Page 31 of Searching for Valor

He muttered something under his breath as he walked around the car’s trunk, returning to the driver’s seat.

Inside the station, the familiar scent of stale coffee and sweat greeted her, along with the not-so-familiar feeling of eyes following her every move. Conversations quieted as she walked past desks and into the hallway leading to the interrogation rooms. It was as if everyone was waiting for her to stumble, to confirm whatever assumptions they’d made about her after she’d left.

Ash already waited in the hallway by the open door of an interrogation room and her stomach dropped as he waved her inside. The department had more comfortable spaces they used for witnesses and the family members of victims, but this wasn’t one of them. The room was plain and mostly empty, save for a table and four chairs pushed against the back wall.

“Sit,” he said, gesturing to one of the chairs.

Izzy sat back straight, chin high, and met his gaze unflinchingly as he closed the door and took the seat across from her. If he wanted to treat her like a suspect, fine. She’d play along.

Ash flipped open a notebook, and his expression softened just enough to catch her off guard. “Izzy,” he said, his voice quieter now, “this isn’t personal.”

“It feels pretty personal.” She couldn’t quite keep the bitterness out of her voice. “You put me in a car with Cole Reed, who is the human equivalent of a hemorrhoid, and now you’re interrogating me in here like a criminal instead of taking my statement in your office like you would for anyone else.”

Ash sighed and rubbed a hand over his reddish beard, which was overdue for a trim.

Like Rylan’s.

Though she’d really liked how Rylan’s beard had scraped against her cheeks as he devoured her?—

Nope. She slammed a mental barrier down on that train of thought and re-focused on Ash.

“I know Reed can be...difficult,” he was saying. “But he’s the only deputy available right now. I have everyone else out looking for Monica and her kids.”

The reminder of why she was here sobered her. “Which is where I should be, too. So let’s get this over with.”

Ash studied her for a long moment, then slid a pen from his pocket and held it poised over the notepad. “Okay. Start from the beginning. Tell me everything Monica Holt said to you this morning.”

So she did. She told him about Monica showing up at her parents’ house, how frazzled she’d been, how afraid. “She was adamant I not contact the police.”

“So you went to Rylan.”

“Yes. I figured he could rally Redwood Coast Rescue, which was the next best thing.”

Something close to a smile ticked up the corner of Ash’s hard mouth before he hid it. “Takes balls of steel to ask for help from the people you betrayed.”

“Yeah, well, I’d go to the devil himself if it meant saving those kids. They’re like family to me.”

He exhaled hard. “That’s what I’m afraid of. You have no boundaries when it comes to the people you care about.”

“And you do? I know Reed was only available to drive me because you’re punishing him for offending your wife.”

His lips flattened into a grim line. Yep, she’d hit a tender spot, and she didn’t feel the least bit bad about it.

Ash growled softly, but let that thread drop. He asked, “What else did Monica say to you?”

She shrugged. “That was it. She said she sent the kids here because she thought they’d be safe closer to me. I asked her what she was running from, but she refused to give me details. But she seemed convinced they’d been abducted, and the trail cam footage from the resort proves she was right.”

Ash’s brow furrowed as he jotted down notes. “You didn’t think to press her for more information? To find out what, exactly, she was so afraid of?”

Izzy’s fingers curled into fists beneath the table. “Of course I did. But she was already spooked. I didn’t want to risk her running off again without telling me where she was going.”

“So instead, you let her leave without any idea of what kind of danger she might be in, or who might have taken the kids.”

“I didn’t let her do anything,” Izzy snapped. “She’s a grown woman who made her own choices. I did what I could with the information I had.”

Ash leaned back in his chair, his expression unreadable. “Did she mention anything about her ex-husband? About the custody battle?”

Izzy stilled. “What?”

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