No matter what.
He would pay.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Mary had killed a man.
Feeling numb, she watched Lou pace a few feet away, engaged in discussion with a man in a wrinkled suit, maybe his superior. The crowded, busy office of the bureau wasn’t what she’d expected. The rooms bustled with business. Telephones rang and rang, adding to the flow of conversation and creating an atmosphere of bare walls and cacophony.
She and Josie waited on a hard bench while Lou tried to straighten out their situation. Beside her, Josie sipped hot chocolate a kind man had brought for them a few minutes ago. Her legs swung in a pendulum rhythm and she didn’t smile.
Mary gripped her own cup of chocolate, an immense pressure compressing her heart. This was her fault. If only she hadn’t taken Josie from that house. She should never have tried to do things her way. If only she’d prayed for wisdom this afternoon instead of going with her instincts...
Because of her foolishness, someone lay dead. Not only that, but Langdon was missing and a little girl had been through far too much. The blame for Josie’s fright rested solely on her shoulders, and that knowledge crept through her like a slow poison. She swirled her hot chocolate, watching the curves in the liquid disappear and then reappear.
If onlys never changed anything. She wished they could.
Movement at the corner of her vision drew her attention from the cup to the center of the room. Lou threw his hands in the air and stalked away from the man he spoke to. His agitation shook Mary even more. She blinked hard, her lids burning and gritty. How had this happened?
But she knew exactly how.
Thinking she should manage things on her own. Leaving no room for help, not even from her Savior.
Where could she go from here? How could she escape this disgrace? This guilt? For it tore at her, shredding her tattered confidence, leaving her protected by nothing but a rag not worth stitching back together.
“Mary.” Lou stood before her, drawn and unsmiling. “Can I talk to you alone?”
She cast a look at Josie, who blew bubbles in her hot chocolate.
“An agent friend’s wife will be here in a moment to sit with her,” he said softly.
She touched Josie’s shoulders. An unforced smile came to her lips when the little girl glanced up, her mouth rimmed in chocolate. “I’m going with Mister Lou for a moment, but I’ll be right back.”
“You’re not gonna leave me, right?” Josie’s voice quivered, and Mary’s stomach clenched.
“No, sweetheart. I’ll be right over there.” She pointed outward, not really sure where Lou planned to take her.
“In that room there,” said Lou. He dropped in front of Josie and pulled a peppermint stick from his pocket. “These are good for stirring. By the time this is gone, we’ll be back. A nice lady will come and sit with you, okay?”
She nodded and reached for the stick. “It’s going to be gone fast,” she told him gravely.
A grin cracked his tired features, and a surge of emotion vaulted through Mary at his smile. “We’ll hurry then, my sweet girl. Stay here.” He patted her knee.
Mary followed him to a door that opened into a tiny room.
“Interrogations,” he explained, noticing her look. “Were you okay with yours?”
“Yes.” It had been terribly exhausting to explain how she’d ended up in the warehouse. Then the hardest part had come, describing the oomph of noise into the dim room, which she’d later found out was Lou’s hat, and then the lunge as her captor appeared right in front of her, his pistol at her nose.
She’d shot him without thinking. An immediate reaction. He hadn’t expected that she’d have a weapon. He’d dropped his gun, falling backward, clutching his belly. Gut shot. That’s what the detective told her it was called. Most often fatal.
“Hey. Come back to me.”
A feather brushed her cheek. No, Lou’s finger. He was touching her, close, his eyes so very blue and serious. “It’s going to be okay, I promise. There was nothing you could do.”
“I had to protect us.” She faltered, her voice abandoning her.
“You did good. None of this is your fault.”
“Have you found Langdon?” she asked.
“Not yet. Let’s talk privately.” He applied a soft pressure to her shoulder, moving her farther into the room. Lou tucked his hands in his pockets and studied her. “We have a situation with Langdon and Josie regarding custody. I’ve a man bringing in the family attorney right now to figure out where Josie needs to go.”
“And me?”
“You’re not being charged with anything. The shooting was clearly self-defense and we have a witness who saw him force you and Josie into the automobile.” He cocked his head. “How’d you get a pistol anyway? Let alone know how to shoot it.”
“James taught me years ago. I bought the derringer one year after a scare with wolves.”
“Where was I?”
“Working.”
An odd grimace crossed his face. Did it bother him that he hadn’t been there? Surely not...and yet a hard little knot began to grow in her stomach.
“What about the driver...the man?” She stumbled over the words, her tongue feeling thick and unwieldy. “The one who gave you the hat?”
“Don’t worry about him. I’m taking care of things.”
Exhaustion weighted every limb. “Where do I go from here?”
“Gracie and Trevor are on their way. They’re going to take you back to the ranch.” He paused. “I’ve decided not to sell it—Look at me, Mary.” He tipped her chin, his fingers warm against her skin, and she met his eyes. “I’m not going to sell the ranch. Our place is rich in history. I don’t want to lose that. While here in Portland, I realized it’s home to me in a way other places can never be.”
She blinked at his words, an onslaught of emotions rushing through her. Fear, happiness, everything coalesced into a giant wave of
