Shit, they could be going for her car too. He had to check. He’d done his best to make sure she was out of this whole mess, but that didn’t mean the bad guys knew that. He’d planned to spread the news of their breakup far and wide the next morning.
Fuck.
Running inside to get dressed, he then grabbed his phone and bundled Hugo into the car.
He wasn’t letting anyone harm Meredith.
Chapter 47
J
ill curled up on the couch and watched
Clueless
, a box of tissues her only companion. The comfort movie wasn’t doing much to remove the horrible pain in her chest, but it had erased the intolerable quiet in the house after Meredith’s departure.
God, how could her sister have kept something like this from her? Didn’t Meredith know how hard she was taking Jemma’s death? Now she wasn’t sure she could live with herself. She could have stopped it. She should have listened to her grandpa. She shoulda…
She didn’t know. More tears welled. She brushed them aside.
When a pounding sounded on the door, she dashed off the couch. Part of her hoped it was Meredith—or Grandpa.
Checking the peephole, she saw neither. It was only Asshole Tanner.
She flung open the door. “What do
you
want?”
“Where’s Meredith?”
His commanding voice raised her hackles. “What the hell do you care? You broke her heart.”
He placed his hands on his hips and stepped closer, menacing in the outdoor light. “This is serious, Jill. Where’s her car?”
“What do you care?” Tired of asshole men in general, she grabbed the door’s edge. “Get out of here.” She let the door fly.
He caught it. “Dammit, Jill. Where the fuck is Meredith?”
His tone froze her insides, just like when she’d learned that her dad had been rushed to the hospital after a heart attack.
“We, ah,…had a fight. I told her to stay at Mom and Dad’s or Grandpa’s.” The cold turned her bare feet to ice. “Barlow and Kenny don’t have her, do they?” She gripped his fleece.
“What did she tell you, dammit?”
Her lip curled. “Everything.”
“Christ! Call her. Put her on speaker.” He stepped inside and slammed the door behind him.
Running into the den, she found her phone, and hit Mere’s number. When it went to voicemail, a blanket of worry rolled over Jill like a hurricane cloud.
Tanner’s body seemed poised to leap or hurl something.
“When she’s upset, she doesn’t answer. Had it off for five days after the divorce,” she blabbed. “Scared us to death.”
“Call your grandfather’s landline.” Tanner paced like a caged panther in the Denver Zoo.
Grandpa Hale picked up on the second ring. “Jillie? Why are you calling so late? What’s wrong?”
“Grandpa,” she said, the mere sound of his voice reassuring.
“Arthur, it’s Tanner. Is Meredith with you?”
“No. Heavens, what’s going on?”
“Long story. I’ll let Jill explain. Is your car in the garage?”
“Yes. Tanner, what’s going on?”
“Is it locked?”
“No, Dare’s a safe town. Now, tell me what’s going on.”
“All right, keep watch on it until I get there. Either Barlow or Kenny visited my house and tried to cut my brake line.”
His story made Jill tremble. My God, how could this be happening?
“I’m going to your son’s place and see if Meredith’s there. Check her car. Then, I’ll come check yours.”
“I can take care of myself,” he growled. “Jillie, why isn’t she with you?”
She swiped her runny nose with her sleeve. “Gramps, we had a big fight. I know about Jemma and Ray, and I’m so scared.”
Tanner put a calming hand on her arm. “Nothing’s going to happen, Jill.”
“Absolutely right,” Arthur muttered and clicked off.
Jill dialed her parent’s landline, each ring of the phone drilling into her skull.
“What?” Meredith answered finally, her tone hostile. “You throw me out and then call me?”
“Meredith,” Tanner immediately said. “Where’s your car?”
“Tanner?” Her voice cracked.
“Your car? Is it in the garage?”
“Yes. Why? What’s happened?”
“Someone tried to cut my brake line. I’m coming over.”
There was a long moment of silence. “They wouldn’t know I’m here.” Her voice couldn’t be chillier.
“I don’t care. You don’t have to see me. I’m not taking any chances.”
“I don’t think—”
“Too bad.” He snapped the phone shut. His eyes closed for a moment.
