Chapter 10

chapter

ten

The silence in the sheriff’s cruiser was thick, broken only by the hum of the engine. Izzy sat stiffly in the backseat, arms crossed over her chest, glaring out the window at the passing trees.

It stung that Ash didn’t trust her enough to let her drive herself. Even Rylan offering to drive her to the station hadn’t worked. So now Ash was in the Tahoe in front of them, Rylan was trailing in his truck, and she was stuck in this car that smelled like someone had vomited in it recently, with Deputy Cole Reed.

Of all her former co-workers, of course Reed had to be the one Ash assigned to drive her. He was a pompous ass who never missed an opportunity to get under her skin. Always quick with a snide comment or a condescending look that made her blood boil.

She felt his eyes on her and tried to ignore it.

“Must be weird being on the other side of the glass, huh?” Reed said finally.

“I’m not under arrest.”

Reed snorted. “Not yet anyway.”

Izzy’s jaw clenched against the urge to tell him to fuck all the way off. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of a reaction.

“Funny how things change,” he continued, his tone dripping with false sympathy. “One minute you’re the golden girl, the next I’m hauling your ass to the station for questioning.”

Don’t take the bait. Don’t take the bait.

Her nails dug into her palms as she fought the urge to lash out. Reed’s words were like salt in an open wound, reminding her of everything she’d lost. Her badge, her purpose, the trust of the people she cared about most. All because of one impossible choice.

“I’m not being hauled anywhere. I’m cooperating with an investigation.”

Reed let out a humorless chuckle. “Right. And I’m sure it has nothing to do with you trying to weasel your way back into the department’s good graces. Rawlings won’t take you back.“

Dammit, that stung. She sucked in a sharp breath at the quick pain of it, and nearly gagged on the stench.

Ugh, that was bad.

Which gave her an idea.

She smirked at the back of Reed’s head. “What did you do to piss off Sheriff Rawlings?”

Reed’s eyes narrowed in the rearview mirror. “What are you talking about?”

“This car reeks like someone puked their guts out in here.” She leaned forward, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “So I figure he must be pretty pissed at you to assign you the vomit-mobile to chauffeur the department pariah. Did you forget to file paperwork again? Lose evidence? Or, let me guess— you hit on the sheriff’s sister, and he found out. No, wait, couldn’t be that. Zak wouldn’t let you keep breathing if you hit on his wife. Oh my God, did you hit on Rose ?”

Reed’s knuckles whitened on the steering wheel.

“Holy shit. You did.” This guy must have a death wish if he thought hitting on the sheriff’s wife was a good idea.

“It—wasn’t like that. It was a misunderstanding. It was a compliment, but she took it the wrong way.”

Izzy highly doubted that Rose Rawlings, the gorgeous, tough-as-nails owner of the Mad Dog Pub, didn’t know the difference between a compliment and a come-on.

“I can’t believe you still have a job. And your balls. I’m assuming you still have them, and Rose didn’t cut them off…?” She watched with satisfaction as Reed’s jaw ticked, a vein pulsing in his temple.

Yeah, not so fun being on the receiving end, was it?

She enjoyed his seething silence the rest of the way to the sheriff’s department and offered him a bright smile when he was forced to open the locked door for her. “Good seeing you again, Reed.”

He muttered something under his breath as he walked around the car’s trunk, returning to the driver’s seat.

Inside the station, the familiar scent of stale coffee and sweat greeted her, along with the not-so-familiar feeling of eyes following her every move. Conversations quieted as she walked past desks and into the hallway leading to the interrogation rooms. It was as if everyone was waiting for her to stumble, to confirm whatever assumptions they’d made about her after she’d left.

Ash already waited in the hallway by the open door of an interrogation room and her stomach dropped as he waved her inside. The department had more comfortable spaces they used for witnesses and the family members of victims, but this wasn’t one of them. The room was plain and mostly empty, save for a table and four chairs pushed against the back wall.

“Sit,” he said, gesturing to one of the chairs.

Izzy sat back straight, chin high, and met his gaze unflinchingly as he closed the door and took the seat across from her. If he wanted to treat her like a suspect, fine. She’d play along.

Ash flipped open a notebook, and his expression softened just enough to catch her off guard. “Izzy,” he said, his voice quieter now, “this isn’t personal.”

“It feels pretty personal.” She couldn’t quite keep the bitterness out of her voice. “You put me in a car with Cole Reed, who is the human equivalent of a hemorrhoid, and now you’re interrogating me in here like a criminal instead of taking my statement in your office like you would for anyone else.”

Ash sighed and rubbed a hand over his reddish beard, which was overdue for a trim.

