Blake

“Are you doing okay?” Logan asked. “Robert told me everything. I can’t believe this shit.”

I gripped the steering wheel so hard, my knuckles turned white. “It’s like a fucking nightmare I can’t get out of. I had to get wasted just to get through the night.”

“I understand, brother. Hadley was an amazing woman. Where are you headed now?”

“Burnsville. I’m going to see what I can find. I just want to know what happened, and the fucknuts here seem to be satisfied with calling this an accident.” I was only ten miles away and the closer I got, the more I felt the weight of her loss.

“Is there anything I can do? Your resources are probably limited, being away from home.”

“I brought my laptop, but I was too drunk last night to do anything. Do you mind tapping into the satellite feeds and see if you can find any kind of video of what happened? I need to see the accident.”

He typed away on his computer. “On it. I’ll give you a call back.”

“Thanks.”

We hung up and I concentrated on the road. Burnsville was a small, Sleepy Hollow type of town. It was so miniscule, no one had ever heard of it. The crash site was easy to spot with all the flowers, charred ground, and yellow tape. I didn’t want to imagine Hadley’s life ending there, but it was staring at me, right in the fucking face. There was no goodbye, or one last touch. She was simply . . . gone.

As soon as I got out of the car, all I could do was stand there. My feet wouldn’t take me any closer. I thought I could handle it, but I was wrong. Dropping to my knees, I punched the blackened ground, over and over. The throbbing ache in my chest was almost too much for me to take.

Placing my hands on the ground, I closed my eyes and squeezed them tight, trying to hold back the tears. “I’m sorry, Hadley. I’m so fucking sorry.”

A car door slammed and the sadness turned to rage. Why couldn’t I have one fucking minute to think without someone interrupting me? Getting to my feet, I swiped at my eyes and turned around. “What are you doing here?” I growled, glaring at the inconsiderate cocksucker headed my way.

Nick sighed and approached cautiously. “I followed you. I told you I wanted to help. Plus, I think there’s some things you need to know.” His gaze landed on the charred ground and he froze. “I didn’t realize how hard it was going to be to come here.” Tears flooded his eyes and he cleared his throat, looking away.

I snapped my fingers in front of his face, drawing him back. “Focus! What do I need to know?”

“I was at the station this morning and Mr. Rivers was there. I overheard him on the phone saying he was leaving for a couple of days but he’d be back for the funeral. Why would he be leaving when his daughter was just killed?”

“Fuck if I know. He’s a busy man.”

His brows furrowed and he shook his head. “Too busy to grieve over his own daughter? No. It’s strange. He’s not exactly acting like a father who just lost his daughter.”

“What exactly are you saying?”

He shrugged. “I think you might be right. Something about Hadley’s death is wrong and I don’t like how everyone’s brushing it off as an accident. I heard some of the guys at the station say you’re one of the best undercover cops around. Is that true?”

Turning on my heel, I stormed back to the car and opened the door. “If I was, this never would’ve happened.”

“Then let’s figure this shit out.”

“Don’t you need to go take care of your sister and handle the paparazzi or something?”

His jaw clenched. “Stop being a dick and let me help you. I’ve known her for years and if I’m able to help in even the smallest capacity, isn’t it worth keeping me around?”

We stared each other down, but I could see the determination in his eyes. He loved her too. “Fine. Get in my way and I’ll break both your legs. Let’s see how you play hockey then.” I got in my car, and of course, fuckhead followed me to the motel; it was the only one in the small town. One thing was for sure, I wasn’t leaving until I had my answers.

“Are you going to be up my ass the entire time?” I opened the door to my room and Nick brushed past me.

“Have you heard anything?”

“No, I haven’t. It’s been three hours. Now calm the fuck down.” I slammed the door and sat back down at my computer.

Blowing out an angry breath, he ran his hands through his hair and paced. “I’m trying. I don’t see how you’re all calm about this.”

I glared at him. “I’m calm because I have to be. I can’t do my job being irrational and angry.” I wanted to be angry and beat the shit out of things, but I couldn’t.

Nick sat on the bed and lowered his head. “I just never thought she’d be taken away from me.”

I sighed and turned my gaze back to the screen. All of the pictures Hadley took in Wyoming were saved to my computer. I couldn’t stop looking at them, at her. “Neither did I,” I murmured.

For the next hour, I searched through everything I could find on George Rivers’ whereabouts. I called his office and all they would say was that he was out of town for a couple of days. There wasn’t much to go on, especially since he hadn’t paid for anything with any of his credit cards recently, so I could track his location. There was, however, a sum of five million dollars taken out of his bank two days ago, the day Hadley was killed.

“What are you up to, George?” I mumbled at the screen.

“What do you mean?” Nick asked.

I’d been completely engrossed in my work and forgotten he was in the room. I pointed at the screen and he walked over. “You see this? That’s five million dollars taken out of George Rivers’ account two days ago. Why the hell would he need that much money?”

Nick shook his head. “Have you figured out where he’s at?”

“Not yet. I’m trying to tap into his phone to see if I can locate him that way. It just takes time. Once I link in, all we’ll have to do is wait.” I typed in the information and waited for the wheel of death to stop spinning. Nick watched on in fascination and we both breathed a sigh of relief when my software synced with George’s phone. I knew it would, but being in the middle of a desolate town, I figured it’d take longer.

“How long do we have to wait?”

“I don’t know,” I answered with a shrug. “It depends on how far away he is. Once we find him, hopefully, it’ll give us an idea of what he’s up to.”

“You don’t think he had anything to do with the accident do you? He was always so overly protective of Hadley.”

“You’re right. I don’t believe he would ever purposely hurt her. I just want to know what he’s up to.”

I clicked over to another screen where a picture of her working in the barn popped up. She wasn’t looking when I’d taken it, but I had to have proof that I’d gotten her to shovel shit. She would’ve killed me if she knew I took it.

“Is that Hadley?” Nick asked. Nodding, I turned the computer toward him. His eyes lit up when he looked at her. “What is she doing?”

Chuckling, I pointed at her picture. “Shoveling shit. When she first came out to Wyoming, I didn’t want her there. I thought it was an insult to my talent to have to babysit a spoiled Hollywood brat.”

“She was never like that,” he snapped.

I held up my hand. “I know, but it took a while for me to see. Anyway, I made her sweep out the stalls and help me in the barn. She turned out to be one hell of a rider. Nightshade loved her.”

“I went about it all wrong,” he grumbled. “Who would’ve thought she’d want a guy who made her clean up horse shit?”

The memories made me laugh. “My thought exactly.”

A sad smile spread across his face. “Do you mind if I scroll through the pictures? I’ve never seen her like this.”

I nodded and turned the computer toward him. He burst out laughing when he saw the pictures of me in the Mexican pointy boots. I didn’t want to think about what it was going to be like getting on a plane and going home without her.