for seven months. In love with him since almost the first moment she’d met him months before that. But she was only just now getting to the point where she could make coherent sentences about her emotions directly to him alone. He didn’t seem to mind when she stuttered over words or blurted out often socially inappropriate declarations. He took it in stride and had learned how to “speak Bree fluently,” as he called it.

But it wouldn’t be just Tanner at the wedding in two weeks. It would be a bunch of people who didn’t speak Bree fluently. She was going to make a complete fool out of herself and embarrass him. She already knew it. And didn’t see any way to get around it.

“Hey, do you really not like it that much? You look gorgeous.” Cassandra made eye contact with Bree in the mirror as she peeked over her shoulder.

“No, it’s not the dress.” Not just the dress, although the dress was pretty much an icon for the fraud Bree felt like. “It’s the whole wedding. I’m just not good at this stuff, you know that.”

Cassandra grinned. “You’re not giving yourself enough credit for how far you’ve come in the last few months. Think about what we’ve done with New Journeys.”

Cheryl smiled her encouragement too. “A far cry from that exhausted woman who fell asleep at the diner table over a year ago.”

The seamstress came in and positioned Bree’s arms to do the pinnings for the final fitting. Cassandra was right in a lot of ways. When Bree moved here a year ago, she’d barely known how to talk to anyone. Now she was helping run a very successful women’s shelter program. It had grown so big that a few months ago they’d had to move into a larger facility.

“New Journeys still doesn’t mean I’m not going to make a complete idiot out of myself in front of the town during the ceremony.” Bree spun in the opposite direction when the seamstress motioned for her to do so. “Good thing we’re not going to split the aisles between the bride’s side and the groom’s side. My side would be so empty we might tip over the whole church.”

Bree’s only family was her cousin Melissa. She and her husband, Chris, and their twin nineteen-month-olds were coming, and Bree was so thrilled to see the babies that had first brought her and Tanner together. But it still didn’t make up for the fact that Tanner had been born and raised in Risk Peak and knew half the residents of Grand County personally.

Cassandra shook her head. “You know people here love you. Mom would probably sit on your side. I definitely would. We both like you better than Tanner anyway.”

Bree laughed as the seamstress finished her pinning and began to carefully take off the lovely gown. Cassandra was right—the people in Risk Peak cared about her. She needed to remember that.

And try to live through her own wedding.

An hour later, Bree and Cassandra were pulling up to the three-story office building on the outskirts of Risk Peak that had been converted into apartments and bedrooms for the shelter. The stress from the wedding planning and dress fitting melted away when Bree saw it. This place gave her purpose. This place made a difference in women’s lives.

Bree knew what it was like to live in fear and feel like she had no options. If she could help take that same heavy sense of despair from another woman, she would gladly do it. She’d been teaching computer skills to the women at New Journeys for the past seven months; Cassandra offered training in basic cosmetology for those interested in that route.

Cassandra and Bree walked in the main front door that opened into the hallway and expansive living room of New Journeys. The living room was giant—they’d deliberately knocked out a number of walls when they remodeled the place to give the room a wide-open feel. A television sat in one corner with a couch and a couple of chairs around it. A second corner had been turned into a giant reading nook, with books of every kind and for every age. The other end of the room held a table with a half-completed jigsaw puzzle and board games stacked on a corner shelf.

This was the family room, even for the people here, many of whom struggled to understand what a family was supposed to feel like. Family was another concept Bree hadn’t understood very well before meeting Tanner and coming to live in Risk Peak.

She hung her lightweight jacket on a wall hook and looked around. Even May in Colorado could be cool. Everything was as it should be—loud and relaxed. Women talking, kids laughing, the TV on in the background, the dog running around in circles after its own tail. Late afternoon tended to be a boisterous time around here.

“Bree Cheese!”

Bree smiled at the sound of the two small voices calling her name from the table and chairs over in the corner. It was one of her favorite sounds in the entire world.

Sam and Eva, seven and five years old respectively, were the two children of Marilyn Ellis. They’d lived here for four months with their mom.

Marilyn had been Bree’s best computer student to date. Even though the woman hadn’t graduated from high school, nor gone to college, she picked up the computer classes Bree taught with the ease of a natural.

And had also become one of Bree’s good friends to the point that she was even going to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. Little Eva was going to be the flower girl.

“You guys should let Miss Bree get in the door before you start screaming your heads off for her,” Marilyn admonished softly. Marilyn did everything softly. In the four months Bree had known her, she had never once heard the other woman raise her voice.

Bree didn’t know everything about Marilyn’s situation before she arrived in Risk Peak, but she knew her husband had put her in the hospital and was now awaiting trial. Marilyn and the kids had been some of the first residents at New Journeys. And when they’d opened the new facility, Marilyn had agreed to take a full-time job as the building facilitator and sort of den mom.

She excelled at it.

“Of course I want to see these two as soon as I come in the door.” Bree pulled the kids in for a hug. “Who wouldn’t want a squad of rug rats chanting their name first thing?”

And it was true. To see how Eva and Sam were blossoming made it worth any possible crazy name the kids might call her. Including Bree Cheese, which had been the compromise between them calling her Bree the way she had wanted, and Miss Daniels, the way Marilyn wanted.

“Schoolwork, you two. Got to make sure you’re ready for next week’s camping trip.” Marilyn pointed back to the table. The kids moaned and tromped forward like they were headed to the guillotine.

Bree laughed at their dramatics, delighting in it. Just a few months ago they would’ve never acted that way. “Their teacher must be pretty mean.”

Marilyn gave a small smile. She was their teacher since she’d decided to teach them at home for the rest of this school year rather than add the trauma of a new school to an already traumatic year. “They’re so excited about the camping, I can hardly get an hour’s worth of work out of them.”

“Understandable.” Bree smiled once more.

“Everything okay here while we were gone?” Cassandra asked.

“Nothing of particular interest. That pipe in the hall bath is still leaking a little.”

“And no word about Jared?” Bree asked softly.

Marilyn flinched at the sound of her estranged husband’s name before smoothing her features. “Nothing either way.”

Jared’s lawyer was trying to get him out on bail, something Marilyn definitely didn’t want happening.

“Okay, good.” Bree nodded. “Keep us posted.”

“I will. Although finding out details isn’t easy. Ironically, because of privacy issues.” Marilyn sighed softly and looked over at Eva and Sam. “The kids are sad that Chandler is gone.”

