at least she was going to see henry again. at least her nightmare was over.

chapter twenty-one

by the time monday morning rolled around, isabelle regretted that she had to go back to her real life. the weekend had been a fantasyland where she, dale, and grant were all safe and cozy at home, enjoying each other's company.

sunday, while she was cooking lunch, grant and dale finished installing the security system, and the sound of their deep voices chatting and laughing made her heart swell until she thought it would break open.

and at night, after dale had gone to sleep, grant came to her. he made her feel cherished and showed her things about her body she'd never known. the pleasure he wrung from her was almost too intense to be real, adding to the fantasy-like quality of those two short days.

it was easy to forget her friends had died, which only made monday morning that much more difficult to face. she had an appointment at the funeral home today.

thankfully, the principal had given her the day off to take care of the arrangements. all she had to do was drop off her lesson plan for the sub.

she'd just gotten dressed and walked into the kitchen when the phone rang. she answered it, and detective mathews's deep voice filled the line. without preamble, he said, "we have a suspect."

"who?"

"we started looking into lavine's life more deeply, looking for people who might have wanted revenge for his death. wyatt's name was on a list of family members. he's lavine's nephew."

shock ripped through isabelle, and she gripped the phone tighter. "how can that be? how could i not have known wyatt and lavine were related?"

"they didn't share a name. we only found out because we have access to the right databases."

isabelle stood there, glued to the spot, shaking and unable to process the news. she didn't want wyatt to be the killer. she didn't want dale's father connected to this in any way, because it connected dale, too. thanks to wyatt, dale had enough of a horrible legacy to live down without adding murder into the mix. "are you sure he's the killer?"

"everything points to him. i had your car checked for prints as grant suggested. wyatt's were found all over it, especially in the areas where the car had been tampered with. and it had been tampered with, isabelle. we found enough tool marks to prove that without a doubt. between that and the family connection to lavine, it's a pretty safe bet that wyatt's our guy."

"he sabotaged my car? how could he have done that knowing his own son might have been in there with me?"

"we'll know more after we question him, but first, we have to find him."

"you don't know where he is?" asked isabelle with a squeak of panic in her voice.

"i've got men watching his motel room, but he hasn't come back yet. we're working on getting a warrant to search it right now, and i've got officers out visiting the homes of friends he was known to hang out with before his arrest. i'll let you know when we find him, but in the meantime, be careful. if he's our guy, i don't want you going anywhere near him."

"i won't." her hands were shaking as she hung up the phone.

dale's father was a killer. she didn't know how dale would handle that news, not after everything he'd been through.

grant and dale came into the kitchen, talking about breathing exercises. she had no idea what for, but it hardly mattered. when grant saw her face, his smile fell and he crossed to her. "what's wrong?"

dale didn't know about the murders, and she couldn't bring herself to tell him. not yet. not until the police were sure it was wyatt.

isabelle forced her expression into a neutral mask. "that was the police. wyatt's gone missing. they said we should keep our distance if we see him."

dale snorted in disgust. "like we needed anyone to tell us that. no one wants to be around a jerk like him."

grant gave her a hard stare, like he knew there was more to the story she wasn't telling him. she shook her head a tiny bit, hoping dale didn't see the motion.

grant did. he shed his suspicious look with ease, taking her lead. "if he shows up, what are you going to do, dale?"

"steer clear. don't worry. i have nothing to say to him."

"if you get close, he might hurt you."

an angry flush rose up the back of dale's neck as he put his jacket on. "you don't have to tell me that. i know just what he can do. i've seen it all."

but he hadn't. isabelle wept inside for the pain she knew would come to him if wyatt was responsible for all those murders. she prayed the police were wrong, even if it meant the killer was still out there on the loose.

she grabbed dale's arm and made him look at her. "promise me you'll be careful."

"i will. things are good now. i'm not going to do anything to mess that up." he leaned down and kissed her head in a bumbling, awkward move, then rushed out the door.

she watched him through the window as he got in his car and drove away.

grant's hands settled on her shoulders, his warm comfort sinking into her. he turned her around to face him. "tell me the rest, what you didn't want dale to hear."

"wyatt is lavine's nephew."

grant's brows lifted in surprise. "seriously?"

isabelle nodded. "detective mathews thinks he's the killer. they're looking for him now."

