Page 180 of Soul So Dark

“Too bad, you’re not my type,” I say as I sit down at the table in the middle of the room and pull out my phone to check my email.

Noah takes a seat across from me. “Honestly, what it should really say is,willing to march back and forth not doing shit all day,” he says loud enough for Gavin and Nate to hear.

I open my mouth to add further insult, but hesitate as Noah’s words register. I look down at my phone, flashes of an idea ricocheting through my mind. And before I know it, I’m out the door again, headed for the north hallway where I can have some privacy. This is too important to text—if I even reach anyone, that is.

Pacing back and forth, I listen to the ring for what feels like an hour, until suddenly Colson answers right before voicemail picks up.

“Hey, where are you?” I ask as soon as I hear his voice.

“Nice to talk to you, too, Alex,” Colson sneers. “I’m in Colorado, thanks for asking.”

“Do you want a job?”

“A job?”

“Yeah, one that doesn’t involve sitting in sub-zero temperatures while being hunted by an apex predator.”

There’s a long pause.

“You’re calling me at 6:30 in the fucking morning to ask if I want a job?”

Oh yeah, the time difference…

“Yes.” That’s all I know to say, because it’s the truth.

“I don’t know, Alex,” his voice is tinged with uncertainty. “My dad has a piece of property that he inherited from my grandfather when he died. I’m thinking about buying it from him.”

“And staying in Colorado?”

“Where else would I go?Dire Ridge?The hunting’s better out here, anyway.”

“You can hunt a different kind of predator back here.”

Silence.

“Are you serious right now?”

“Yes, I’m serious right now.” My tone turns sharp. “Pack your shit and move out.”

“I can’t.”

“What do you mean,you can’t?Why the hell not?”

“I can’t—” Colson hesitates. “I can’t come back, not after what happened.”

“That was six years ago,” I point out, “and you stayed long after that.”

“It’s not about Evie, Alex.”

“Then whatisit about? Because the rest of us are here and as of this morning, I have a job waiting for you that requires the skills you have and I guarantee pays a hell of a lot more than you’re getting paid right now.”

Money talks, and I let it because I can’t tell Colson everything right now, like catching Bowen following Dallas to her job or planting a GPS on his truck. He would fly off the handle and I know how Dallas is about how much Colson knows about her life. It’s been six years, but I doubt he’s changed that much. Then again,something’schanged,something’sspooked him enough to run across the goddamn country while Bowen still walks free.

“This isn’t you, Col,” I say after another long pause. “You always run toward a fight, not away from it. What’s happened to you?”

“Thanks, but no, thanks.” There’s a rumble as he clears his throat. “Law enforcement and I don’t get along.”

“It’s not law enforcement. You were a ranger for the parks, yeah?”