Bree met Cassandra’s eyes and then looked at Marilyn, all of them giving resigned nods. Chandler’s mother, Angel, had been here three weeks. Two days ago, she’d decided to move back in with her boyfriend, despite the violent situation that had originally caused her to leave in the first place.

Angel said her boyfriend had changed. Had made promises.

Bree didn’t know which was harder: seeing the hope in the other woman’s eyes or knowing that the chances her boyfriend had changed after multiple years of abuse were pretty nonexistent.

And poor Chandler was caught in the middle of it all.

It wasn’t the first time someone from New Journeys had decided to return to a less than optimal situation. It had taken both Bree and Cassandra quite a bit of time to come to grips with the fact that not everyone could make the permanent break from their abusive situations. For some, the unknown was harder to deal with than the pain.

But it still sometimes broke Bree’s heart.

All they could do was provide what they could: a safe place and a new set of skills so that these women could support themselves, get back up on their feet and move on with their lives.

People like Marilyn were a prime example of why places like New Journeys was needed. She had made a huge difference in her own life once she had just a little help. But it was also needed for people like Angel who found the steps so much more difficult to take.

Bree and Cassandra grabbed cups of coffee, and they all came back into the family room to chat about all the daily things that needed tending to here. Half the building still hadn’t been renovated yet. New Journeys had quite a bit of private funding thanks to the Matarazzo family, who worked with some law enforcement group named Omega Sector in Colorado Springs, but renovating everything at once would have been too much to handle on multiple levels.

They currently had sixteen residents in the building, about three-quarters of its current capacity, and roughly one-third of what the building would be able to house once all the renovations were finished.

New Journeys had gone out of their way to make themselves particularly welcoming to women with children, so over half of the residents now had children with them—babies up through middle-school age.

Which explained the noise level in the room right now. None of the three women paid much attention to it. Cassandra and Marilyn were used to it since they had their own kids, and Bree just loved the chaos of it all.

But when the room fell almost completely silent a few moments later she sadly knew what had happened. A man had walked into the room. Bree forced herself not to tense or turn around to see who it was. How she reacted would influence how everyone else reacted.

Cassandra winked at her—able to see who was in the doorway—and a half smile pulled at Bree’s face as she heard giggles a few moments later. She knew exactly what man had walked into the room.

Hers.

Chapter Two

Tanner kept his stance neutral, his posture relaxed as he made his way into the silent room. Susan, one of the residents here, knew him and had let him in the side kitchen door when he’d knocked.

Nobody got into New Journeys who wasn’t invited. Every door had double reinforced locks and a security code. Nobody could just wander in from the streets and enter the building. With all the time Bree spent here, and with as many violent offenders the residents of New Journeys had contact with, Tanner had personally made sure of it.

Tanner knew the code, of course, and had a key to let himself in if there was an emergency, but he’d never done so. The women and children who lived here needed to know they were safe from both danger and from uninvited men just wandering around, even those who didn’t mean harm.

Case in point, the silence that fell over the large living room when he entered. Every child stopped what they were doing—playing, homework, talking—and stared at him.

He wasn’t sure if his Grand County Sheriff’s Office uniform helped or hindered his attempt to set a positive example of what a man should be. Some of these women and children had received no help from law enforcement when they’d needed it most.

He stood in the doorway for a long moment, a smile on his face, arms resting loosely at his sides as everyone processed who he was and that he meant no one here any harm. It didn’t take them more than a couple of seconds to get past their instinctive fear.

He grinned as big as he could, then brought his finger up to his lips, telling all the kids to keep quiet. Using exaggerated motions, he pretended to sneak up behind Bree. The kids began to giggle, knowing both Cassandra and Marilyn could see him and weren’t concerned, so they didn’t have to be either.

“You can’t escape the kissing monster,” he said in a deep, Muppet-sounding voice. He began pecking at the top of her head, her cheeks, her shoulders, from where she sat in the chair at the table.

Bree played along, like he’d known she would. “Oh, no, not the kissing monster.”

Giggles broke out all over the room, then turned into laughing noises of disgust as Bree finally turned her head up and Tanner kissed her—very chastely—on the lips.

It was their routine. It had started out in jest, but when they’d realized how much some of these children, and their moms, needed to see men in a more easygoing, positive light, it had become a regular part of their day as Tanner picked her up to escort her home.

The noise in the room fell back to its dull roar, everyone returning to their activities now that the show was over, as Bree stood up and smiled at him.

Those green eyes still gutted him just as much now as they had the first time he saw her shoplifting in the drugstore over a year ago.

“Hi,” she whispered.

He looped an arm around her waist and pulled her close, but he didn’t kiss her the way he wanted to, mindful of the audience who might not be actively watching but were still aware of their every move. “Hi, yourself. Good day?”

He knew she’d had a wedding dress fitting today, and that that event tended to stress her out.

But he was also a man and knew better than to try to offer any advice or help. That would probably just get him killed. Not by Bree, but definitely by Cassandra or one of the other women in the throes of wedding planning bliss.

“Let’s just say I’ll be happy two weeks from now when all this is over and I never have to be the center of attention again.”

He trailed a finger down her cheek and leaned closer to make sure no one could hear them. “You may not be the center of the town’s attention, but I can promise you that once you are Mrs. Dempsey, you very definitely will be the center of my attention.”

He loved how her breath hitched and her mouth formed a little O shape.

“Hey, you two,” Cassandra’s voice rang out. “There are little eyes everywhere.”

Tanner was well aware of that. It was the only reason he didn’t have Bree pushed up against the wall kissing the life out of her.

He forced himself to take a step back. “I’ll behave.”

The look of disappointment on Bree’s face was almost the death of him. Whoever’s idea it had been not to have sex for the last two months before their wedding was a complete idiot.

Oh, yeah, that was him.

He forced himself to step away and sat down to talk about New Journeys and any issues. What happened here affected him on multiple levels. Personally, because of his tie to Bree and Cassandra. Professionally, because he was the captain of the sheriff’s department for this section of the county. Whatever he could do to help keep these women safe and secure, he was more than willing to do.

Sometimes that meant grabbing a hammer and drill and helping hang some pictures or adjust some light fixtures. Tanner didn’t mind. As a matter of fact, he and his brother, Noah, had been spending quite a few hours here during their time off. Both of them also realized that they were doing a lot more than some random honey-do list items by showing up week after week. They were trying, in some small way, to reclaim part of what had been lost by the years of violence perpetrated against the residents here.