"do they have any hard evidence against him?"

"wyatt's fingerprints were on the underside of my car."

his eyes narrowed to menacing slits. "i should have kept wyatt from running the night dale climbed out his window. you never would have been in that accident, and everett would still be alive."

"you can't blame yourself. it's not like any of us knew what he was going to do."

"why didn't you tell dale?" asked grant.

"because i'm hoping the police are wrong."

"wrong? wyatt is the nephew of the only man who connects all the people that have been murdered. he sabotaged your car, which could have easily killed you. he probably sent those thugs after us outside the restaurant, too. how much more evidence do you need that he's the killer?"

"you're right." she let out a heartsick sigh of regret. "i'm denying the truth, wishing dale didn't have to be touched by this sickness. he's already been through so much. i just want to protect him."

"you should tell him. he's stronger than you think."

grant had been right about dale before. he was probably right now, too. "i will. after school, i'll tell him everything. for now, he knows to stay away from wyatt, which will keep him safe enough to live one more relatively normal day."

one more day to be a kid before she shattered his world and told him his father was a killer. he was the son of a murderer, the great-nephew of a child molester and rapist.

isabelle laid her head on grant's chest and breathed in his clean scent to help calm her worry. he was so strong and solid, so comforting in the face of all this ugliness. she was going to miss having him here, feeling his touch bring her to life.

if wyatt was found today, grant would likely leave tomorrow.

her fingers curled against his back, gripping him tight. she wanted to hold on to him. keep him forever. instead, she pulled away and drew a deep breath into her lungs.

"we should go. i want to make sure the sub has time to look this lesson plan over before class starts."

grant dropped isabelle off at the front doors of her school so she wouldn't have to walk in the cold. he had just pulled into one of the visitor slots when his cell phone rang. it was david's number on the caller id, and grant wished he was more of a coward so he wouldn't have to deal with this call.

he was already cringing when he answered the phone. "hello."

"where the hell are you?" asked david.

"springfield."

"still? please tell me you're on your way out of town right now."

"sorry, man. i really am, but i can't leave yet."

a grinding sound that could only mean expensive dentist bills filled the line. "i need you. now. as in yesterday. if i lose this contract, i won't be able to employ you. not to mention i won't be able to pay caleb, either."

well, shit. grant had been aware there was a big contract david was working on, but he hadn't realized just how pivotal it was to his business. maybe he should have asked better questions. not that anything would have changed his mind about staying to help isabelle. "i don't want to lose my job, and i sure as hell don't want caleb to lose his, but i can't leave isabelle until this mess is sorted out. it's too risky."

"then bring her with you. do whatever it takes, but get your ass to denver."

"i'll try. i swear i will, but in the meantime, can't caleb step in?"

david's long pause was not a good sign. "you don't know?"

"know what?" asked grant, already dreading the answer.

"lana was admitted into the hospital last night."

a sick sense of dread squeezed grant. "hospital? i thought she had the flu."

"she does, but apparently, it got bad enough that she couldn't quit puking. they admitted her for dehydration, but there's no way caleb will leave her, and i'd never ask."

poor, sweet lana. she'd been through so much it hardly seemed fair she'd have to deal with this, too. "oh, man. i didn't know. caleb's got to be a wreck."

"that doesn't even come close to describing him. don't try to call. he nearly reached through the line and strangled me for waking her up this morning with my call. i'm sure he's turned his phone off by now."

"he's only three or four hours away. i wish i could go sit with him. keep him company," said grant.

"if you have time for that, you sure as hell had better make time to get your ass out here."

"it's not an issue of time. i can't leave. there are people in danger here."

david let out a long sigh of regret. "i really hate to say this, but if you can't come today, i'm going to have to find someone who can. this contract is too important to screw up."

grant felt his future plans slipping away and his chance for something resembling a normal life along with them. finding another job as good as the one david offered him just wasn't going to happen. there were things he could do-plenty of ways to make money-but none of them would be the same as working with his old buddies. they were the closest thing to family he had, and the idea of letting go of that made him sick.

still, david had a company to build, and grant couldn't be there to help make it happen. not when dale's and isabelle's safety was at stake. there was no choice. so what if his plans didn't pan out like he wanted? he was tough. he'd suck it up and move on. some people were never meant to be part of a family, anyway. he was probably one of them.