Page 144 of Finding Denver

“I can only divulge that information to relatives,” I say.

Dr. Hues looks at me with widened eyes. Alistair Chase, whoever the fuck he is, straightens up, his worry replaced with quiet menace.

“Tell me where she is,” he says quietly.

It’s been a year since I took bullets in my back. Since I lost my brother and my best friend to men just like this. And yes, I ran. But not from fear. I’ve spent that time preparing myself for the moment I might come across this kind of scumbag again. I finally did what Ethan had been encouraging me to do. I took up some boxing, mixed martial arts, anything that would hurt me or help me hurt someone else. I’m bigger. Stronger. And I have far less to lose than before.

I lift my chin. “No.”

“Alistair?” Denver calls out.

His rage vanishes, and he shoulders me aside as he goes to her.

He sits on the edge of her bed. She’s crying as she talks to him, and I approach slowly.

“You promise he’s over there?” She sobs.

“He is,” Alistair says.

Her eyes shine. “Wilder? He was in the house, too. Where is he?”

“I didn’t … I didn’t see him,” he says, his voice breaking. “But we’ll find him. You’re okay, and Colt will be, too. I’m going to get some men in here for both of you. Ranger won’t get near you.”

My eyes dart between the two of them, and I wonder what could have changed in the last year for Denver to have left Ranger Luxe.

There isn’t time to think, because the doors are opening again.

“Another explosion,” the paramedic says.

I rush into action, but I’m almost shoved aside by Alistair. He’s staring at the older man who has just been brought in. “Finn.”

I guide him back. “You need to give us room.”

He does. His wide, brown eyes lose all fire and grit as he stares at the man covered in burns and blood, and he says nothing.

Chapter 41

Alistair

“Ineed you to stay where you are.”

Keto, a good friend and the man in charge at the airstrip that’s holding Ranger’s plane, sighs. “I want to be there.”

“I know you do, but if this was Ranger, we need to keep him in the city.” I run my hand across my face, staring at my dim reflection in the glass. Beyond it is a line of chairs, where the people I consider family wait for news. “I trust you, Keto. I need you there.”

“Okay. I’ll keep you updated.”

In seconds, everything has changed. Two explosions and our world has been upended. The McEwan house is torn to pieces, just like Colt’s. Finn and Ronan are in surgery, and Helena is only unscathed because she was with Lewis, walking Wesson.

Colt is still in surgery. Denver is getting tests.

Wilder is dead.

I pinch the bridge of my nose and squeeze my eyes closed, fighting the need to break down. One of myoldest friends. Colt’s brother. Holly’s father. Dead. And we don’t know who did it.

It seems impossible that Ranger could have done this. If he was half as fucked up after the fire as Colt was, he wouldn’t have the mindset or the resources in such a short amount of time. That leaves a dozen other enemies.

And more will come.