It wasn’t enough. Wouldn’t ever be enough. But at least it was something.

Bree was talking schedules with Cassandra and Marilyn when Tanner felt a tug on his sleeve. He knew who it was before he even looked by how Marilyn’s eyes tracked the entire situation.

“Why, hello there, princess.”

Eva smiled up at him. “Hi, Captain Lips.”

Tanner managed not to grimace at his nickname. Bree had made the mistake of calling him by her private nickname for him—Captain Hot Lips—in front of Cassandra. His sister, never one to let a humiliating situation die naturally, started calling him that all the time. But at least the kids had overheard only part of it, and thus the nickname Captain Lips.

But this sweet child could call him anything she wanted if it meant she felt free enough to come talk to him.

Sam was standing next to her silently, not making eye contact with Tanner, but prepared to step in as best he could to protect his sister if needed. Tanner had nothing but respect for that.

“You ready for the camping trip next week?” he asked Eva. “You’re going to have a great time.”

Eva nodded vehemently, but her little face scrunched up as she pointed at the dog standing between her and Sam. “Mom says Tromso can’t go.”

Tanner reached down and petted the oversize pup named after the city in Norway where thousands of people flock every year to see the northern lights. Since the pup’s mom was named Corfu, after an island in Greece, the name sort of fit.

“Yeah, Tromso’s not quite ready for that type of adventure yet. He might get into something poisonous or run off before we could grab him. Better let him stay here where he’ll be nice and safe.”

Eva considered him soberly. “That’s probably true. Mom says Tromso can find trouble faster than anyone she’s ever seen.”

As if to make her point, the dog began pushing at Eva with his nose, wanting her to play. Eva giggled—a beautiful sound. Even Sam looked up and smiled when Tromso put his wet nose against the boy’s stomach.

Eva let out a sigh. “Mom also says we’ve got to get all our schoolwork done or we can’t go.”

Tanner couldn’t imagine any circumstances under which Marilyn wasn’t going to allow her children to go on this beloved camping trip, but he didn’t let that cat out of the bag. “You guys better work hard then. It would be a shame to miss it.”

“Do you think Mr. Noah will come back this Saturday?” Sam asked softly, staring down and rubbing at some invisible stain in the carpet with his foot. “He and I were supposed to finish hanging the shower rod in the new bathroom.”

“I’m sure he will,” Tanner said, knowing that even if his brother had to break plans, he would be here if it meant Sam wouldn’t be disappointed. Kid had already been let down too many times in his life.

Tanner’s words seemed to be all the encouragement the children needed. They made a beeline back to the table with their work. Marilyn mouthed the words thank you to him. He just smiled.

Tanner waited as Bree finished her discussions with the other women, listening and commenting when they asked for his opinion. He loved how confident Bree had become since starting her position here. He could still remember the first night Cassandra had mentioned the possibility and how Bree had scoffed at the thought of being able to teach others. But now she was much more easily able to speak her mind and share her opinions, at least with small groups. She’d battled through her fears and had come out on the other side stronger for it.

He couldn’t wait to make this woman his wife.

Holding her hand after dinner at the Sunrise Diner, Tanner walked her to her apartment on the outskirts of town. Most of her stuff was already at his ranch house—soon to be their house—on the land he shared with Noah. But neither of them trusted themselves to keep the no-sex agreement if they were both sleeping under the same roof. So Bree had been staying back at her apartment for the last two months.

He was definitely an idiot to have suggested the no-sex plan.

Bree sighed softly as they walked into her apartment. Tanner pulled her up against him.

“Please tell me that sigh means you’re going to call me a moron for suggesting we not have sex until the wedding.” He reached down and began nibbling at her lips. “Because I feel like that was the most stupid thing I’ve ever said in my entire life.”

He rubbed up against her like a damned teenager. Bree smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“No, this particular sigh was concerning Marilyn.”

Tanner took a breath and forced himself to step back.

“About her position at New Journeys? I thought she was doing a good job.”

She shook her head. “No, she’s doing a wonderful job. Cassandra and I both know that neither of us could do as good a job as Marilyn is doing. She just mentioned that her husband might get out on bail. She’s concerned for her and the kids.”

Tanner couldn’t blame the woman for that. “Because of the restraining order and the violence against her, she should be notified right away if her husband makes bail.” He reached over and slid both his hands under Bree’s hair on either side of her neck. “I’ve seen the police report for what happened to Marilyn. No judge is going to let him out on bail knowing what he tried to do.”

“I just don’t want anything to happen to her or the kids.”

He pulled her closer and kissed her forehead. He loved her protectiveness of her friend. “Have I mentioned how excited I am to be marrying you in just a couple more weeks? Cass said you had some wedding stuff to deal with today. Did it go okay?”

“Yeah. Wedding dress fitting.” She didn’t sound too thrilled.

“I can’t wait to see you in it.” Bree’s taste in clothing leaned toward casual. And as much as he loved it when she stole one of his shirts to tie at her waist and wear with her jeans—or even better, wore only his shirt and nothing else—he was truly looking forward to that first glance at her walking down the aisle.

She sighed. “Are you sure I can’t talk you into dragging me in front of the nearest judge like you once threatened?”

“I’m pretty sure the women of this town, led by my sister, would string up you and me both by our toes if we eloped.”

Bree laughed. The sound was soft and simple and genuinely happy. He was looking forward to hearing that sound for the next fifty years or so.

She chewed on her lip for just a moment, then stepped a little closer, trailing one finger up his chest. “Are you sure I can’t talk you into going before a judge tomorrow morning? You can outrun a bunch of women. You’re Captain Hot Lips.”

Her own little hot lips pressed against his, her tongue running against the seam of his mouth, before biting down gently with her teeth. “If we knew we were getting married in front of the judge tomorrow,” she continued, “there would be no reason for us not to make love right here, right now, against this wall. Doesn’t that sound like the best plan ever?”

He could feel her smiling against his mouth as he reached under her thighs and picked her up, trapping her body between the wall and his torso. They both let out a groan as her legs came around his hips and brought them flush up against one another.

“There’s nothing I want more than to peel you out of those clothes and spend the rest of the night making love to you on every available surface in this apartment,” he growled into her mouth.

