holes in Gavin’s truck are just figments of that imagination,” she snapped.
“No, not at all,” Caden said, holding up a hand in a gesture of peace, “that’s not—”
“And Brianne is now dead,” Sarah went on, “her friend fighting for her life, and a guy with a gun tried to use me as leverage to get away from the scene of it all. I suppose I imagined that as well?”
“Sarah, come on. Of course not. That’s not what I’m saying.”
“Then why don’t you say what you’re saying so I can understand it?”
Caden raked a hand through his hair and glanced at Gavin. Sarah cleared her throat. Gavin’s lips twitched.
“No bro-language going on here,” Gavin said. “I happen to agree with Sarah.”
She blinked. “Well, thank you.”
“Look,” Caden said, “the general asked me not to say anything, but I think you need to know a few details that might help make things a little more clear.”
Gavin cleared his throat. “I . . . uh . . . told her about the threats, if that’s what you’re referring to.”
Caden frowned. “You did?”
He shrugged. “It was a judgment call at the moment.”
“All right.” Caden drew the words out slowly, as though trying to decide whether he was okay with that or not.
“Have they figured out where the threats are coming from? Like narrowed it down to a specific person?” Sarah asked.
“That’s what he’s trying to determine. It’s probably Hibatullah Omar.”
“Omar!” She gaped. “I thought he was dead.”
“We all did,” Gavin muttered.
Caden cleared his throat. “To be honest, I don’t care who’s making the threats. All I care about is that even though they never directly included us in that threat, we’re going to assume it’s there. Everything is being investigated very thoroughly.”
“By who?” Sarah asked. “The general?”
“Yes. Or rather, CID, but I’m sure he has his finger on the pulse.”
She nodded. “Ever since Gavin mentioned the threats, I keep circling back to Dustin’s death. If they’re coming after me, they could have been after him. Set his death up to look like a suicide. Right?”
Caden grimaced and exchanged another glance with Gavin.
“What?”
“We’ve already discussed that and decided that wasn’t likely.”
“You’ve already discussed that? Is there a reason I wasn’t in on the discussion?”
“Come on, Sarah,” Gavin said softly. “You were sick, passed out, or high on painkillers. When would we have discussed it with you?”
“I don’t know. When we were getting shot at out on the highway?” He raised a brow and she sighed and looked back and forth between the men. “So, all that stuff in the hospital. You really think I’ve completely misinterpreted it?”
Caden cleared his throat. “I don’t know for sure, of course, but even you have to admit, you’ve been through some major trauma. So, I guess all I’m saying is that it’s possible what you heard sounded weird enough to your traumatized brain after everything that had happened, that you put a spin on it that wasn’t there.”
“And yet, Dustin is dead. And so is Brianne. I want to know why.”
“Well, there is that,” Gavin said.
The doorbell rang and Sarah flinched. “Who’s that?”
Caden shot her the look that he used to flash when they were kids and he had something up his sleeve. “You’ll see.” He headed for the door.
“See what?” she asked.
“A surprise,” Gavin said. “Caden and I thought you could use one.”
“What kind of surprise?”
“Us!” came a chorus of voices in the entryway.
“Heather? Brooke?” Sarah blinked. “Ava!” She rose to her feet and crossed the room to greet each woman. “And Asher too?”
He kissed her cheek. “Glad to see you’re in one piece.”
“Glad to be that way, thanks.”
Asher and Gavin shook hands while Heather grasped Sarah’s fingers and pulled her to the sofa. “How are you feeling?” she asked, a friend’s concern mingled with a doctor’s scrutiny.
“I’m better. Sorry I couldn’t stay awake long enough to see you when you came by the hospital.”
“We understood. Thanks to Gavin and his text with that picture, we were able to chill out a little and leave you alone, but enough is enough. We decided to coordinate our schedules with some time off. We’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you guys too.” And she had. So very much. “How much time off?”
“I have to head back tonight. My brother is with Mom,” Ava said, reaching around Heather and placing a hand on Sarah’s wrist. “We’re so very sorry about Dustin.”
Sarah swallowed and nodded, glanced at her brother, who stood next to the fireplace. “Thanks, it’s been tough.”