Jill rubbed her arms, her mind spinning. “Can you tell me how you’re this upset after crushing her to pieces?”
He pinned her with a stare that could have wilted flowers and stalked over to the door. His cold-reddened hand yanked it open. When he stepped into the harsh porch light, his face turned menacing again. “Just because I broke her heart doesn’t mean I want her dead.”
Jill followed, cocking a hip. Unbelievable. “Just because you don’t want her dead doesn’t mean you’re not a dick.”
She slammed the door in his face.
“Lock the door, Jill.”
She snapped the deadbolt in place and listened as the sound of his quick steps faded. A dog barked. His car door slammed. She leaned her head against the frame, her imagination running rampant with images of her sister and grandpa ending up like Jemma and Ray.
Dead.
Chapter 48
T
here were no other cars on her parents’ street since everyone had two-door garages and hated scraping snow off in the morning. Tanner’s gaze flicked to his rear view mirror, checking for a tail, but there wasn’t one. He let out a deep breath he hadn’t been aware he was holding. Meredith’s dark shape moved away from the lamp-lit window as he turned into the driveway. Thank God, she’d parked inside. The garage door puttered up slowly.
“Hugo. Be good.”
He ducked under the slowly moving door. His nose twitched at the lingering smell of turpentine.
Meredith’s head popped out as she cracked open the door to the house. “I told you—”
The sight of her pale, tear-ravaged face twisted him up like junkyard iron works. “Get inside,” he ordered, hitting the garage door button to close it behind him.
She slammed the door hard enough to knock the yellow level off the garage wall.
All for the best, he told himself. If she talked to him, she might see what a raging lunatic he was about her, just like Jill had. It seemed more important than ever to keep her safe now that Barlow and Kenny had upped the stakes. If they went after him, would they go after her?
Jesus, he hoped not. Men usually had a harder time killing women. He realized how sick it was that he knew something like that.
He took some deep breaths, and returned his focus to the task at hand. He slid under her car, his back against the concrete floor that could have frozen meat. Pulling out his flashlight, he checked the body. Nothing. He closed his eyes under the tight, dark space.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
He rolled out, thinking through the cluster fuck he had on his hands. Meredith had told Jill for some reason, widening the circle of people in the know. He shoved off the floor and stalked over to the door leading into the house. Rapping on it cracked more skin. His knuckles were bleeding.
Meredith popped her head out again. “What? Now you want to talk?”
His jaw ticked. “Tell Jill not to tell anyone.”
“I already did, you son of a bitch!” She slammed the door in his face.
He stared at the white frame, counting to ten. Jesus, he wanted to rip it open, shake her, and then ravish her on the floor until the images of her car going over a cliff were erased.
When the garage door clicked open, he spun around and grabbed the closest weapon. A hammer. The door cruised up, revealing Arthur Hale’s clenched face.
“You planning on beaning me, son? Didn’t know I’d pissed you off, too.” After stepping inside, he pressed the button on the garage door opener he had in his hand.
The door sputtered down again.
Tanner put his hands on his hips. Arthur walked toward him, his hair in swirls on his head, his cardigan sweater buttoned up wrong.
“Did you find anything wrong with Meredith’s car?”
Setting aside the hammer, Tanner rubbed his neck. “No. Jesus, Arthur. You shouldn’t have come. I was planning on checking your car next.”
“You think you’re the only one who can see a cut brake line? Hell, the hardest part was getting back up again. Damn old body.”
Tanner rolled his tongue around his teeth, seething at the chance the older man had taken.
“Jill told me what happened between you and Meredith,” Arthur informed him in his take-no-prisoner’s voice.
“You would be better off chastising Meredith for telling Jill about this whole clusterfuck.”
“Don’t growl at me, boy. Not when you’ve messed things up so dandily.”
The door cracked open. “Grandpa?”
“Get your stuff, Meredith. You’re coming to my house.”
“I don’t—”
“You are
not
staying alone, and this old body would rather sleep in its own bed.”
“What about Jill?”
The tears shining in her eyes made his knees lock in place. She was completely ignoring him. Would she ever look at him again? The slice was direct. He could feel himself bleeding out.
“Jill is going to spend the night with a friend until we figure this out.”
