out and Mitch may have killed him. I told Rio we came to town because Hayes told you Dark Falls was the operation’s home base and that Mitch and Sean had arrived in town together, but only Mitch had left. I told him Sean was supposed to give you away, but never showed up, so you decided to find him. Make sure he was okay.”
Sarah tilted her head toward him, considering what he’d said. Everything he’d told Rio was true…but…only a small part of her involvement.
“What about the rest of it? The video? What about everything Sean and Mitch told me?”
Brett shoved his fingers through his hair and grimaced. “You’re not going to tell them any of that. At least not right now. You’re only going to tell them what Hayes told you in the house. And you’re going to stick to that story no matter how many times they ask. And trust me, they’ll ask—a lot. From every conceivable angle. Just stick to the same story each time. Don’t deviate. Don’t embellish. Tell them only what Hayes told you.”
From the frustrated rage that flitted across his face before it went blank again, he hated holding back the additional information. So why was he recommending that she do so?
“Why not tell them everything?”
It was odd how unrelieved she felt. Maybe because she’d steeled herself to step up and get it done and this didn’t feel like a reprieve, merely a postponement.
He shot her a scowl and looked away. “Because there’s no sense in hanging yourself unless it brings the gunrunners down. Since Mitch is our only connection to those bastards, without him, your statement is useless.”
She frowned, staring sightlessly out the window. “But won’t they need my account of what happened to bring Mitch in? They’ll need cause to arrest Mitch.”
“They have cause.” Tag’s voice was flinty. “They have the voicemails the kidnapper left Mitch. And they’ll have Tram’s and my statements recounting what Mitch told us after Porter grabbed you.”
He’d talked to Mitch? That was news too. She stared at him in surprise. “When did you talk to Mitch?”
After a noticeable hesitation he shrugged. “After you disappeared from the bridal suite, I called him, asked if he knew where you were.”
He had? Really? Wow.
Although…the more she mulled that over, it shouldn’t have surprised her. Brett was a decent man. Of course, he’d check in, even with someone he hated, to make sure she was okay.
“I’m surprised he answered.” Mitch hadn’t responded to any of her kidnapper’s calls. “What did he say?”
A haunted look flashed across his face before it went still. He turned back to stare out the windshield. “That you’d been taken by a business associate because Mitch owed him money.”
“No kidding? He told you that?” She frowned. That didn’t sound like the lethally smart man she’d been playing cat and mouse with for the past two years. “Why would he admit to that? He could have told you he didn’t know where I was. Why would he reveal something that could expose his criminal activities?”
A shadow touched his face, or at least the half of it Sarah could see.
“He had his reasons.”
She frowned over that. Those reasons must have been stronger than Mitch’s sense of self preservation.
“The point is,” Brett stressed rolling his shoulders, “even without your statement, there are plenty of reasons to haul him in—if the cops can find him. Until then, there is no sense in having you tell them what you know and digging your grave.” When Sarah remained silent, Brett turned to stare at her. “Sarah?”
“What?”
“Do you understand? Only tell the detective what Porter told you in the house. Nothing else. And for God’s sake nothing that implicates you.”
“I understand. It’s just…” It just felt like she was withholding information again to save her own skin, like she was still being a coward. “I think it would be better if we told them everything, rather than holding my involvement back.” She rushed her misgivings out. “Maybe I know something that will help them find the other men involved. Maybe I could tell them something that would make a difference. We don’t know what my silence will affect.”
“It’s more likely they’ll nail the entire thing on you. Particularly if you don’t provide enough information to track down the weapons traffickers, and they can’t locate Mitch.” A muscle jumped in his jaw. “You always have the option of telling them everything down the road—if you decide to. But once your confession is out, you