“Hurting me doesn’t earn him a lifetime behind bars,” Camille whispered.

“Then what would? There’s got to be something. Give me something to look into and get the hell out of there.”

“Warren and I appreciate your generosity,” she said a little louder. “He’s looking forward to re-election. I’ll give you back to Rajesh now.”

And with that, her friend was gone.

Twenty minutes later, Remi stood behind her niece and nephew on the boardwalk that overlooked the lake as Brick and his crew maneuvered the Marine Rescue closer to shore. The kids, still a little unsteady from Kimber’s announcement that they’d be staying with Uncle Brick and Aunt Remi for a bit while their mom and dad figured some things out, waved.

A glum-looking Mega plopped his butt on the boardwalk and leaned against Remi’s legs.

The feeling that she’d just made a very dangerous mistake clung to her like a fog.

When Brick lumbered through the front door at midnight, she was waiting for him.

“What’s wrong?” he demanded, not bothering to shed his coat. “What happened? Are the kids okay?”

Remi swallowed. “I think I fucked up.”

He gripped her shoulders, ice in his eyes. “Talk.”

To his credit, Brick restrained himself—barely—from murdering her while she explained.

He had his back to her, his hands on hips. She watched his shoulders rise and fall with the breaths he took to calm down. And for some reason, it made her feel safer.

“Remington, what you did was…” His voice was deceptively calm.

“Stupid and irresponsible. Believe me, I know. But I talked to her, Brick.”

He turned to face her when her voice broke, his jaw tightening when he saw her face.

When he traced a thumb over her cheek, she nuzzled into the touch. He hissed out a breath. “I hate how you can make me feel like strangling you and holding you at the same time.”

“I’m sorry. I’m scared, Brick. She sounded…I don’t know. Resigned? Like there wasn’t any fight left in her.” She broke away from him, but he caught her wrists and pulled her back into his heat, into his hard body.

“Tell me again what she said. Exactly what she said,” he ordered.

44

The first ferry of tourists at the end of April usually brought a sense of jubilance. However, this year, it had Brick staring grimly at each passenger as they disembarked. He’d kept vigilant watch as the ferry lines began their regular runs again, bringing freight, supplies, and seasonal workers back to the tiny island.

Warren Vorhees’s face, one he’d never seen in person, was emblazoned in his brain. Trouble was coming. He could feel it in his gut. Knew Chief Ford sensed it, too. She stood next to him, her face impassive as always as she watched a family of four disembark for a chilly day of fun.

Brick envied them. Wished he could be escorting Remi out to her pick of restaurants that were now opened.

But circumstances being what they were with danger lurking nebulously just off the radar, he could only keep her close and wait.