“Peggy should have the lab results back tomorrow,” Tanner said. “She’s putting a rush on them.”
Arthur smacked his cane on the concrete. “Well, I’m calling the Attorney General tomorrow! This has gone on for long enough. We need to bring in the law before anyone else gets hurt.”
Tanner shifted on his feet. “We won’t have much to give them until Peg gets the results.”
Arthur glared at him. “I don’t care. I’m not endangering my granddaughters. We need to trust the law to do their job now. We have enough threads. Let them pull them. This is beyond a reporter’s purview, even for a hot-shot like you.”
The menace in Arthur’s voice made Tanner look away.
“Grandpa’s right,” Meredith finally said, her voice hoarse. “This just isn’t worth it anymore.”
When she closed the door, Tanner rolled his shoulders, wanting to follow her inside. Hold her. Touch her. Comfort her.
He should tell her everything right now. He couldn’t bear to see her this way, knowing that he was the cause for her pain. He stepped toward the door. Arthur thrust out his cane like a bar on a train track.
“You leave her alone!” he ground out.
He came to his senses. “I will for now.” He hit the garage door button, the cracking and rolling sound pounding in time with his tension headache. “But ask yourself this, Arthur. Why would Richard Sommerville print a nasty article about my brother if I was willingly working for him?”
As he strode off, he waited for Arthur to stop him, but he didn’t.
Let the law come. Then he’d tell Meredith the truth.
And pray it was enough to get her back.
***
Meredith watched Tanner’s car careen out of the driveway. The cold windowpane cooled her flushed face. She’d gone from pale to heated when she’d seen him in the garage. Her heart had burned in her chest with the added accelerant of his presence.
“Meredith?” her grandpa called.
She walked into his open arms. They closed around her with a familiarity and gentleness she could always count on.
“Oh, Grandpa,” she cried, feeling the tears start again.
“You go ahead and cry, my little mermaid. You deserve it. Then we’ll go home.”
Where was her home exactly? She didn’t know anymore.
“I’m sorry, Grandpa.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about. We can talk about everything later. All’s not lost.”
She hoped he was right, but he was likely an old man giving his granddaughter false hope.
From her point of view, she’d lost everything.
Chapter 49
I
notified the Attorney General,” her grandpa announced from the doorway of her office. “Anderson doesn’t think we have much evidence without the results from Peggy’s lab, but he agrees that it’s unusual for two young people to die suddenly in such a short timeframe. He wasn’t happy we were using Tanner’s sister to run the tests, but he understood. And he also appreciates why we’re turning this over to the state now.”
She dropped her pen. So the law would come in and, she hoped, tie up all the loose ends. She would leave. Tanner would too. And she’d try to put her life back together…again.
“It’s for the best.”
“Yes.” He set down the file he was carrying and popped in a red hot. “You beat me out the door this morning. I thought we were going to stick together.”
“I had to get to work. Besides, I can take care of myself.”
“I’m not disputing that, but it makes an old man worry less. My blood pressure.” He patted his heart.
“You’re healthy as a horse.” Still, the guilt added another layer to the bedrock of her emotions, and it didn’t sit comfortably.
“Fine,” he said, “but don’t go anywhere unless it’s with close family and friends. Anderson said he’d send someone tomorrow from Denver. He couldn’t pull anyone today. I told him that was fine since Peggy should be getting the results to us shortly. Maybe we’ll have more to give him by the time he gets here. I want these bastards in a cage.”
“God, I do too.” Of course, she wanted Tanner to have a cell next to them—with her ex as his roommate.
“Do you want to update Tanner or should I?”
She pressed her fingers to her left temple where a headache throbbed. “You call him.”
“That’s not my Mermaid talking.” He made a basket with his candy wrapper.
“I don’t want to talk about it, gramps. Please.”
She pressed her hand to her chest out of reflex and winced. She’d intentionally chosen not to wear La Perla or anything else today. Her gray bulky sweater was sufficient camouflage. It was her protest against her alter ego’s impotence.
She jumped when her grandpa patted her head like he’d always done when she was a kid.
“Didn’t mean to startle you. I have something you might want to look at.” He pressed a file into her hand and shuffled to the door.