“But he didn’t get caught?” I raise my eyebrows.
“No,” Luke says. “He didn’t. We took King down, so we thought that would be enough. King and his close set of minions. I got to keep my immunity for the efforts, but Ice Man—Chris Pollack is his name—is still at large.”
“I don’t understand,” I say. “If he was one of the men from the island, why isn’t he in prison?”
“For the same reason I’m not,” Luke says. “He turned on some cronies. Got himself an immunity deal.”
“I guess I don’t understand what all of this means.”
“He held me at gunpoint,” Luke says. “So we can get his immunity revoked based on my testimony.”
“But you also falsely imprisoned him,” Katelyn says. “We don’t want to take a chance on your immunity.”
“I’ll be fine,” Luke says. “My immunity deal, the current one, happened after I did that, so it will have no bearing.”
“What does he have to do with this now?” I ask.
“He’s been spotted here in town,” Luke says. “Near Gloria Delgado’s house.”
I feel sick. Really, really sick. Like I could puke all over Katelyn and Luke.
“So you think maybe…”
“I don’t know yet,” Luke says. “But this isn’t something we can ignore. This guy is a derelict. A psychopath. Clearly his immunity doesn’t mean anything to him, or if it does, he can’t help himself. Which makes him even scarier.”
“Luke, he needs to be behind bars,” Katelyn says.
“You’ll get no argument from me. The man is a degenerate. Hell, I’d kill him myself if—”
“You will not,” Katelyn says adamantly. “You will not do anything to risk what the two of us have right now.”
“Katelyn, sweetie, the most important thing in my world is you. I have to protect you, and if that means—”
“No,” Katelyn says again, this time whipping her hands to her hips. “I won’t allow it. I simply won’t allow it. Risking you is not worth it to me.”
“But if this guy is at large,” Luke says, “then you could be at risk. I will not risk you.”
“Then I think we’re deadlocked. Neither of us will risk each other.”
Love passes between them. It’s so thick it’s almost visible.
I see it, and I feel it, because I understand it now. It’s what I have with Buck. Funny, it’s so much stronger and more passionate than what I ever felt for Brandon or anyone else.
“My father will help us,” I say.
“He will?” Katelyn says.
“Yeah. He wants to. He’s an ex-Navy SEAL like Buck. Only he was a high-ranking officer. He’s six feet six inches, three hundred and fifty pounds, not an ounce of fat on him. He looks twenty years younger than he actually is.”
“Aspen,” Luke says, “do you really want to bring your family members into this?”
His words hit me in the gut.
“No. I guess I don’t. But my dad—”
“I’m sure he was a hell of a military man, a hell of a SEAL. But he doesn’t have the contacts that I have, and he doesn’t have the contacts that the Wolfes have. It’s probably better to leave him out of it. To ensure his safety.”
Safety.
Safety is important to me. Especially now—now that I’m free again.
But what’s also important to me is making the people who did this to me pay.
Finding them, getting my revenge.
Is it more important than my safety? Buck’s safety?
My father’s safety?
Buck’s and my father’s for sure.
But I’m willing to risk myself.
As fucked up as that sounds.
Which means…
Damn.
I’ll have to do this without Buck.
Without Katelyn and Luke.
I’m going to have to go solo.
I hate the thought.
I hate the thought of leaving Buck.
But I can’t risk his safety or my father’s.
I can’t risk Luke and Katelyn. They’ve already done too much for me, and they’ve found their happiness.
But you’ve found your happiness too, my inner voice says.
True. I’m in love. I’m so very much in love with Buck Moreno.
He’s everything.
Everything I could ever want.
Which is why I must walk away.
I must walk away from Buck.
From my parents.
From Luke and Katelyn.
This is my journey. My path.
No one’s but mine, and two people are already dead because of me. Gloria and Brian will never see the light of another day. I can’t risk that happening to Buck or anyone else I love.
But if I walk away… I also walk away from Buck’s contacts, from Luke’s contacts.
Even my father’s limited contacts.
Damn.
What to do?
“Aspen!”
I jerk toward Katelyn’s voice.
“I called you three times. Where are you?”
“Just thinking.” I force a smile.
And I do mean force. I don’t want to leave Katelyn and Luke. I sure as hell don’t want to leave Buck.
But Buck needs to heal.
Edgar scrambles at my feet, and I give him a pet. When I leave, I’ll have to leave Edgar as well. This silly little ball of fur that makes me smile even when things are bleak.
But Katelyn will take care of him. He and Jed will form a pack. They’ve already become good friends.