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Jess grabbed his arm again. “Brett, let her go. Forget about her. She’s not your problem.”

Brett pulled his arm from his sister’s grasp. “She’s never been myproblem, and you know that.”

Jess leveled him with a dark stare that didn’t match the bright-green dress she wore. “It’s dangerous to be anywhere near her.”

“I didn’t start this. They did.” Brett pointed into the darkness, not knowing where the truck had gone that had so carelessly dropped Thea at his feet. “I have to help her.”

“This is ridiculous. It’s a trap. It has to be. They know you’ll go with her.”

They. The Howards. Thea’s own flesh and blood who had probably done this to her. Or his family, the Pattons? Both possibilities were equally terrible.

“Then let them come. I have a few things to discuss with them,” Brett spat.

Jess raised a finger at him. “Don’t you dare get caught up in this again.”

“They started it, and I intend to finish it.” The fury rolling inside him was enough to bring a storm to the Howards’ doorstep. He’d burn the place down to protect Thea, and he’d dare anyone to try to stop him. He’d do the same for any woman who needed help, but Thea was different. He could be furious with her for leaving him, but he couldn’t let her go alone like this.

Jess turned and huffed, stalking away like she was fed up with the lost cause.

Brett focused his attention back on Thea as he climbed into the back of the ambulance. Jess had a point, and he understood her concern. It just didn’t measure up to the help Thea needed right now.

And always, if he were being honest. He would come running every time Thea called, now and any other time.

Brett settled into the small seat as the doors closed behind him. The paramedic checked the straps holding Thea to the stiff board they’d placed her on and extended another hand over her middle. “I’m Matt.”

Brett took the hand and gave Matt his attention for the required two seconds of the greeting. He looked to be a good twenty years older than Brett. Hopefully, those extra years had been used honing his healing skills. “Brett Patton.”

“What’s her name?”

“Thea Howard.” It had been years since he'd uttered the name, but it still flipped his stomach the way it used to.

Matt looked up at Brett, and the pieces of the puzzle clicked into place. “A Patton and a Howard? I’ve heard of you.”

Of course, his reputation preceded him. He’d never get away from it. “It’s not what you think. I wouldn’t do this to her.”

Matt turned his attention back to Thea. “What happened here?”

Scanning Thea’s bruised and swollen face, Brett sighed. “I have no idea. A truck pulled into the parking lot, dropped her out, and left.”

Brett reached out and brushed his fingertips over Thea’s limp hand. Her skin was icy cold. He slid his hands around hers, pressing his warmth into her. “She’s freezing.”

Matt finished taping the IV to Thea’s arm and reached behind him to pull a plastic-wrapped blanket from a compartment. He tore the plastic open and spread the thin blanket over Thea. Brett wrapped it tighter around her arms and legs.

“You have any idea who did this to her?” Matt asked without looking up.

Brett’s ears burned as he rubbed a hand over Thea’s arm to create friction. “I have a hunch.”

The Howards did this to her. He had more than a hunch. But what had she done that would make her own family turn against her when they were so busy killing off his kinfolks? He’d thought the loyalty lines had been drawn in ways that would protect her from her evil family.

A deep ache settled in his chest. Of all the Pattons and Howards, Thea was the only innocent one. Who could leave her helpless, cold, and nearly dead and not give a second thought?

“How good is your hunch, and is there any chance the church would have security footage?”

Apparently, Matt was going to be an ally, and Brett latched onto the thread of hope.

“My hunch is ninety-nine percent sure but I don’t have a shred of evidence. The church doesn’t have security footage, as far as I know, but I’ll ask one of the deacons.”

Matt turned his attention to the vitals monitor and stared at it. “Stay with me. Stay with me,” he muttered.