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He and Lucas are old friends? How?It didn’t make any sense.Maybe Uncle Evan is just trying to make me feel better about having gotten involved with Lucas.
“I—I don’t know,” Evan said. She sensed that he was evading the truth.
“If he’s really a good person, how could he do something like this?” The words spilled out of her. “Isawhim trying to shoot a bear in the middle of the night. He and Bickham and Silvers were all chasing that poor grizzly sow with a truck. The only reason Lucas didn’t actually fire his gun was because his friends were trigger-happy and didn’t give him the chance. But he wasthere, Uncle Evan, and he wanted to poach that bear.”
Uncle Evan looked sick at her revelation. “But—” he began, and fell silent.
Maybe he’d thought that Lucas had been arrested on circumstantial evidence, instead of being caught in the act.
He patted her shoulder. “I know you’re having a really tough time today, Malia. But I have a feeling that everything’s going to be okay in the end.”
“I wish I could believe you.” She’d never felt less okay in her life.
Then her cop brain clicked into gear, and wheels began turning in her head.
Why would Evan Swanson, wildlife biologist and passionate conservationist, take a poacher’s side? Especially when that poacher had just been caught red-handed, and was a known associate of two other criminals, each with long rap sheets?
“So, Uncle Evan, how exactly do you know Lucas?” She blinked away tears and looked him straight in the eye. “He never mentioned that he knew any Swansons, not even when he met Dad.”
A panicked look flitted across Uncle Evan’s face. “I—uh—you’ll have to ask Lucas about that, Malia. I promised him…” He pressed his lips together, as if he’d said too much.
All of the little things she had noticed over the past week that hadn’t quite fit suddenly reformed into a new and unexpected picture. The flash of insight exploded in Malia’s mind like a firework.
Oh my God. Lucas isn’t a real poacher. He’s one of Fish and Game’s undercover investigators.
That’s why he and Uncle Evan know each other. And why Gage was so upset with him for being with me when he was supposed to be working.
She stared at Uncle Evan. He looked away, but not before she caught his guilty expression. A flush crept up his throat and vanished behind his beard.
“Does he really have two little girls?” she demanded. “Or was that all a lie, too?”
Uncle Evan looked stricken. “He told you about Taylor and Savannah? Jeez. Yes, it’s true. I’ve met them several times.” He shook his head. “Look, I’m sorry, but I really can’t tell you anything else about him, Malia. Just…have a little faith?”
She sighed. But couldn’t deny that faint rays of hope were already penetrating the black cloud of despair enfolding her.
Her visitor rose from the couch. “Lucas should be getting out of jail any moment now. I’m betting that he’s going to head straight over here as soon as he’s free. Will you at least talk to him and give him a chance to clear the air between you two?”
Malia got to her feet, then hugged her uncle.
“He asked you to come talk to me, didn’t he?” she accused.
Uncle Evan chuckled. His answer surprised her. “Nope. Gage did.”
Chapter 23
Annika dropped Lucas off at The Hair of the Dog so that he could retrieve his pickup.
He made a quick stop in town to pick up several items, then headed for the Jacobsen Ranch.
An hour after leaving the police station, Lucas stood on Malia’s porch. He felt like throwing up from sheer nerves. His palms sweating, he clutched a bouquet of two dozen red roses in one hand, and held a Cinnamon + Sugar takeout bag in his other.
He knocked on her door. And hoped to God that she would open it when she had more than enough reason leave him standing out here.
His heartbeat quickened as he heard her approach the door. Nothing happened for a long moment. Then, just as he was starting to lose hope, she opened it slowly.
She’d been crying. A lot. Her face was unnaturally pale, nose reddened, and her eyes were puffy and bloodshot. She still wore her uniform. Guilt twisted in his gut, sharp as a knife.
“Malia,” he croaked, his throat suddenly dry.
