Page 12 of Rescued Faith

“Who are you? My mom?” Bryce opened his door. “I’m fine.”

“So Penny Mitchell showing up is no big deal? You were pretty serious about her two years ago. Never saw you like that with anyone before.”

Bryce shrugged. “That was then. If I’m off my game, it’s probably because of your snoring keeping me awake.”

Izan shook his head and laughed. “I got you. You don’t wanna get serious.”

Bryce’s back snapped straight and rigid. “I’m plenty serious. About a lot of things.”

“Yo, didn’t mean to offend.” Izan raised his hands in surrender fashion.

Bryce released a long breath. Why was he so cranky? “Sorry. I’m just out of it. And hangry.” He flashed a breezy grin to his friend. “I better go find something to eat.”

“You do that.” Izan picked his duffel up once more. “And for the record, I thought you and Penny were a good match back in the day. Ain’t no shame in falling for a good woman. They’re hard to find.” He got into his own car and left.

Izan was right. Bryce had fallen all right. At least back then he’d been completely serious about Penny. Not that anybody evertookhim seriously, but he wasn’t nearly as reckless and shallow as people thought. They just never thought to look past the surface. And he made sure they didn’t have a reason to. Better to not set high expectations only to fail.

Bryce climbed into the cab of his truck. Penny being here was…weird. How could it not be? But that was because of the way she’d left. She’d never let him explain. She’d just…gone. And left him with questions. Hadshenot taken their relationship seriously?

But again, what did he know? Everyone else had their lives figured out. Where did that leave him?

It left him with a sleepless night worrying about whether Penny Mitchell was okay or not. And why she’d come back right now. It was probably best that they both leave everything in the past.

Then again, he could maybe find out with one little visit?—

His ringtone cut through the quiet morning. Bryce didn’t recognize the number, but he answered.

“Am I speaking to Bryce Crawford?”

“This is him.”

“This is Jason Woods. Not sure if you remember me, but we went to school together.”

Jason Woods? When Bryce had played football as a freshman, he’d looked up to Woods and some of his buddies. They’d been skilled players. Seniors. But they’d messed with his friend Iggy, who had a slight limp. After seeing that side of them, Bryce hadn’t had much to do with the group. So why was Woods calling now?

“Yeah, I remember you. What do you need?”

“I work at the governor’s office, and we want your help.”

“Help how?” Bryce started the truck’s engine.

“I’m here prepping for Governor Noble’s visit to Last Chance County. We’re putting together a task force to address this recent spike of arson and explosions happening. Your chief recommended you. Do you have time to swing by city hall?”

Macon had suggested him? A warmth built in Bryce’s chest. Huh. “When would you need me?”

“Now. We need to be on top of this before the governor comes. His wife and son will be here in a few days. He’ll be arriving later.”

Guess that answered his question about going to see Penny at the hospital. “I’ll be right there.”

At city hall, Bryce was ushered into a plush conference room. The long table polished to a high shine took up most of the space. His new brother-in-law, Jude Brooks, looked up from where he sat in one of the cushy chairs. A couple of cops and Allen Frees and Chief James from the fire department were already there.

Quick introductions were made, then the lanky man in the suit took command of the room and asked everyone to sit. It had to be Jason. He’d changed since high school. The once-thick brown hair had thinned significantly. The suit looked expensive, so different from the jeans and letterman jacket he used to wear.

“I’m Jason Woods with the governor’s office. You were all called here today because we have a problem, and we need to get to the bottom of it. Last night’s warehouse fire was thethird explosion in this city in the last week. I understand the fire department will do their own arson investigation, but the governor wants extra effort put into collaborating to make sure we deal with this quickly.”

“Sure, we all want it dealt with, but why is the governor getting involved?” Chief James said.

“The big Memorial Day celebration is coming up with Governor Noble and his family to help kick off the event. It wouldn’t look good to have this threat causing problems for their visit. So, work together and get to the bottom of it. Let us know what you need, and we will do our best to expedite anything we can. Working at the capital with the governor myself, I can pull strings to get state resources if needed. Brooks, I’m assuming with the ATF you have access to the federal databases. Whatever it takes, folks.” He waited for nods of acknowledgment before looking directly at Bryce. “Crawford, come with me for a minute.”

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