Page 76 of Hold Me Before You Go

I’d met her while I was helping Denver out, and when she died, I felt compelled to show up to her funeral. The last thing I expected was for Valerie to hug me, and tell me her mother would’ve liked knowing I was there. Nancy was a sweet woman, and she raised a strong fucking daughter. After the funeral, I flew back home to Charlotte and cooked my mother dinner.

“Fucking hell,” I breathed, pinching the bridge of my nose.

“It’s okay,” Denver urged. “I just wanted to tell you because there’s something about this ranch—this land.”

I looked back up at him, my brows furrowing. “What are you talking about?”

He chuckled, stroking his beard. “The ones we love have a way of protecting us, even when they’re gone.”

“Carrie’s not family to you, though.”

Denver cocked his head to the side. “Mags is family. You’re family to him, which makes you and Carrie, hell, all of Red Snake, family to Hallow Ranch. You understand that?”

There was nothing else I could do but nod.

Family.

“Now, about Chase,” Denver began.

I shook my head. “I know he is trying to help, but this needs to stay with Red Snake.”

“It can’t.”

“Why the hell not?” I shot back. I was already frustrated that Astoria PD was involved, and now, I was still going to have to make a call to the fucking FBI about Robert. Not to mention, I still had to tell the love of my life that her first husband was a fucking serial killer.

“Yesterday, after getting in contact with you, I spent the rest of the night trying to get a message out to Hayden PD. The Internet and cell towers were restored early this morning, around four am, and just as I was about to call Chase, he called me,” Denverexplained, coming around the couch and taking a seat, resting his elbows on his knees. “There was a murder, Grayson.”

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, my instincts kicking in. This was about Carrie—Brandon and Monica. Denver raised his eyes, holding my gaze as he said, “Has Carrie told you anything? Mase and I tried asking her questions yesterday when we found out who she was, but Mags shut it down.”

Fucking Mags.

“A man and woman took Carrie,” I told him, answering the question that was on the tip of his tongue.

He nodded. “A woman in her mid to late thirties was found dead in a motel bathtub just a few miles outside of Hayden.”

I bit off a curse. “If it was Monica, then that means Brandon snapped.”

“Chase wants to question Carrie,” Denver said softly.

He was testing the waters—testing me.

Brandon was causing more problems for me, trying to catch up to his fucking insane brother. I nodded, giving permission. “I’ll go wake her up.”

Denver stood, pulling out his phone. “I’ll wrangle your bounty hunters.”

“What do you mean?” Carrie asked, clutching the quilt to her chest, her hair in disarray.

I’d just woken her up, kissing her softly for a few minutes while Denver stepped outside to call the boys. Now, I was sitting on the edge of the bed, wondering how the fuck I was going to pull even more of the curtain down from her past, revealing an even uglier truth than the one she’d just come to terms with.

“Baby, I need to find them,” I told her, trying to cover up the fury boiling in my gut. She didn’t need to see me like that. She needed me to be gentle with her. She needed me to protect her. She needed me to love her.

My sunshine chewed on the inside of her cheek, holding my eyes for a long time. “What did you find out?” she finally asked. “About Robert’s family? Did you find anything?”

My jaw tightened, and I held out my hand for her to grab. Once she did, I felt like I could breathe easier. “We found out a lot, Carrie. So fucking much,” I murmured, my eyes dropping to watch my thumb stroke her bruised wrist. “Did they cuff you?”

When I looked back up to her, she slowly shook her head. “Zip-ties, just like the ones Leo used.”

A sound came from my chest then at the sound of the piece of shit’s name, but I didn’t have time to daydream about killing him again.

---