Page 64 of Once Removed (Blackhawk Security)

“I just did,” he said, swallowing the lump forming in his throat. “I told you my ugly secret, Lainey. Blurted it out without thinking.”

“Exactly,” reaching for the door. “You blurted it out without thinking. How long would you have waited to tell me if you had thought about it? If you hadn’t been shocked and surprised by the fact that I talked to Ellie to find out how to arrange an emergency guardianship?”

“Lainey, you’re upset and angry, and I don’t blame you.” Brody was speaking too quickly, but he was desperate to make Lainey see. Desperate to repair the damage he’d done to their relationship. “Don’t make a decision now. We have a lot to talk about, and we will. I promise. Just give me a chance.”

She tilted her head. Studied him for an uncomfortably long moment. But as she opened her mouth to speak, the alarm on his phone buzzed.

Yanking it out of his pocket, he saw the sheriff’s car sitting at his gate, waiting for it to open. Brody pressed the button to do that, then turned to Lainey.

“The sheriff is here. We’ll have to put our discussion on hold.” He gestured at the photos. “He needs to see this. Needs to hear about Phoebe, about the person she heard in the compound, all of it.”

“I agree,” she said, straightening. “I’m going to go upstairs and splash some cold water on my face, but I’ll be right back down.”

“Okay.”

Brody watched her slip out the door of his office, then he heard her running up the stairs. When the door to her room closed with a chillingly final sound, he squared his shoulders. Took a deep breath. Then yanked open the front door and stood on the porch to wait for the sheriff’s cruiser to bump down the driveway.

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