I’d meant it to sound belligerent, but instead it came out breathless.
“Those soulful blue eyes.”
Which meant he’d seen other pictures of me. “You Googled me?”
“I wanted to be sure.”
I pressed my back into the side of the car and whispered, “What do you want?”
“Nothin’,” he said gently. “I want to help you.”
“Why?” I countered, not trusting this turnabout.
“Because sometimes people do the right thing just for the sake of it.” His arms dropped to his sides and he took a step back. “Can you drop me off at the garage? I need to check in and grab the tow truck so I can come back out to Hank’s later.”
Was he really just going to let this go?
“Why don’t you want the reward money?”
“I already told you,” he said, slowly reaching around me to open the car door. “I don’t need a half million dollars.”
“Because you have your own daddy’s money,” I said.
“I don’t want my father’s blood money,” he said, his eyes darkening.
“But I know you paid for Seth’s funeral, or at least took care of the arrangements, and those things you got for Hank must have cost a couple hundred dollars.”
“And you’re planning to buy Hank food with money you need to be spending on a car, yet I doubt you’d turn me in for reward money if our roles were reversed.”
I lifted a brow. “Don’t be so sure about that.”
“Let me help you.”
I turned serious. “There’s nothing to be done.”
“Then don’t do it alone, Carly. Trust me, I know all about goin’ it alone.”
I didn’t answer him, mostly because I didn’t know what to say. Instead, I tossed my purse into the back and got into the car. I waited for him to walk around to the passenger side and get in.
I cast a sideways glance at him, then shifted the car into drive. I felt like I was sitting next to a total stranger, not the man I’d met two days before. I wasn’t sure where we stood.
I wasn’t sure where I wanted us to stand.
“Why does your father want you?” he asked after I’d driven for a few seconds.
I pushed out a breath and laughed. “He wants me to marry Jake.”
“Why?”
I shook my head. It would be too dangerous to tell him why.
“Was Jake collateral damage when you fled?”
I laughed again, this time more bitter. “Uh…no. Jake was very much a part of my father’s scheme.”
“He betrayed you?”
I shot him a glare. “You know the truth about who I am. Can we just leave it at that?”
“Maybe I can help you, Caroline.”
I held up my hand. “It’s Carly. Caroline Blakely died the night of her rehearsal dinner. I’ve learned to accept it, and calling me Caroline dredges up old pain. It also puts me at risk of being found out. I’m Charlene Moore now, and you’d best remember it.”
“Okay, then,” he said. “Tell me what you saw the night Seth was killed.”
I shook my head. I wasn’t ready to tell him that either. Not until Hank gave me the green light. Although Wyatt had certainly implied he wasn’t close to his father, he hadn’t given me a straight answer.
“Carly…”
“I didn’t see anything. I heard a cry in the parking lot. I ran out and found Seth and held his hand as he died. End of story.”
He didn’t ask me anything else until I pulled into the parking lot of the garage. “Do you know where the Dollar General is?”
“I think so.”
“Drum’s pretty small, so you shouldn’t have trouble findin’ it,” he said, but he made no move to get out of the truck.
I lifted my eyebrows and gave him a pointed stare.
“I’m not gonna tell your secrets, Carly.”
I cocked a brow and asked sarcastically, “What secrets?”
“Point taken.” He started to open the door, then stopped. “You don’t have a ride to Hank’s after you get off work, so I’ll pick you up.”
“I’m sure Ruth can drop me off since it’s on her way.”
Determination filled his eyes. “The guys who ran me off the road could really be after you. They wouldn’t dare touch you at Max’s, but they might try once you leave. You lost your weapons, so I feel like I need to do my part to keep you safe.”
I hoped they weren’t after me. I hoped they’d only run him off because he’d aggravated him, but something more pressing grabbed my attention. How had he figured out my gun had been stolen? Had he taken it after all?
“You know that I lost my weapons?”
“Your