Page 37 of Montana Freedom

Through the window into the room where Emma was reciting information into the camera, I could see she was fading. Though they were being as kind to her as they could, the questions were grueling. Every detail of everything she’d seen, heard, and remembered.

Her memory was incredible, and shame washed over me at the possibility I’d briefly considered of her not being of sound mind simply because she’d put blank pieces of paper on the walls. I knew better than to think things were so simple. They never were.

Emma’s shoulders were beginning to fold in, and she looked smaller. All I wanted to do was push into the room, pick her up, and pull her out of there. And hold her close while I did it. Take her to dinner, make sure she was all right before reenacting the kiss I’d had to pull away from.

Just because all the things I told her were true didn’t mean I didn’twanther. And god, that kiss destroyed me. It made me question everything I believed about myself. It unlocked the brutal truth I’d known but had avoided facing for years.

I was lonely.

Caring for people in the way I did at Resting Warrior was gratifying, but it wasn’t enough. I wanted to care for someone who was mine. Love them, spoil them, make sure they were safe, and just have someone in my life with whom I could spend time.

So, the fact that all I wanted to do with Emma right now was protect her and keep her close wasn’t lost on me. She was so much younger and it should have bothered me, but it didn’t. It didn’t change anything. I was too broken for her to spend what could be a brilliant life on, and I still…

I needed to see Rayne. I already knew what she would say, because she’d said it before, but my resolve to stay alone and protect others had never wavered like it was now. My decisions had cost people their lives, simply because I’d allowed myself to trust the wrong person.

Wasn’t that worth penance?

But my resolve was softening. And I was becoming lost. The reasons I’d chosen this life hadn’t disappeared. Nor would they disappear. So, what did I do? Because the woman in front of me was a temptation I wasn’t going to be able to resist forever. Especially since my denial of the kiss didn’t remotely take once I’d told her I wanted to kiss her.

I wasn’t going to pretend it wasn’t amazing. Nor would I pretend it wasn’t replaying in my mind every fucking second. But for now, I needed to focus on Emma and getting her out of here whole and safe.

Agents Phillips and Jones entered the little room where I stood, and my mood shifted. Phillips continued to be a dick, but Jones was at least friendly about it.

“How much longer?” I asked, glancing at my watch. It was almost five, and she was fading more by the second.

“We’re almost done,” Phillips said, not taking his eyes off her through the one-way window. “If you’re willing to stay after the official end of day, we can be completely finished.”

“Give her a break,” I said. “And I’ll ask.”

Jones nodded and left.

“You might also want to talk to Noah Scott and Kate Tilbeck. They may not know the ins and outs, but if you need more witness statements, they can corroborate parts of Emma’s account and give a few more insights.”

“You gave us their information?”

“I did.”

“Then we’ll be in touch.” His arms were crossed, everything about him hard and unyielding. My insight into people, which everyone claimed I had, told me there was more to this for him than a normal investigation. It didn’t excuse his behavior, though.

Jones peeked his head inside the room where Emma was, and she sagged in relief, immediately leaving the room. “Let me go talk to her.”

Phillips stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. “If you’re helping her hide something about Simon Derine, we will find out.”

I shrugged his hand off my shoulder. “You heard what I had to say. If you really think I would be protecting someone who put a gun to my friend’s head? You don’t know me at all.”

“You’re right,” he said, eyes hard. “Idon’tknow you, and I’ve seen stranger things.”

Shaking my head, I pushed out of the room. Arguing with him wasn’t going to change his mind, and I wasn’t going to stay and listen to accusations like that. He was reaching, and it was his job to do so. But his attitude got under my skin. Him being in the same room with me wasn’t a good idea.

The small break room where Emma and I had been given free rein to sit during breaks was where I found her. “How are you holding up?” I asked and couldn’t help but laugh. I’d asked right as she’d started to down a cup of coffee, and she didn’t stop until she’d finished.

She looked at me and refilled the cup. “I’m ready to be done.”

“I know. You’re almost there. They say if we push a little further tonight we won’t have to come back tomorrow. Can you make it?”

The heavy sigh and slump of her shoulders had me reaching for her, and I barely redirected my hands into my pockets in time.

“Yeah. The coffee helps. I’ll be glad to go back to the ranch, though. Seattle seems nice, but I think I’d like to see it under better circumstances.”

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