Page 58 of Devoured By the Forbidden Mountain Man

He gave a tired laugh. “She threw a wet dish towel at me.”

Georgia’s eyes widened.

“Did you deserve it?”

“Probably more than one.”

He explained without giving us details neither of us needed. He had told her the truth: his real surname, Brad’s death, the charge, Meredith, his decision to run, and why Georgia had suddenly found him. Piper believed he hadn’t killed Brad and was furious about everything else. What mattered most was that she had stayed.

“She told me I don’t get to decide what she can survive hearing because I’m scared she’ll leave,” Gavin said.

Georgia’s face softened.

“That sounds familiar.”

“Yeah. Apparently I have a type.”

This time their laughter came easily enough that I could hear what they might have sounded like before everything went wrong.

Gavin planned to leave within the hour. He would drive until he was tired, stop for the night, and finish the trip on Halloween. If the weather held, he expected to reach Whispering Pines sometime the following afternoon.

He told Georgia to let Meredith know he was coming and promised to check in from the road. After the call, Georgia remained smiling for several seconds.

I hated being the person who had to take that away, but the alternative was worse.

I closed the file in front of me and gave her enough time to notice the change herself.

She noticed. “What?”

I moved my chair away from the desk so we could talk without the furniture dividing us.

“Before Gavin gets here tomorrow, you need to know what I may have to do when I see him.”

Georgia’s smile faded slowly.

She knew enough about North Fork and Gavin’s history that I didn’t have to introduce the problem from nothing.

“The warrant is still active.”

“Yes.”

She lowered herself into the chair across from me.

I kept the explanation as plain as I could.

“The bond I posted seven years ago is not a permanent source of authority over Gavin. That bond was forfeited, the surety paid it, and your family’s reimbursement obligation came afterward. I’m not going to treat him like a current North Fork skip because he isn’t one.”

Georgia nodded once, following.

“But the criminal case did not disappear when the bond was forfeited. Gavin failed to appear and then stayed gone for seven years. The active warrant and the felony bail-jumping issue exist separately from whatever Meredith may finally say about Brad.”

She looked toward the locked cabinet.

“If she tells the truth tomorrow, doesn’t that change everything?”

“It may change the murder case. It may change it completely. What it doesn’t do is automatically erase the warrant or the years Gavin spent outside the process before anyone with authority has reviewed her statement.”

Georgia listened without interrupting.