Page 14 of Edge of Steele
“It’s now Shadow Lake Survival.” Ryleigh grabbed the nearest item, a trashcan, and stepped over to Colin. “A few years ago, they started the business to teach survival skills to people who want to live off-grid. It’s an immersion kind of course and really intense.”
Finn looked at Colin. “There’re enough customers for that line of work?”
Colin nodded. “With more people working from home and moving from cities, the business is booming. That’s why they hired me. Hired my brother Devon too. He’s a former Clackamas County deputy. Also recently brought Micha Nichols on board. He served with Russ in the military.”
“From what I’ve heard, you guys are always booked.” She unfurled a bag in the trashcan.
Colin turned to study her. “What’s this favor you mentioned?”
“Before I ask, I want you to know I respect your decision to walk away from domestic terrorism.”
“Okay. Butter me up first. I get it.” His eyebrows rose. “But…”
“But we believe this bomb could be a result of ecoterrorism.”
He stopped moving. “And…”
She settled the can by the table. “And I’ve done all I can think of to find a solid suspect, but I’ve come up empty-handed. You have such a deep understanding of this kind of crime, I hoped you could find something I missed.”
He simply stared at her. She got it. He didn’t want to do this.
As much as she respected him and didn’t want to inflict any further distress on him, she couldn’t give up. “I know this is a big ask, but a man has died. With so many threats sent to Tobias, I’m worried this might not be over.”
He scrunched his forehead. She hadn’t convinced him. Far from it.
“Tobias reported the threats to Russ, right?” he asked.
Good. At least he hadn’t given her an outright no. “He did, but from what Tobias told me, Russ struck out too. Of course, this bomb changes everything. Russ now has a murder to investigate. He’s bound to throw additional resources at it, but they don’t have a budget for hiring someone with your skills.”
Colin reached into the cooler and shifted chunks of ice to expose bottled water. “I’m sure we could get Nick Thorn at Veritas to help. They do pro bono work all the time. I know him and would be glad to ask.”
“Already in my plan, but he doesn’t have a terrorism background like you.” She moved closer, hoping he would look up again as she planned to plead with more than her words. “And remember, not long ago you would’ve done exactly what I’m doing if you had an expert who could help.”
“Yeah. I would’ve.” He ran a hand over deep brown hair styled in a buzz cut then let out a long breath. “I’ve finally let that all go, and I really don’t want to drag it up. Especially not so soon. I’ve just started sleeping well at night again.”
Ouch.That cut her to the core. But if she could bring in a killer and at the same time save her company’s reputation, she would pull out all stops. “Trust me. If I thought we could do this without you, I wouldn’t ask.”
“I don’t know.”
She hated taking advantage of their friendship, but she had no choice. Yet to be fair to him, he needed to know her motivations. “You know I want to bring in the bomber at all costs, right?”
“That goes without saying.”
“But once the news media finds out Steele Guardians knew about the threats and failed to stop this bomber, it could be disastrous for our family business.”
“Why didn’t you say that in the first place?” He lifted his mask to his forehead and scratched his chin. “Your family took me in on Thanksgiving that year I couldn’t go home. They made me feel like one of the family. I’ll do it for them. You too, of course, because you’re one of them.”
“Thank you, Colin.” She threw her arms around his neck and gave him a quick hug, something she would never have done while they were fellow agents, but it felt right at the moment.
“If I’d known I’d get a hug out of it, I would’ve said yes right away.” Colin grinned, his face blooming in attractiveness.
Why couldn’t she fall for a wonderful guy like Colin?
But not her. She always liked men who bordered on a bad boy. Men like Finn. Guys who weren’t available. A challenge. Even now. He’d hurt her big time, and he still got to her. Truth be told, she’d never forgotten him and had imagined what might’ve been off and on since they split over two years ago.
Totally odd for her. She was a free spirit as Russ had said and rarely lived in the past. She moved on. Tried new things.
And yet, here she was caring about what he was thinking. That had to stop and it had to stop right now.
