Black Diamond (Wilds of the Bayou Book 2) by Susannah Sandlin

Author:Susannah Sandlin [Sandlin, Susannah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781503940413
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Published: 2016-10-17T21:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17

When Jena and Mac had been trying to figure out what kind of person would live in a middle-of-nowhere outpost like Sugarcane Lane, one of their options had been a guy who was on the run.

She’d been thinking criminal, as most law enforcement officers would. But there were other types of people on the run. She’d bet her next year’s salary that Cole Ryan was running from a past he hadn’t been able to face, something that had shaken his faith in humanity.

Jena was aware that Mac was waiting for an explanation, but she wasn’t sure what to tell him, not until she talked to Cole. It felt too personal.

“For now, will you just accept that I feel even more sure he’s not a drug trafficker, nor is he the least bit dangerous?” Jena finally asked. Trauma could turn victims violent, but she got no violent vibe from him at all. Just the opposite. He wanted to stay as far away from people as possible, which made his willingness to seek her out even more intriguing. “Will you let it go at that for now?”

Not that Mac wouldn’t look Cole up himself the first chance he got.

Mac didn’t like it, she could tell. His brown eyes darkened; there was no light of animation in them. “No matter what you found out about Cole Ryan’s past, people can change. Take my word for it. Something snaps and they can change on a dime. I will be at your house by five, like it or not.”

Damn it. She was trying to navigate a delicate balance. She wanted Mac nearby, but not in the room with them. She’d like him in close range but out of earshot and out of sight, especially since she knew who Cole was now. At the same time, Mac was following protocol. No, he was giving her leeway. Protocol would be to call the lieutenant.

Mac had also injected a lot of fire into his words. Jena knew virtually nothing about his background, but someone, somewhere, had turned on him. Someone had snapped. But Mac Griffin’s past was a topic for another day.

“Okay, fine. But you have to stay out of sight unless something goes wrong. I want him to talk to me on his own. This is not an interrogation.”

That might come later, but not yet. Now that she’d learned who he was, she felt protective. The fact that he’d reached out to her had been a huge step for him. She understood being pulled underwater and deciding how and whether to survive. When she’d hit her own lowest of lows, she’d seen no way out and had tried to end her life. Cole Ryan had ended his life just as drastically, only without the blood or the blade.

Mac didn’t have time to argue more because they had reached Gateau’s, which Jena could immediately tell was a dead end. The parking lot was empty, and there was a handwritten sign on the door. Mac pulled his truck alongside it:

CLOSED UNTIL GATOR SEASON.

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