“Issy?” Kent said with some amusement. “I’ll remember that. Also, I wouldn’t agree to keep that a secret.”
“Thank you for coming,” Archer told him, reaching across to shake the other man’s hand. “I appreciate it.”
Kent nodded. “I’ve got someone tracking down Doc and Zander. Unfortunately, they seem to have moved location.”
Archer frowned. “Moved? Without telling you where they were going?”
“Well, it was likely Doc didn’t know where they were going.”
“Doesn’t Zander work for you?”
Kent looked somewhat exasperated. “Zander does what he wants when he wants and somehow, I still pay him.” He shook his head. “But he’s the best at what he does so I give him a lot of leeway. But I am worried about Doc.”
“You think something has happened to him?” Caley asked, looking worried.
Archer sent Kent a look. He better not upset her.
Kent gazed at him rather coolly. “Doc will be fine physically, sweetheart. But he’s going to be in an extremely foul mood. Especially as it seems Zander either has his phone and has turned it off, or he’s got a jammer that is suppressing any signals. He’ll be doubly mad when he finds out what you’ve been through.”
There was something on Kent’s face. A warning. Archer felt himself flushing. He knew Kent was wondering why Archer was so protective of Caley. But she was his brother’s girl. He was allowed to be. Right?
“Tell me what happened, Caley.” Archer turned back to her.
“Okay,” she whispered. “When I got down to the cabin, I saw that the back was all on fire. I thought that maybe I could go through the front and get…” she looked over at Kent, “Bumbly.”
She spoke so quietly, that he could barely hear her.
“Fuck. Please don’t tell me you went back into a burning cabin to get a stuffed toy.”
“I…I…”
“Jesus, Caley, what were you thinking? You could have killed yourself! Over a damn stuffed toy! Shit! Of all the—”
“Archer!” Kent said sharply, interrupting him.
He glared over at the other man who nodded at Caley. Who was staring up at him with wide eyes, tears dripping down her face.
“Oh, poppet, I’m sorry.” He hadn’t meant to upset her. It’s just…he could have lost her! She could have died.
She could have died and he wouldn’t have told her how he felt about her.
No, you can’t lay that on her now. She’s vulnerable. Hurting.
“Dave gave me Bumbly,” she said. “I know it was stupid. I thought maybe I could get my laptop, but my office is at the back of the cabin. So I…I…grabbed Bumbly and my snuggly and I went out the bedroom window. I burned my hands on the front door. I didn’t realize it would be so hot. I’m sorry, I know it was stupid.”
Her gaze dropped to her lap and her shoulders shook.
“Way to go,” Kent whispered, glaring at him. He reached up to pat her shoulder.
“I got this,” Archer told him with a scowl. He sat on the bed, facing Caley. “Look at me. Look at me.” He raised her face up with his hand on her chin. “I’m sorry.”
Her face was filled with misery. “What for?”
“For getting angry at you. I shouldn’t have done that.”
“It was stupid to go back in for a toy and a snuggly. It’s just that Dave gave them to me and now I don’t have anything of his. My train set…” She sobbed.
Oh God, he was such an asshole. Remorse filled him. He was supposed to be better than this. He didn’t lose his temper. He was always rational. Calm.