She let out a gasp as his lips found the side of her neck. It may have been two months since he’d last seen her naked, but he definitely remembered every single spot on her body that could drive her crazy.

“Then do it,” she said. “I won’t let the meanie town ladies hurt you. I just want to be married to you tomorrow.”

Using every ounce of self-control he had, Tanner forced himself to ease Bree back down onto her feet and step away from her.

Two more weeks. He wanted to do this right. Wanted the next time they made love to be as husband and wife.

“We will get married. But in the church in front of all our family and friends, the way it should be. The way you deserve. I want everyone in this county—hell, the entire state—to know that you are who I very proudly choose as my wife. I don’t want there to be any mistake about that, no rumored whispers that might accompany a quick trip to the judge.”

She genuinely looked disappointed. “Fine.”

He chuckled. “The wedding won’t be as bad as you think.”

“For you, maybe. You don’t have to wear the scratchy white netting stuff.”

“Tulle?”

“Damn it, how does everyone know the name of that material except me?”

He reached over and kissed her again. “You wear tulle for me for just a few hours and then you never have to wear it again.”

“Promise?” she whispered.

“Absolutely. As a matter of fact, after we’re married, I’m going to do my best to make sure you spend as much time as possible wearing nothing at all.”

Chapter Three

Damn Tanner and his smooth talking. Five hours after he left, Bree still couldn’t sleep.

Part of it was being wound up from their heavy make-out session against the wall. The other part was the fact that she hadn’t been able to talk him into going before the judge, so those damn vows were still coming up and she had no idea what she was going to say.

I will love you forever and always my whole life, you and no one else.

Yeah, that was perfect.

If she was looking for complete stupidity meets Braveheart.

Bree punched the pillow beside her. Why were emotions so hard for her? Why did there seem to be so many variables that she had to take into consideration when writing these vows?

And why couldn’t she get any sleep?

A few minutes later she finally just gave up and decided to go work in her office at the New Journeys building. Sitting at her own desk with her computer would at least be more familiar. And it had to be more useful than lying here tossing and turning in bed.

Twenty minutes later, dressed in a sweatshirt and yoga pants, she discovered that staring at a blank screen on her computer in her office was, in fact, just as bad as tossing and turning in bed.

She had nothing.

What the hell was she supposed to say to explain to the man she loved that she loved him?

Wasn’t actually getting married enough of a declaration?

And the tulle? Wasn’t tulle enough of a declaration of love, for heaven’s sake? A solemn description of what agonies she was willing to bear for him?

When no other words or ideas came to her, she did the only thing she knew how to do: she opened her browser and began coding. Within fifteen minutes she had a program written that would automatically filter every mention of wedding vows from the internet and into a folder. She may not be able to write these vows herself but she could at least research—

She froze, head spinning to the side as something caught her peripheral vision on one of the black-and-white monitors on the table in the corner. What the heck was that?

Those monitors were set to the cameras recording the section of the building that hadn’t been remodeled yet. Bree and Cassandra had installed them after some town teenagers were caught having a little rowdy fun back there. Bree had written a quick program that caused the cameras only to record if motion was detected.

Evidently motion had been detected.

Bree’s fingers flew across the keyboard so she could bring up the footage on her computer monitor, which provided a much larger and clearer picture of the uninhabited area. Except the picture wasn’t much clearer. It took her a moment to realize it wasn’t because of a problem with her computer, but because the room was full of smoke.

The building was on fire.

Bree grabbed the phone on her desk and dialed 911.

“Grand County emergency services. You’ve reached 911. What’s your emergency?”

“Debbie, it’s Bree Daniels.” Recognizing the 911 operator was definitely one of the perks of living in a small town. “There’s a fire at New Journeys. Not in the main section, thank God, but it might spread. Send the fire trucks around to the back to the section that hasn’t been renovated yet. I’m going to see if I can get it under control with the fire extinguisher.”

“Now wait a minute, Bree. You need to stay on the line with me so we can direct the first responder—”

Bree didn’t wait for Debbie to finish her sentence. The woman had lived in Risk Peak her whole life. She knew exactly where to send the first responders.

Bree grabbed the fire extinguisher in the corner of her office and dashed out into the hall, yanking down the fire alarm. Her office was on the opposite end of the housing area—uniquely situated between the residential space and the area that hadn’t been renovated. Pulling the alarm would be the quickest way to get everyone out without having to run down to the living quarters herself.

Because maybe she could stop this whole thing before it got out of hand.

Once the alarm was blaring, she dashed back into her office and out the door on the other side that took her into the section of the building where the fire was located. She started in a sprint down the hall to the room where the motion had triggered the camera, but soon slowed. Already smoke was starting to fill the hallway.

The farther down the hall Bree went, the thicker the smoke became. Would she be able to put out a blaze making this much smoke with a single fire extinguisher? She had to try.

She heard some sort of screeching noise ahead of her and started to run again, coughing as she took in more smoke. Was somebody trapped back here? Teenagers fooling around again who accidentally started a fire and got trapped?

She turned the corner and dropped low in the thick smoke, crawling forward now. It almost sounded like someone was calling her name, but she couldn’t tell from where. The smoke and her own coughing had her disoriented already, and that screeching noise was growing louder.

Someone had to be trapped in there. She pushed forward faster.

Extinguisher in one hand, she reached for the door handle with the other and let out a shriek when an arm wrapped around her waist and lifted her off her knees, spinning her around.

“Oh, no you don’t,” a voice said in her ear. “You’re not getting out of the tulle that easily.”

“Tanner.” His name came out in a relieved cough. “There’s a fire. I heard a noise and I think someone was calling my name. It’s behind that door.”

“That was me calling your name. We’ve got to go.”

She gestured toward the door. “But what about the noise? There may be someone trapped in there.”

The screeching noise got higher and louder and Tanner muttered a curse under his breath, tucking his arm around her and launching her toward the corner. They just made it around and she was about to argue her case again when a thundering explosion roared from where they’d just been standing. Smoke encased the hall from top to bottom.

“What—” Bree stuttered.

“Too many accelerants in a construction area. It was like a pressure cooker.”

A pressure cooker that would’ve killed her if Tanner hadn’t been there to stop her from opening that door and get her out of the hallway.

Taking the fire extinguisher, he tucked her under his arm again and propelled them both back toward her office. Once there she was at least able to breathe again.

