“Remington, come away from there,” Chief Ford said on a yawn.
Brick stole a seat at the table and pulled Remi into his lap. He breathed in the scent of her hair, letting the warmth of her soft body thaw the iciness that had lodged in his gut.
“I don’t like them leaving us out of their stupid plans when Camille is the one in danger.”
“You’re in this too, missy,” her mother reminded her.
“At this point, we all are,” Camille spoke up. “William saved me. Remi defied him. Brick provoked him. I left him. He’ll come after us and anyone who gets in his way.”
Her lower lip trembled, and Brick was struck by just how alone she looked.
“I’m sorry for bringing this to your doorstep,” Camille said to Darlene, who was guzzling coffee. “I never meant for anyone else to get hurt.”
Remi squirmed in his arms, but Brick held on tight. She turned to him, and whatever she saw in his eyes was enough to make her wrap her arms around his neck and hang on.
“I’m sorry no one did anything a long time ago. You didn’t deserve any of this,” Darlene said. “No one’s in danger because of you. It’s because of him. So don’t try to take responsibility for his sins. They’re his. Not yours.”
The words hit Brick dead center, just like they had the first time she’d said them. To him. He’d been busting his ass as a rookie cop like he’d had something to prove.
In his head, he’d needed Chief Ford to know he wasn’t like his father. A good-time grifter looking for an easy score. He’d needed to prove that he wasn’t going down the same path.
She’d already known it. Strongly hinting that he was being a dumbass if he thought otherwise. And she’d reminded him that on Mackinac, people were judged by their own character, not by those of the people around them.
Remi’s fingers toyed with his hair at the nape of his neck. The gentle touch, the weight of her body against his reassured him. She was his. She belonged with him. And no one was going to take her away.
The conversation cut off when both agents returned.
“With this new evidence, the U.S. Attorney is confident she can take this case before the court and win,” Special Agent Brice stated.
“We just need the bad guy in custody,” White added.
“That is usually helpful,” Chief Ford drawled.
Brice gave the room a cool look. “The best move forward at this time is to encourage him to come out of hiding.”
Brick didn’t like how her gaze lingered on Remi.
She shifted in his lap. “You need bait.”
“Essentially yes.”
“No.” Brick’s voice rang out, silencing everyone else.
“Can I speak to you outside, Sergeant?” Remi demanded.
“You can’t be okay with this,” Brick said to the chief as Remi headed for the front door.
Chief Ford met his heated gaze. There was a warning in her eyes and something else. Something like fear.
He followed Remi out into the lousy, damp spring air.
“Absolutely fucking not,” he said before she could even open her pretty mouth.
“Hear me out.”
“There’s no way you’re taking their side.”
“I’m not taking anyone’s side over you,” she said, huddling deeper into the coat she’d snatched off the rack inside. It was his.
“You are not to put yourself at risk, Remington. I couldn’t take it.”
He crowded her against the railing, needing the proximity to her.
“What if there was no real danger?”
He felt a nagging sensation. An irritation between his shoulder blades as if they were being watched.
“It makes sense,” she began. “From a big picture level.”
“Dangling you in front of a homicidal monster makes no sense on any level,” he argued, keeping his hands on the railing next to her. He was afraid if he touched her he’d never let her go.
“I’m saying, we need him to show his grotesque face sooner rather than later so he can be dragged off in handcuffs. He knows that Camille and I defied him. He’d find us here sooner or later.”
“What’s your point?”
“He knows about the divorce and protective order. He knew about the arrest attempt. Sooner rather than later, he’ll track Camille here to a tiny island with a small police force. What he doesn’t know is there’s a Department of Justice investigation happening. That’s a whole lot of law enforcement who could grace our shores in time to nab him the second he lands here.”
“You’re talking about laying a trap here on Mackinac.”
“Can you think of a way to find him faster?”
He wanted to.
“Don’t do this, Remi. This doesn’t feel right.”
“I don’t like it either. But this needs to be over for Camille. How long can she hang in there if he’s just vanished? How long can she hold it together, knowing that he could be anywhere? Across the country or around the next corner?”
Brick looked over his shoulder, the nagging feeling still there. But there was no one there.
“Remi, this is asking for trouble. Let the agents handle it. It’s their job.”
“You heard Dumb and Dumber in there. They’ve been sitting on this for a year and a half. Do you know how many times he’s hit her in eighteen months? How many times he’s hurt and humiliated her? There’s no way they weren’t aware of it. They left her there in that situation because they wanted to follow the money.”
“Using you and Camille as bait is doing the same thing. Intentionally putting you in harm’s way.”
“It’s not,” she insisted, slipping her arms around his waist and holding on. “Because we have you. Brick, you aren’t going to let him get close enough to her. To me. You’ll keep me safe just like you always have.”
“You don’t know what you’re asking,” he said, feeling broken inside. She couldn’t possibly know what she was asking him to do. She wanted him to hold up the single most important thing in his universe and dare a mad man to try to take it away.
He couldn’t resist her anymore. He had to hold her. Tucking her into his chest, he rested his head on the red hair that had haunted his dreams for his entire adult life.
“I do. And I know it’s not fair. And I swear I’ll make it up to you.”
“How?”
“I’ll spend the whole rest of my life loving you so big that you’ll never have reason to doubt it for a second.”
“Remington.”
“Brick. I love you and I trust you. And I’ve got a whole lifetime planned out for us. I’m not going to do something stupid and jeopardize it. I promise you. I’m just asking you to do what you’ve always done. Protect me.”
51
With the weight of the world on his shoulders, Brick walked in the door after seven to a full house and salsa music. Mega trotted toward him with a welcoming ruff, the cat slinking along on his heels.
He shucked off his coat and bent to pet the welcoming committee. “What’s all this?” Neither the dog nor the cat had answers.
The table was set with his grandmother’s china, and someone had brought her card table out of the basement to handle overflow seating.