Finger On The Trigger

And she scowled at Egan when he gave her that big-brother look again. Egan didn’t have to come out and say it, but she felt a mental lecture coming on. One where he would say something about hoping she’d remembered to practice safe sex. She had.

Or rather, Griff had.

They’d used a condom, but with the way her life had been going, she’d taken a pregnancy test two weeks later just in case. It’d been negative. So at least her mistake of sleeping with Griff hadn’t resulted in a pregnancy.

The mental lecture was still going on between Egan and her when the front door opened. Griff, Court and Egan all reacted by drawing their guns. But they all soon holstered them again, Court and Griff making grumbling sounds. Rachel knew the reason for the grumbles.

Their visitor was the district attorney, Brad Gandy.

It was an understatement that Brad and Griff didn’t get along. She was the main reason for that. Brad had always had a thing for her. And Court had been on Griff’s side. In fact, Court was the only McCall who’d ever wanted to see Griff and her together. Of course, that probably didn’t apply now that Court knew Griff had slept with her while keeping Warren’s dirty little secret.

Brad made a beeline to Egan’s office, volleying glances at all of them when he stepped inside. His eyes narrowed a bit when his attention landed on Griff. Griff’s only reaction was to scowl even harder than he already was.

The two men were definitely a huge contrast. Brad, in his pricey gray suit, looked as if he’d just stepped out of the courtroom. Griff was pure cowboy in his jeans and Stetson.

“Rachel,” Brad said on a rise of breath when he’d finished with his glances. “I heard about someone trying to kill you. God, I’m so sorry.” He went straight to her and pulled her into his arms.

She tried not to go stiff. After all, Brad and she had once dated in college, and he’d hugged and kissed her back then. However, it didn’t feel right for that little display of affection to happen in front of her brothers. Or Griff.

Especially Griff.

Rachel silently cursed him. And the blasted attraction. She wished she could make herself immune to him.

Brad eased back, making eye contact with her. Except it wasn’t just mere contact. He was looking at her as if examining her, to make sure she was all right. She wasn’t, but Rachel tried to appear a lot stronger than she felt as she stepped out of his grip.

“How’d you know about the attack?” she asked, and she prayed it wasn’t on the news. Rachel didn’t want her mother to find out that way—or any other way, for that matter.

Brad flinched a little. Maybe because her tone had been so brusque. Or maybe because she hadn’t greeted him with the same enthusiastic hug he’d given her. “I’m friends with the DA in Silver Creek.”

She glanced at Griff, and before she could voice her concern about that, he took out his phone once more. “I’ll make sure no one at the hospital mentions it to your mother.” He stepped outside the office to make the call.

Rachel made a mental note to thank him for that, too. Another mental note to make arrangements to put some distance between Griff and her. She needed to think, and right now, her head wasn’t cooperating. She was dizzy and exhausted, and being around Griff had a way of making her not think straight. The blasted attraction kept getting in the way.

“Are you really okay?” Court asked her.

That’s when Rachel realized she was massaging her right temple. “I’m not about to have a seizure. And I’ve been taking my meds.”

Of course, that didn’t mean a seizure wouldn’t happen, but if it did, there was nothing she could do to stop it now.

“Please tell me you know who tried to murder Rachel,” Brad said to Egan.

Egan lifted his shoulder. “Sorry, my ESP isn’t working so great tonight. But I’ve got a lead, and I’ll question Alma Lawton.”

“Alma!” Brad spat out the name like he would profanity. Maybe some of his tone was due to Egan’s smart-mouthed remark. “Yes, definitely talk to her. She hates every one of you. What kind of lead do you have?” he pressed.

Egan hesitated, as if debating if he would tell him. Brad and he were on the same side of the law, but Rachel figured sometimes it didn’t feel that way. They’d butted heads on several cases over the years. However, Rachel thought the underlying current was because Egan didn’t want her to be with Brad any more than he wanted her to be with Griff.

At the moment, she felt the same way—despite the simmering heat between Griff and her. There was heat, too, when it came to Brad, but it was all one-sided.

“Marlon Stowe,” Egan finally answered. “He’s a guy who might blame Rachel for his girlfriend leaving him. Did the Silver Creek district attorney happen to mention him to you?”

Judging from the way Brad’s mouth tightened, that would be a no. “When are you bringing him in for questioning?”

Egan shrugged. “When I’ve got probable cause, and right now—”

“You’ve got it,” Griff interrupted, stepping back into the room. He looked at Egan and then tipped his head to the laptop on the desk. “First things first. Sheriff Ryland just emailed you the surveillance footage from the bank camera.”

That sent both Court and Egan to the computer. Rachel would have joined them, but it was obvious Griff had something else to say.

“Marlon’s ex-girlfriend from a year ago took out a restraining order against him because he was stalking her,” Griff continued. “Sheriff Ryland said Marlon also hit her, but she wouldn’t press charges against him. There are rumors that he hit his last girlfriend, Taryn Harrison, too. That’s the woman you saw with Marlon while you were staying at the inn.”

Yes, and Marlon blamed her for the breakup. Rachel felt the chill slide through her. Here, she’d left McCall Canyon to escape, and instead she’d crossed paths with a bully. One who might be unhinged if he was indeed into stalking.

Brad turned toward her. “See? This is why you should have never left,” he snapped. “Did that man touch you?”

“No. He just said I should mind my own business.” She stopped, thought of something else. “But the next time we crossed paths, he seemed to know who I was. I mean, I was using an alias. I’d told everyone there at the inn that my name was Margaret O’Malley.”

“Mom’s middle and maiden names,” Court supplied, looking up from the laptop. Egan kept his attention planted firmly on the screen.

She nodded. “I lied and told them I didn’t have any ID because my wallet had been stolen. I used cash to pay for the room.”

“Cash that you withdrew from your bank account right before you left town,” Brad said.

So obviously he’d checked on that. That wasn’t a surprise, not really. They’d probably all been looking for her. It was ironic that Griff had been the one to find her.

“What made you think Marlon knew who you were?” Griff asked.

She almost dismissed it, but that would mean dismissing the knot in her stomach. After what’d happened, it was best if she listened to it.

“When I was paying for my room last week, Marlon was in the office, and he wrote the receipt,” she explained. “He started writing my name with an R, then he quickly scratched it out and wrote ‘Margaret’ instead. I think he’d been about to put down ‘Rachel.’”

Brad made a sound to indicate he was giving that some thought. “Maybe he saw you on the news. After Warren’s shooting,” he clarified.

It was possible, but Griff didn’t look as if he was buying it, either. Good. She wanted him and her brothers to dig into Marlon’s activities and see if there was something to find.

“Hell,” Egan said. “There’s someone on the footage.”

Brad hurried behind the desk to have a look, but Griff stayed right next to her. Egan turned the screen so they could see, and it didn’t take long for her to realize they were looking at the man who’d been in the alley.

A man she instantly recognized.

Oh, God.

Chapter Four (#uf810f83e-bb69-5a7e-9dfa-4dca5ed3d3c6)

What the hell was Warren doing on the Silver Creek surveillance video?

That was the question Griff was very anxious to ask the man. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one who had an urgent need to know, because Rachel whipped out her phone and pressed in her father’s number. Since Griff had been about to do the same thing, he just waited for Warren to answer.