Page 102 of No Fear
“Maybe Sherriff Trebly won’t but Deputy Trebly isn’t exactly our biggest fan.”
Bentley’s dimples were in full force when he winked, “Oh, I think I can handle the big, bad Law.”
Since Remy had no idea whether that was a joke or not, he remained silent. He hoped it wasn’t a joke. That if Bentley got stopped by the younger Trebly that he could talk himself out of trouble. God knew the kid could talk himself out of just about anything. But Lawson Trebly seemed to enjoy sticking it to the Bomars so he wasn’t so sure charm would be enough if Bentley ran into the officer.
“I’m not taking it back into town but Lawson’s not on duty tonight anyway.” Bentley shrugged, as if Remy shouldn’t even question how or why he knew the deputy’s schedule, “Link wants it burned so we’ll head inland on the Bomar property. Get rid of it out there where nobody can see the flames.”
“Oh, yeah, good idea.” Remy decided to drop the issue of Lawson Trebly completely and walked closer, “Here are mine and Rachel’s clothes from tonight. You can burn those too.”
“Sure thing.” Bentley took the bag and tossed them inside. “How is she?”
“Shaken up but she’ll be okay.”
“I’m glad she’s okay. Ford told me some of what happened and it sucks. She’s a good girl. I’m glad she’s okay.”
“Thanks.”
Remy appreciated that Bentley cared about Rachel. As much as he hadn’t wanted to get mixed up in the same old family bullshit when he came home, as much as he’d hoped to protect Rachel from this dangerous life, he couldn’t say that it didn’t warm his heart that his family seemed to love Rachel just as much as he did.
“What’s the word on the scene at the trailer?”
“You don’t know?” Bentley frowned again.
“I told Link to give us some time but you said you talked to Ford so…”
“Yeah, well, there’s going to be a freak fire over there too. You just can’t trust those old trailers. The wiring is always going out.”
Remy snorted, “So I hear.”
“I hope there wasn’t anything in that trailer that Rachel wanted because it’s probably up in flames by now.”
“Shit. I should have asked her.” He scrubbed his face.
Rachel’s entire life was going up in flames tonight. He’d killed her brother in front of her. After Craig had tried to kill her, but still. She’d lost the last of her blood family and now she was going to lose everything she owned. Damn it, he should have thought about what Ford meant about cleaning up the scene before they left and asked if there was anything she wanted to keep.
“She’ll be okay.”
“Yeah.” He nodded distractedly when Bentley tried to reassure him.
“Go on back inside and take care of your girl. We’ll take care of everything else.”
“Thanks Bent.”
“And if she needs anything, anything at all, you let me know and I’ll get it for her.” Bentley smiled, dimples flashing again as he gave a sheepish laugh, “Well, I mean, if she needs like feminine stuff, maybe call Jemma or Skylar but… you get what I mean.”
“Yeah, I get it.” Remy managed a smile for his cousin, “And I appreciate it.”
“No problem.” Bentley winked, “Better get going before big brother starts wondering what’s taking so long. Call if you need anything.”
Remy watched as Bentley climbed behind the wheel of the old junker and waved as he pulled away. Only once the taillights disappeared down the drive did he turn and go back inside. He didn’t know what he was wishing for when he finally pushed the door open to the bedroom. If Rachel was asleep, he could put off this conversation until tomorrow. If she was asleep, he wouldn’t be able to kiss her and touch her and remind himself that she was his.
It didn’t matter what else he wished for, all he wanted was her.
He leaned against the doorway and watched her for a long moment. Moonlight was coming in through the slats of the blinds, painting her in shadows. Her dark hair was spread over the pillow. The blankets were pulled up to her chin. She looked so young, so small and fragile. The bruises on her face were visible even from this distance and he fought the urge to rush to her and wrap her up in an effort to keep her safe.
She didn’t need to be coddled. She’d more than proven that today. Despite all the reasons he’d told her he didn’t want her to go to Lincoln, she’d still done it. Because she was strong and capable of making her own decisions. She knew what she wanted and she went for it. She loved with her whole heart. She saw the best in people. And she’d done everything she could to protect him and his family tonight, including putting herself in harm’s way.
He’d almost lost her. He hadn’t known Craig managed to sneak past them but he’d had a feeling. Some sick feeling in the pit of his stomach had told him something was wrong. The hair on the back of his neck had gone up and he’d all but told Colt to back the hell off and gotten out of the car to go and check on her. He’d only heard her screaming when he was ten steps from the door to the trailer and he’d known right then that everything had gone wrong.