“You’re going to have to let the firefighters go after that blaze, freckles. There’s nothing you can do. Let’s just get everybody out of the front of the building.”

She nodded, sucking in huge gulps of air. “You saved my life. I just called 911 a couple minutes ago. How did you get here so fast?”

“I was already here when you pulled the alarm.”

They rushed together toward the housing units.

“You were? Why?”

He stopped for the briefest of seconds and gave her a hard kiss, before taking her arm and spurring her down the hall once again. “I went by your apartment to tell you I wanted both. We could go before the judge tomorrow and have the church wedding in two weeks. All I knew was I had to have you in bed with me tonight. When you weren’t there, I came over here to plead my case.”

“Holy hell,” she whispered, then coughed again. “If you hadn’t needed a booty call…”

She would’ve been dead.

He gave a short bark of laughter and shook his head grimly at the same time. “Yeah. Thank God I’m addicted to you.”

A few moments later they were in the housing area.

“Bree!” Marilyn said. “What’s going on? Is this some sort of drill?”

Bree was still coughing from the smoke she’d taken in and her run down both hallways.

“No,” Tanner answered for her. “Not a drill. Everybody needs to get out. There’s a fire in the other section of the building.”

The panic was almost instantaneous. Mothers began calling for their children and some of the other women yelled for anyone who might still be asleep. Most of the kids were crying and Eva and Sam were looking up at Bree and Tanner, eyes huge in their pale faces, Tromso’s leash in their hand.

Bree couldn’t stop coughing. It paired horribly with the dog’s whining.

Tanner put both hands on her shoulders. “You need to get outside and stop exerting yourself.” He turned to Marilyn. “Can she take the kids outside and you and I will get everyone else out?”

Marilyn nodded.

Bree started to argue but another coughing fit overtook her. Tanner was right—he and Marilyn would get everyone out. The most she could do to help right now would be to get out of the way. She nodded and offered Eva and Sam her hands. They took them and she led them quickly outside, some of the other residents along with them.

Outside was pure chaos. Lights from fire trucks, police cars and ambulances lit up their block like it was some sort of disco rave party. Half the town was frantically pacing back and forth, and everyone seemed to be talking all at once.

Eva and Sam were looking even more traumatized, so Bree pulled them back toward the outer edge of the action. She wanted to reassure them, but every time she started talking she was besieged by coughs. So she just crouched beside them and put an arm around each small, shivering body.

It wasn’t long before a paramedic came up to her.

“Miss, I think we ought to get your cough checked out. Can you come with me?”

She shook her head. She wasn’t leaving Sam and Eva alone in this craziness. “I’ll stay with them,” she managed to get out.

The paramedic smiled at the kids. “Yeah, this is pretty nuts, isn’t it?”

They both nodded solemnly.

He gave Bree a kind smile. “This sort of situation can be pretty overwhelming for folks their age, especially in the middle of the night. But you really ought to get that cough checked out. How about if I escort you over to the ambulance, and I’ll personally stay with the kiddos to make sure they’re not scared.”

“I don’t know—”

“I can keep them over at the side, out of harm’s way and where it’s not so chaotic. Probably best for everyone that way.” He gave her a smile.

Bree was about to agree, but then she looked down at Sam and Eva, who still hadn’t said a word. One silent tear rolled down Sam’s cheek and he was clutching Tromso’s leash with shaking fingers.

No. She wasn’t leaving them. She didn’t care if she had to hack up a lung until Tanner and Marilyn arrived.

“I’m fine. I’ll stay with them,” she whispered.

The paramedic looked like he was going to argue, but then there was some yelling closer to the building, so he shrugged and took off. Bree sat watching the burning building, clutching two tiny hands in hers, trying to establish the extent of the damage in the dark. And offering up constant prayers that no one had been hurt.

When Tanner jogged over to her a couple minutes later, she didn’t resist at all as he pulled her against his chest. He smelled like smoke, but she was sure she smelled the same. “Everybody’s out and accounted for. Doesn’t look like anyone was hurt or that there was much damage to the living quarters.”

Marilyn clutched her kids to her and they all watched the firefighters attack the blaze in the back of the building. It looked like most of it was contained back there, not the living quarters, but it was impossible to tell.

More townspeople continued to gather around. Tanner had to step up into his role of law enforcement when some teenagers kept trying to get too close to record for social media what was mostly now just smoke.

The blaze was completely out before Bree let Tanner lead her over to one of the ambulances so she could be examined. The younger, female paramedic was quite a bit less friendly than the guy Bree had met outside, stuffing an oxygen mask over Bree’s face and suggesting she go to the hospital for follow-up. Bree didn’t want to go but knew from the determined look in Tanner’s eyes there would be a trip to get her lungs checked out in the next few hours. She might as well get it out of the way tonight.

Because it looked like there was going to be a whole lot of stuff requiring her attention tomorrow.

Chapter Four

Tanner had almost lost Bree.

Two days later that knowledge still wasn’t ever very far out of his mind. If he’d gotten there one minute later, if he hadn’t been thinking with his libido rather than his brain, she would’ve opened that door and provided the fire somewhere to escape.

And the escape would’ve been straight through her.

She hadn’t been aware that the screeching noise they heard from inside the room was from the fire building in intensity. Opening the door would’ve provided more oxygen to the flames and caused them to engulf her.

If she’d opened that door, they would’ve been planning the final details of a funeral today rather than a wedding. Fear still clawed inside his gut at the thought, as he sat staring at the charred remains of the doorway.

“Pretty jarring to look at, isn’t it?” Grand County fire inspector Randall Abrahams said from behind Tanner.

It would take a couple of days before the official report would be filed and Tanner could act on it, so Randall had agreed to meet Tanner out here as a personal favor in order to try to get this wrapped up before the wedding.

“You have no idea. Bree almost opened that door.”

Randall whistled through his teeth. “If she had, this definitely would’ve been a homicide investigation rather than plain old arson.”

Tanner turned. “You’re sure it was arson? There were a lot of building supplies and leftover stuff from the construction. Maybe not stored properly or something. An accident could’ve lit it on fire.”

Randall walked around Tanner and entered the room where the blaze had started. “That was our initial thought.”

“But something changed your mind.” It wasn’t a question.

