“It might not be a bad idea,” I admit. “I’d want to sneak Ashley out, though, so that only we know she’s not on the property.”
“You want them to come for you,” Bobby says grimly.
“For me, yes. Not for her,” I reply. “If they don’t come and show me who they are, how am I going to kill them?”
“Gavin, going to jail isn’t going to help the situation,” Mom says.
She has a point, but if I was faced with the people who tried to kill Ashley right now, logical thought wouldn’t be at the forefront of my mind.
And they would all die.
Ashley is staring at the ground, and I can’t even imagine what’s racing through her mind. Luckily, Mom steps in and gives Ashley a mug full of steaming hot tea, guiding her onto the couch and sitting beside her.
“It’s going to be okay,” Mom says. “It doesn’t feel like it right now, but it will be.”
Dad joins them on the couch and I sit on the floor in front of Ashley, her hands instantly resting on my shoulders and massaging them. I want to make sure we’re all visible on the screen for Bobby and Savanna, and I’ll also take any excuse to be close to her.
My family was initially hesitant about Ashley being in my life and staying on the ranch with us. Hell, so was I. But everyone has accepted my decision now, and it’s not like anyone in this room – virtually or physically – wants to send her away to be attacked alone.
“Babe, tell everyone what you brought up to me today,” I say.
Ashley hesitates for a beat but then finds her voice. “I think it’s got to be some kind of inside job. There’s no way that whoever is doing this to us would know where Gavin and I are without someone on the ranch telling them.”
“There’s no way,” Dad replies. “We trust our crew. They wouldn’t betray us.”
“But they’d betrayme,” Ashley returns softly. “And they wouldn’t see it as a betrayal. They’d see it as me getting what I deserve. And Gavin would be collateral damage.”
“Just think about it, Dad,” I say. “It makes me bristle, too, because we’re more than boss and employee with our guys. They’re our friends and some of them are family. But how else would anyone know? I don’t post on social media or tell people where I’ll be at any given time. Someone with access to me has to be selling information or else in on it in some capacity.”
“Jesus,” Dad replies.
“Let’s go through a list of suspects,” Savanna says. “There are a lot of guys who work on the ranch, and they all have different tenures. I’m sure we can immediately exclude some of them just because of their roles in your lives, but–”
“We can’t exclude anyone,” I interject. “Call me paranoid, but that happens when the vehicle you’re driving blows up.”
“It’s just so hard to think of any of them in a negative light,” Mom says.
“We don’t have to do it tonight,” Dad decides. “Ashley and Gavin must be exhausted and should try to get some rest. We’ll regroup in the morning when we meet with the private security contractors. Thank you for arranging it, Bobby.”
“It was Savanna,” Bobby says. “She’s the boss.”
“Don’t forget it, quarterback,” Savanna says. “I’m so sorry for what you two are going through. I can’t wait to give you both a big hug.”
“Bobby, I’m going to call you back,” I say, needing some one-on-one connection time with my twin. “Just let me bring Ashley to the house and make sure everything is good, and then we can talk, okay?”
“You got it,” he replies.
“We’ll see you in the morning,” Mom says to us.
I stand up and pull Ashley to her feet, looping my arm around her shoulders. She leans into me, resting her head on my chest, and I’m grateful that she still trusts me and feels safe with me, even though I’m not doing the best job protecting her.
Hopefully, Bobby can help me be objective about the guys on the ranch because if Ashley is right, a traitor is going to be a hard pill for Dad to swallow.
Fuck me, I hope it’s not Cameron, but he has the most access to me and knows everywhere I’m going to be.
When we get to my place, Ashley strips down to panties and a tank top. Despite the chaos, it’s still a damn nice view that’s exclusively mine.
“I don’t have anything to change into,” Ashley says. “Well, barely anything. I overpacked and now I’m suffering for it because everything blew the fuck up.”