“Careful.” Ben made a show of glancing in Evan’s direction and Maddie’s retreating back before looking at Connor again. “I’m serious. This is good advice, so take it.”

He sure looked serious. Stress showed in every line on his face. Adrenaline likely still thrummed through him following that standoff with the marshal.

But that didn’t mean Connor understood the message Ben was trying to send. “Meaning?”

“The man carries a gun.”

“Yeah, I know. He aimed it at my head when he threatened me.”

Ben finally seemed to relax a bit. “You do have that effect on people.”

“Now that we know about Maddie’s past and what happened, is he really needed?” Connor knew the answer—no. The guy should leave, go back to his desk. Go help the other people he was supposed to watch over. The ones actually in the program.

Ben smiled. “You’re pretty transparent.”

“How?”

“You’re jealous of the marshal.”

No way was Connor engaging on that topic. His feelings for Maddie were on constant fire. His brain misfired and fogged around him. She generally had him running in circles. Something he never did. He stayed focused, so focused that he’d nearly worked himself to death over the last two years. This constant blur of mental confusion . . . he blamed her.

But none of that was the point. This was about some jackass bursting into her life and trying to take it over. That way of existing was behind her and she was clear that’s where she wanted it to stay. “She doesn’t want to be in the program anymore.”

“He thinks she should be. I know that because we’ve talked several times. He’s convinced someone from her past, from that case, wants revenge.” Ben sounded like he agreed.

Connor got it. All of the responsibility for Whitaker landed on Ben’s shoulders. Having Maddie gone meant less danger. But there was another answer. The one where they found out who was messing with her and stopped it. “Did he tell you who might want this revenge? Because it sounds like most of the key players in what happened to her are now dead.”

“He didn’t give me any details but I got the impression he’s been watching over her from afar out of concern.”

Of course he was. He acted like he owned her, or at least got to decide how she reacted to the situation in front of her. So, it wasn’t a surprise. “Creepy.”

Ben let out a long sigh. “It’s probably a habit.”

Made sense but Connor wasn’t in the mood to be practical or fair. “Well, he can go back to watching her from a distance.”

Ben whistled. “He’s right about one thing.”

“What?”

“This is going to get interesting.”

They all jammed into Sylvia’s office twenty minutes later. Evan sat in her leather desk chair, because of course he did.