“When we talked to your fiancée, we found out that she had put a security camera in here. That’s how she realized the building was on fire so quickly—the camera turned on when the smoke and blaze got big enough to trigger the motion detector.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Did you help rig that camera? Know anything about it?”

Tanner shook his head. “Not a whole lot. Cassandra and Bree wanted to do it themselves. I gave them a couple good camera suggestions and then looked it over once they had it hung. Seemed fine to me.”

“But someone could’ve sneaked by the camera?”

“Yeah, definitely.” Tanner shrugged, looking around. “They were just trying to keep teenagers out of trouble, not provide full-fledged security for an empty section of the building.”

“Camera was up in that corner, right?”

“Yes.” Tanner took a step farther into the room with the older man, stepping carefully around the debris left by the fire and the hoses. “Do you think someone sneaked in around the camera and lit the fire? I checked the footage first thing and there was nothing. Just the blaze itself.”

“Did you go back any further than the night of the fire?”

Tanner nodded, still looking around at the mess. “Yeah, just in case someone had been hiding in here. Nothing had triggered the camera in the forty-eight hours before the fire. The footage doesn’t keep more than that.”

“Let me show you what we found.”

Randall and Tanner stepped carefully through the debris until they were standing in the corner of the room directly under where the camera had been located before it was destroyed in the fire.

“You’re gonna have to tell me what you want me to see, because it all looks like the bottom of my fire pit to me,” Tanner told him.

Randall pulled out a plastic evidence bag from his pocket. “This is what I want you to see, and this corner was where we found it.”

Tanner took the bag, squinting at it as he held it up. Randall didn’t keep him in suspense.

“It’s a timer. We found parts of it and a pretty sophisticated detonation device in this corner. Somebody very definitely set this fire.”

Tanner let out a low curse. “A sophisticated detonator goes well beyond some kids playing a prank or a firebug who wanted to watch a building burn.”

“I agree. This was set with deliberate intent to go off exactly when it did. And I think someone broke in here ahead of time and planted the device and timer. It could’ve been a while ago, but every day it sat here, it risked detection.”

Tanner ran a hand through his hair. “So it was probably in the last couple of days. And if there’s no record of it in the footage, that means whoever sneaked in here knew where that camera was located and how to avoid it.”

This had just become much more serious than any of them had counted on.

Tanner studied the evidence bag and its contents. “But to what end? Were they trying to blow up the whole building? Kill everyone?”

Randall shook his head. “No. If anything, the opposite. I know Bree was here and called the fire department much more quickly than would’ve occurred on any other night. But the way this fire was set up, it would’ve burned itself out before it ever got to the inhabited side of the building. I don’t think it was meant to harm anyone.”

“Well, it damn nearly harmed Bree.”

Randall gave an apologetic shrug. “That’s true, but on any other given night she wouldn’t have been here.”

“So, we are looking at some sort of explosives expert?”

What the hell would one be doing at a women’s shelter? Especially if they weren’t trying to blow the building up? This didn’t make a lot of sense.

“Not necessarily. Yes, an explosives expert would know how to do all of this and it’s definitely beyond what your normal amateur pyromaniac is involved with. But there are certain jobs—military, construction, even some welding jobs—that would also provide that sort of knowledge. Or it could be hired out.”

“I liked this much better when I thought it might be a run-of-the-mill arsonist just trying to burn the place down. Now we’re talking about someone with a specific skill set who also has studied New Journeys enough to know the basics about their security and what would or wouldn’t happen in a fire.”

“I don’t blame you there. A pyro may be a pain in the ass, but they’re also predictable. Their endgame is to watch the world burn.”

Tanner looked around, trying to put himself in the arsonist’s mind. “What was this guy’s endgame? No one was hurt. Nothing was stolen, as far as we know.”

Randall walked over and slapped him on the shoulder. “That, my friend, is your job and thankfully not mine.”

Randall showed Tanner a few more things, including where the fire would’ve burned out on its own if the fire department hadn’t stopped it before that. And he was right—it definitely wouldn’t have hurt anyone, unless, like Bree, they just happened to be wandering in that section of the building.

As Tanner walked back to his office, he kept trying to figure out what the motive was.

What was the purpose? That was the ultimate question. All this had really served to do was shake everyone up.

He let out a low curse. Maybe that was the purpose—getting everyone shaken up. Thanks to the fire, everyone was back in the old building where there was much less security and no set routine.

Ronnie Kitchens, the other deputy in their office, met Tanner as soon as he walked in the door. “That face doesn’t look good. Problems?”

Tanner explained about the detonator and everything else Randall had told him.

Ronnie let out a low whistle. “That’s not good.”

“The only people I can think that might have something to gain from pulling a stunt like this would be the men involved in these women’s lives.”

“Definitely. Although I would think they’d want to do as much damage as possible, not set a blaze that would burn out on its own. The residents will be able to move back in in just a couple more days.”

They walked toward Tanner’s office. “Maybe the plan is to make the women not feel safe at New Journeys so they’ll be more likely to return to their previous situations.”

That was a common enough problem under the best of circumstances for some of these women; it wouldn’t take much to encourage them to leave.

“Pull the files we started on all the men connected to the current residents at New Journeys. We need to cross-reference them with their backgrounds and professions. We’re looking for anyone with a military background or who has worked in construction, demolition or anything that would provide training in explosives.”

Ronnie began the cross-referencing while Tanner put a call in to Cassandra. He didn’t want to cause any undue panic, but he wanted his sister and Bree to be aware of the situation. He promised to call them back if he had any solid suspects.

Three frustrating hours later, despite working through lunch, they hadn’t found any promising suspects. The two men who seemed most qualified to have set the fire both lived out of state. Phone calls to their current places of employment had provided solid alibis. There was no way they could’ve been at work all week across the country and then made it to Risk Peak and back.

The couple of others who might have the knowledge were in prison, including Jared Ellis, Marilyn’s husband, who worked in construction.

Ronnie sat back in the chair across from Tanner’s desk, two files balancing on his leg crossed at the knee. “If our perp isn’t someone associated with New Journeys, could it be someone coming after Bree? She was the only one who had to be taken to the hospital. Granted, most of the Organization is behind bars, but after what happened in Atlanta—”

Ronnie was about to say something else when the phone on Tanner’s desk rang.

“Hold that thought.” Although there damn well better not be anyone coming after Bree again. He picked up the phone. “Tanner Dempsey speaking.”

