Page 18 of Deputies Under Fire (Renegade Canyon #2)

That wasn’t the only thing his brother and sister-in-law had done, though. There were overnight bags for both Eden and him, things that had obviously been gathered from their houses, along with some bottles of water, bags of snacks and even a jar of bath salts on the side of the tub.

Making a mental note to thank Dutton and Grace in the morning, Rory took two of the tablets, got two more from the bottle, along with one of the waters, and brought them to Eden.

“Thanks,” she whispered, and while she was downing them, Rory went to the closet and took out a pillow and a blanket.

“I’ll sleep in the chair tonight,” he said, tipping his head to a recliner in the sitting area.

Across from it was a sofa that he knew pulled out into a bed.

“You can take that or use one of the guestrooms.” There were three of them, not counting the one Leslie was using, and two were on this floor.

“I’m sleeping in here,” she insisted.

Rory had no intention of arguing with her about that. Yes, the guest bed would be a lot more comfortable, but she likely wouldn’t get much sleep unless she could be close to Tyler.

Eden glanced at the bathroom. “But I would like a shower first.”

“Take a long one,” he suggested. “I’ll do the same once you’re finished.”

She nodded, gave him a lingering look and headed toward the bathroom.

Rory silently cursed. The kiss had fueled that blasted need inside him. A need that made him forget all about his sore muscles and his banged-up body. And it took a whole lot of willpower not to follow Eden into the bathroom and finish what they’d started.

Instead, he forced himself to get a bed ready for her. Rory pulled out the sofa, took another pillow and blanket from the closet and put them on the mattress. He did the same to the recliner that was already positioned so he’d be able to see both Eden and the crib throughout the night.

The door, too.

And while he doubted the killer would come bursting in, he locked the door, anyway, and checked outside the window. Rory saw the men still guarding the house and the truck with the other hands driving around the ranch, checking for any signs of trouble while also monitoring the external security.

Satisfied that they were as secure as they could be, Rory put his phone on vibrate so the ringer wouldn’t wake Tyler, and he went back to the recliner.

He heard the water running in the bathroom, and he hoped Eden did as he suggested and took that long shower.

While he waited for her, he used his phone to access his inbox to see if there were any updated reports.

There were.

Loads of them.

And the updates would no doubt continue throughout the night. There were many moving parts to this investigation, with two crime scenes, way too many suspects and three dead. Mellie, Brenda and Lou.

Rory didn’t want anyone else added to that tally.

The first update was from Bennie, who, among other things, had been tasked with trying to locate Frank.

So far, Bennie was having no luck whatsoever with that.

Frank hadn’t responded to multiple calls, and he hadn’t answered his door when a reserve duty officer had gone to his residence.

It was possible the man was simply avoiding them, but Rory could think of other reasons.

Bad ones.

If Frank was the killer, then he could be lying low after setting those IEDs and spike strips on the road. And Rory had to tamp down the anger that bubbled inside him when he thought of Frank, or anyone else, doing that. Getting revenge against Ike had already caused so much damage.

Out of all their suspects, Frank was the one who had the means to do something like that. Since he was from Renegade Canyon, he knew that road, knew the best place to set up a deadly attack. And now that he had seemingly dropped off the map, he couldn’t supply them with an alibi.

Rory glanced through the background check on Frank, and while he couldn’t see any experience with explosives, the man had served seven years in the Air Force, and it was possible he’d tapped into some skill he’d learned there.

Of course, it was equally possible that Frank had hired someone.

The man wasn’t rich like Ike, Helen or Diedre, but he had more than enough assets to pay someone.

Rory moved to the next update—this one from the bomb squad—and again, it wasn’t good news. There was no obvious signature on the IEDs. No trace, DNA or prints, either, that could help identify who’d made them. So that was a dead end.

The next report was on the photos that they’d gotten from Carter. According to the lab, the images hadn’t been doctored. So Frank had indeed been at Diedre’s when the woman had sped away in her Jeep.

The time stamp on the photos didn’t clear either Frank or Carter as far as giving them an alibi since Brenda was almost certainly alive at the time the photos had been taken. That meant either man could have had time to leave Diedre’s, get to Brenda, stab her and leave her to die in the barn.

So, yeah, not stellar news there.

The next report did offer a glimmer of something more positive.

Carter had indeed gone into both Renegade Canyon PD and SAPD to give his statements, and he’d told SAPD Detective Vernon about the photos, which were now also at their crime lab.

Vernon had used the info to obtain a search warrant for Diedre’s car, home and office.

The warrant would be executed in the morning and a team of CSIs would be looking for anything that could point to her being the killer.

Rory wished the detective could get a warrant for Helen’s place, too, but he had no evidence against her that would help in that area. Still, he couldn’t shut out the images of his aunt orchestrating all of this to get back at Ike.

And, yes, that included killing Eden and him.

Ike might have plenty of ill will toward Dutton, Eden and him, but it would still be a deep cut if someone murdered his family to get back at him. Plus, Helen might not find it any great loss to kill off her sister’s children since she blamed them for not doing enough to save their mother.

Killing Eden and him would accomplish something else, too. It could throw the investigation into a tailspin.

The next report he pulled up was from the medical examiner, stating that the blade that’d killed Brenda could indeed have come from a Swiss Army knife.

Rory sighed. Because that put Ike right back in the center of suspicion.

According to Dutton, Helen had threatened Ike with such a knife, and Ike had taken it from her.

Ike would need to be questioned about that.

Rory looked up from the report and sighed when he heard Eden coming back into the room. Clearly, she hadn’t opted for the long shower, and there was still a lot of tension in her eyes. But at least she was dressed for bed in loose joggers and a T-shirt.

He considered pulling her back into his arms but knew that was a bad idea. Instead, he tipped his head to the sofa. “Get some rest. I won’t be long in the shower.”

And he wasn’t. He didn’t want to leave Eden and Tyler alone, so he hurried, ignoring his protesting muscles. Rory didn’t go with sleepwear, though. He put on some clean jeans and a black T-shirt just so he’d be ready if anything went wrong during the night.

When he went back into the nursery, Eden was already on the sofa bed and was in the process of putting her phone on vibrate. Once she’d done that, she lay down and gave him a long look before lifting the portion of the blanket that was on the empty side of the bed.

“I know it’s a lot to ask, but I want you next to me,” she muttered. “It’s the only way I’ll get any sleep.”

“It’s not a lot to ask at all.” Rory put his holster on the end table.

He wanted to do this for her. Needed it. Yes, it would be torture having her so close but not kissing her. Or making love to her. But she didn’t need kisses or sex. She just needed him.

So that’s what he gave her.

Rory slid in next to her and eased Eden into his arms.