Page 32 of Cold Case Discovery

“I’ll drive you.”

She forced herself to look at him, to bestrong. She had not gotten this far in life by being an emotional weakling or coward. She wouldnotbe cut down at the knees just because he loved her. “Look—”

But this was Jack. Did she think there’d be some way to get around that bullheaded need to control and protect?

I need you to let me. He’d said that to her like...like she had any say. Like he had wants or needs he couldn’t expressly make happen in the Jack Hudson world of control and determination.

Likeshehad that kind of hold over him.

“Two-man until we have answers, Chloe,” he said firmly. “And I don’t just mean at work. If it’s not me, you’re going to have to ask Baker or Clinton to drive you over. Or we’ll head back to the ranch, and you can take Ry with you later tonight. Or Mary.”

She wanted to do just that—pick someone else—to prove to him she could. No. To prove toherselfshe could. To put some space between them when she had to do something she knew would be emotionally painful.

But he’d said helovedher.

She couldn’t wrap her head around why that put her more on edge than when she’d believed the whole thing had been about sex and nothing else. When she had convinced herself he wasembarrassedof her family connections.That had been easy because it had been anger, she supposed. Indignation. Hard feelings that kept her silly heart guarded.

Now it was just soft feelings and too much outside stuff poking at her to bear.

“I need space on this, Jack.” She wasn’t going to cry again. Once was enough, but she could feel emotion mounting. So she needed to set a boundary. Or five hundred.

“I can give you space,” he said, nodding like he was agreeing with her even though she knew better. “You want to look through it alone? Your choice, Chloe. Butsomeoneis going to be with you at all times when you’re off the ranch until we can rule out a threat to you.”

I need you to let me. I need you to let me.It kept ringing in her head, over and over. Like it was something she could count on.

When she hadn’t been able to count on anything aside from herself in her entire life.

“Let’s just go get it over with,” she managed to say, not crying but sounding raspy nonetheless.

He nodded again; then he reached out. Just a quick, friendly squeeze of the shoulder. “I need to grab a few things. I’ll meet you at my truck.”

She gave him a sharp nod, refusing to react to the hand on her shoulder, the softness in his gaze or anything else.

Just had to get through the day. She could fall apart—alone—tonight. Then maybe tomorrow she’d have answers for how to deal with everything life had thrown at her today.

She collected her own things, met Jack at his truck. They didn’t speak. She didn’t even look at him. She watched out the window as he drove away from Sunrise and toward...

She frowned and sat a little straighter. “This isn’t the way to County,” she said with a frown. She glanced over at him. He was gripping the wheel, scowling ahead.

“We’re going to need to stop by the ranch first.”

“Why?” she asked because he seemed so serious, so determined, and she didn’t understand why.

His scowl deepened if that was possible. “Delaney-Carson is interviewing Ry again. I figured you’d want to be there.”

“Why is she doing that?” Chloe leaned forward, nearly screeching out the demand.

“There are some concerns he has a relationship with your father.” Jack let out a long breath. “Mark Brink was spotted in Denver the morning after the remains were found.”

“He’s in prison.”

“He’s on parole.” Jack looked over at her then. “Hart made it very clear I wasn’t supposed to share any of this with you, but I don’t want you finding it out from anyone else.”

Another rule broken, a line crossed forher, and Chloe couldn’t handle that. Not right now. She had to handle the actual information. “So, he was in Denver? What does that...” But she was a cop. She understood how you built a case. If her father had been halfway between Texas and Wyoming themorningthe remains had been found, they were thinking someone had warned him the remains were going to be found.Ifhe was involved,ifhe’d been on his way to Wyoming.

Was it even anifanymore?

“Ry doesn’t have any connection to our father.” Her father had loved to play mind games with her, but he’d actually knocked Ry around some. Ry wouldn’t...

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