“Captain Dempsey, this is Conrad Parnam with the Denver County Warrants and Bonding Office.” The man’s voice was sort of distant and breathy, like the phone wasn’t directly next to his mouth. Or like he was bored with the conversation before it even started.

“What can I do for you, Mr. Parnam?”

“I’m trying to reach a Mrs. Marilyn Ellis at a facility called New Journeys but I’m having difficulty. Do you have a way to get in touch with her?”

“I do.” He had a sinking suspicion he knew where this was going and wasn’t going to like it.

“Because of the restraining order against Mrs. Ellis’s husband, Jared Ellis, we wanted to let her know that he was released on bail.”

Yep, he didn’t like it. This already bad day just got worse. “Earlier today?”

He could hear Parnam shuffling through papers. “Actually, no. Mr. Ellis was released three days ago.”

Chapter Five

Tanner fought not to roar into the phone. Jared Ellis was released from a Denver county jail three days ago and no one had told Marilyn?

He forced himself to speak reasonably, even though he had a white-knuckled grip on the phone. “Three days ago? Why wasn’t Mrs. Ellis notified immediately? Jared Ellis is considered to be a threat to both her and her children.”

“You know how it is. Things sometimes fall through the cracks.” There was no apology in Parnam’s tone.

Tanner wrote the word Noah on the notepad and spun it around so Ronnie could see it. Ronnie nodded and Tanner tapped the phone in his hand to indicate Ronnie needed to tell Noah about Jared Ellis’s release. Ronnie already had his phone in hand as he walked out of the office.

This was definitely a police matter, but when it came to protecting Marilyn and those kids, it was a personal matter also. Noah would want to know.

“I’m going to need the details about Ellis’s release,” he said into the phone.

“Is there some sort of problem?” Finally something else took the place of boredom in Parnam’s tone: irritation. But Tanner didn’t give a damn if Parnam was perturbed that he would have to actually do his job.

“Yes, there’s a problem. We have a woman in our care here who was damn near beaten to death by her husband. So finding out he’s been out on bail for three days and nobody saw fit to notify either her or my office is very much a problem.”

“Look, I just run the paperwork for whoever the judge tells me to and make the calls that come across my desk. Nothing more or less than that. But hang on a minute and let me see what I can find out.” Irritation still painted the other man’s tone, but at least Tanner could hear the clicking of his fingers on the keyboard. “Judge doesn’t usually let violent offenders out on bail.” More clicking. “Well, that explains it. Oscar Stobbart. He’s a very high-end defense attorney—has a great record of getting people out on bail, and honestly, getting them reduced sentencing. Ellis must have a ton of money to hire someone like him.”

Tanner was now frustrated with himself that he didn’t know more about Jared Ellis. But he honestly hadn’t thought there would be much he needed to know since the man was behind bars. Did he have money? Tanner didn’t know.

But he was out. And more important, had been out of jail within the window for setting the detonator for the fire. “Do you at least have his last known address?” They would definitely be paying a visit to Jared as soon as possible.

“Actually, I can do a little better than an address. As part of Mr. Ellis’s bail, he was placed on a GPS tracking monitor. That was probably why it wasn’t a priority for me to call Mrs. Ellis or your office. Jared Ellis is required to stay within a two-mile radius of his listed home address, which is in downtown Denver.”

An ankle monitor was good news. “So you can tell where he’s been at any particular hour? What happens if he leaves the two-mile radius?”

“Yep, there’s a log that keeps record of exactly where he is at any given time. And if Ellis leaves the radius for which the monitor is set, it automatically sets up an alarm with the Denver marshals. They’ll be at his house in minutes. Plus, it’s completely unhackable.”

“So if I wanted to know where he was two nights ago, you could get that for me.” If there was some sort of glitch in this “unhackable” system, Tanner wanted to know about it.

Parnam gave a long-suffering sigh. “How about if I just send you the entire log of Ellis’s whereabouts since the moment he was released. That will save us a number of different calls and emails, don’t you think?”

And would require a lot less work from Parnam.

“Fine. I’ll expect it in an email within the next hour.”

Tanner hung up without waiting for a response. The fact that Ellis had been released without notifying Marilyn would be addressed within the system.

But right now, until they could confirm exactly where Jared Ellis was, he needed to get security on Marilyn and her kids.

He had Ronnie start the paperwork for protective surveillance, even though Tanner knew the approval was a long shot unless a direct threat to Marilyn and the kids could be proved—which hopefully it would be as soon as they checked Ellis’s whereabouts on the night of the fire.

He was also going to request the live data from Parnam’s office. Knowing where Jared had been afterward wasn’t good enough. They needed to know his current whereabouts. Not that Tanner didn’t trust the Denver marshal’s office to do their job. But all it would take was Jared tricking the system one time and he could attack Marilyn. And as long as that was a possibility—until Jared’s trial when he went away long-term—Tanner wanted to be multiple steps ahead of the other man.

Right now that included making sure Marilyn knew her ex was out of jail.

His cell phone buzzed on his belt with a call from Noah before Tanner even made it out of the office.

“Ronnie said Jared Ellis was released on bail?” His brother didn’t even waste time with a greeting.

Neither did Tanner. “Affirmative.”

Noah’s curse was foul. “Does the sheriff’s office have money to put surveillance on Marilyn and the kids?”

“I’ve already got the process started, but I’ll be honest, unless we get proof that Ellis is a threat to her or was anywhere in the area of the fire, then I don’t have much of a legal leg to stand on.”

“I’m on my way into town. If we can’t get a uniform on her, then I’ll take up watch duty myself. It’s very suspicious that there was a fire at New Journeys at the same time Ellis got out on bail.”

Tanner began walking down the block toward the old New Journeys building. It would be quicker than driving. “Especially since it looks like someone started it deliberately.” He explained what the fire inspector had found.

Noah cursed again.

“I’ve spent all day trying to figure out why someone would’ve started a fire that wasn’t trying to hurt anyone or burn down the building,” Tanner said.

“It might have made a perfect opportunity for Jared to snatch Marilyn and the kids. Probably wouldn’t have taken into account how much the people of Risk Peak would be surrounding them.”

“Definitely true,” Tanner said. “Although the fire may have nothing to do with Ellis.”

“I’m not willing to take that chance,” Noah said quietly. “Or take the chance that he’s just going to leave Marilyn alone. She’s been through enough.”