Like Rylan’s.

Though she’d really liked how Rylan’s beard had scraped against her cheeks as he devoured her?—

Nope. She slammed a mental barrier down on that train of thought and re-focused on Ash.

“I know Reed can be...difficult,” he was saying. “But he’s the only deputy available right now. I have everyone else out looking for Monica and her kids.”

The reminder of why she was here sobered her. “Which is where I should be, too. So let’s get this over with.”

Ash studied her for a long moment, then slid a pen from his pocket and held it poised over the notepad. “Okay. Start from the beginning. Tell me everything Monica Holt said to you this morning.”

So she did. She told him about Monica showing up at her parents’ house, how frazzled she’d been, how afraid. “She was adamant I not contact the police.”

“So you went to Rylan.”

“Yes. I figured he could rally Redwood Coast Rescue, which was the next best thing.”

Something close to a smile ticked up the corner of Ash’s hard mouth before he hid it. “Takes balls of steel to ask for help from the people you betrayed.”

“Yeah, well, I’d go to the devil himself if it meant saving those kids. They’re like family to me.”

He exhaled hard. “That’s what I’m afraid of. You have no boundaries when it comes to the people you care about.”

“And you do? I know Reed was only available to drive me because you’re punishing him for offending your wife.”

His lips flattened into a grim line. Yep, she’d hit a tender spot, and she didn’t feel the least bit bad about it.

Ash growled softly, but let that thread drop. He asked, “What else did Monica say to you?”

She shrugged. “That was it. She said she sent the kids here because she thought they’d be safe closer to me. I asked her what she was running from, but she refused to give me details. But she seemed convinced they’d been abducted, and the trail cam footage from the resort proves she was right.”

Ash’s brow furrowed as he jotted down notes. “You didn’t think to press her for more information? To find out what, exactly, she was so afraid of?”

Izzy’s fingers curled into fists beneath the table. “Of course I did. But she was already spooked. I didn’t want to risk her running off again without telling me where she was going.”

“So instead, you let her leave without any idea of what kind of danger she might be in, or who might have taken the kids.”

“I didn’t let her do anything,” Izzy snapped. “She’s a grown woman who made her own choices. I did what I could with the information I had.”

Ash leaned back in his chair, his expression unreadable. “Did she mention anything about her ex-husband? About the custody battle?”

Izzy stilled. “What?”

Ash’s gaze was steady, assessing. “Monica’s ex-husband, Gavin, filed for emergency custody of the kids last week. Claimed she was growing increasingly paranoid and unstable.”

“That’s bullshit.” The words burst out of her, hot and defensive. “Monica is the most levelheaded person I know.”

Ash opened a folder he’d brought in with him and slid a document across the table. It was a copy of the court filing.

Izzy scanned legal document in disbelief. Monica had never mentioned anything about a custody battle or her ex causing problems. But then again, they hadn’t spoken much in recent months, not since...

She swallowed hard. “I didn’t know. She never said anything to me about Gavin or a custody issue.”

“Is it possible Monica took the kids herself? That she made up this abduction story to keep them away from their father?”

“That’s ridiculous,” Izzy scoffed. “Monica is an amazing mother. She would never do anything to jeopardize her kids.”

Ash arched a brow. “Like sending them to a different city without their father’s knowledge or consent?”

Izzy opened her mouth to argue, then snapped it shut. Dammit, he had a point. But still... “There has to be more to the story. She was genuinely terrified, Ash. This isn’t about a custody battle.”

Ash was silent for a moment as he jotted something down in the notebook. Then he looked up and met her gaze. “Do you know where she is?”

And they were back to this again.

“No. I told you I haven’t seen her since this morning.”

“And she hasn’t contacted you?”

“No. You can check my phone if you don’t believe me. I’ve called her multiple times and left voicemails, but she hasn’t gotten back to me.”

“You’ll contact me if she does?”

She’d worked with Ash long enough to recognize an order even when it was voiced as a question. “Yes. If she does.”

She only felt the slightest twinge of guilt about lying to him, but at least it wasn’t a total lie. She would call him… eventually. After she made sure Monica was okay and pried some answers out of her.

Ash studied her for a long moment, his eyes narrowing slightly as if trying to decide whether to believe her. Then he sighed and snapped the folder shut. "Alright. I think that's all for now. But, Delgado, I need you to keep me in the loop on this. No going rogue, okay? You are not a deputy anymore.”

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak without betraying the lie.

He stood and opened the door, waiting for her to exit ahead of him. She could feel his gaze on her back as she walked down the hallway and out of the station.