They both felt that way. It was the very reason he’d had Ronnie call his brother to begin with. “I’ll meet you at the old New Journeys building.”

Even though there hadn’t been much damage to the living quarters of the new building by the fire, they’d still moved everyone back into the old building while the initial cleaning was going on. Tanner wasn’t thrilled about the change. It definitely didn’t have the security upgrades the new building had.

When he arrived at New Journeys’ current home, he immediately asked to talk to Marilyn. He hated to see the shadows cross the quiet woman’s face when she saw him. She knew this was going to be bad news.

Bree was there and gave him a tight smile. “I’ll just hang out in the office so you two can talk. Give you guys some privacy.”

Tanner nodded, but Marilyn shook her head, holding her hand out to Bree. “No, stay. This is going to affect all of us. The kids are doing schoolwork, so this is a good time. Let’s go into the kitchen.”

Bree reached over and grabbed Tanner’s hand as Marilyn put on a pot of coffee with jerky movements.

“Do you want to bring Cassandra in too?” Tanner asked.

Bree shook her head. “She’s not here. She’s having a throwdown with the insurance company, trying to get us back in the other building by next week. But evidently she’s having some difficulties because of what’s in the fire report.”

Tanner nodded. “The fire inspector thinks the blaze was deliberate.” He turned back to Marilyn, who was trying to pour the coffee she’d made with shaky hands. Damn it, he didn’t want to have this conversation. He tried to start but couldn’t force the words out.

“Just tell me,” Marilyn said softly, when she handed him his mug. “It’s Jared, right? He made bail?”

Bree muttered a curse that would’ve made Cassandra proud.

Tanner nodded.

“Yes. Three days ago.”

Nope, this new string of curses from Bree would’ve made Cassandra proud.

Marilyn blanched. “Three days ago? I thought they were going to tell me immediately if he made bail.”

It was so hard to watch Marilyn’s sense of safety and security be torn away with his words. The skin across her cheekbones was drawn and pale. Her shoulders hunched in as if to protect herself from a blow.

“I know. They should have told you right away. It was some sort of communication breakdown, but it was wrong and I’m very sorry.”

Marilyn was clutching her coffee like a drowning victim would a lifeline.

“But there is a little bit of good news,” Tanner continued. “Jared is on an ankle tracker. I’ve got the Denver County bonding office sending me the log for everywhere Jared has been since the moment he got out. I’ve also got one of my men looking into seeing if we can get direct access to the live data, so we know where he is at all times.”

“I thought you said Jared wouldn’t get out on bail given what he did,” Bree said softly.

He grimaced. “Yeah, I’ll be honest, I was shocked to hear it. Evidently he got himself one of the most expensive and well-connected lawyers in the state.”

“Jared has a lot of powerful friends. His fraternity brothers,” Marilyn whispered.

“Is Oscar Stobbart one of those?” Tanner asked.

If possible, Marilyn’s face got even whiter. “Yes.”

There was a wealth of agony in that single word. Tanner didn’t press, but he could imagine that there was probably a lot more to Marilyn’s abuse than she had let anyone know about.

A soft tap at the kitchen door had them all turning in that direction. It was Noah.

“I asked Noah to come by just for added security until we have a true grip on what’s going on. Is that okay?” Tanner said. The last thing either he or Noah wanted was to make Marilyn more uncomfortable.

Marilyn was staring at Noah through the glass panes of the kitchen door. She nodded. “No, I’ll feel better if he’s here.”

Noah never took his eyes from Marilyn as he walked in the door. He didn’t move near her, but his focus and awareness of her were almost tangible.

“You can do this,” he said softly.

Marilyn didn’t look like she believed him, but she just shrugged and said, “Doesn’t look like I have any choice.” She rubbed a hand across her eyes. “I should probably leave. Take the kids and get farther away.”

“No,” Noah said. “He’s not going to get to you.”

His brother’s volume might be soft and his tone even, but there was no way to mistake the certainty behind the words. For the first time since Tanner arrived, Marilyn relaxed just the slightest bit. She probably didn’t even know about Noah’s background in Special Forces. But when Noah gave his word that he was going to protect her, he had the skills to back up that promise.

Noah Dempsey may be a rancher by trade, but that didn’t change the fact that he was also a warrior in every possible way.

“If Jared got out on bail three days ago, could he have been the one who set the fire?” Marilyn asked.

Tanner glanced over at Noah, then at Marilyn. “We don’t know for sure, but if Jared was involved, it would answer a lot of questions.”

“Like what?” Bree asked.

Noah leaned back against the counter. The women didn’t recognize the stance for what it was, but Tanner did. Noah was placing himself between Marilyn and any danger that might come through that door.

Tanner took a sip of his coffee. “It looks like the fire was set deliberately, but whoever did it wasn’t trying to burn the building down completely or even hurt anyone.”

“It was set to shake things up,” Noah said. “Get everyone out of their routine.”

“They certainly managed that,” Bree muttered.

“He could’ve been out there,” Marilyn whispered. “Waiting to get me or the kids alone. That’s exactly something Jared would do.”

“And none of us suspected there was any danger.” Bree shook her head. “I almost left the kids with a paramedic. He wouldn’t have known to look out for Jared.”

Tanner rubbed the back of his neck. “We can’t automatically assume it was Jared. He’s got that ankle monitor, and it sends a notification if he goes out of his set range. My colleague in Denver assures me it isn’t hackable.”

Bree actually laughed out loud, rolling her eyes. “Okay. We’ll just let them go on believing that. Everything is hackable.”

He reached over and grabbed his little computer genius’s hand. “Everything is hackable by you. The chances that Jared has someone with your skill in his personal list of friends—no matter how many fraternity brothers he has—is slim.”

Bree nodded. “Agreed. All I’m saying is that a false sense of security that something can’t be hacked might lead to laziness on law enforcement’s part.”

Tanner couldn’t disagree with that. Not when the department already didn’t have a stellar showing when it came to this situation.

A text came in on his phone from Ronnie. Finally a little good news.

“Ronnie got the log for Jared’s monitor. According to the reports, he was not anywhere around Risk Peak at the time of the fire. He hasn’t been out of Denver city limits since he made bail.”

“Unless he did have someone who could hack the anklet for him,” Bree said.

“Could you tell if it had been tampered with?” Tanner asked her. “Would you be able to see if the reports of his whereabouts were wrong?”

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