pick you up at nine.”
“Okay.” I knew I should insist he stay home, but I’d go crazy sitting around all day, worried about Lula and Greta, and his warning hadn’t fallen on deaf ears. It would be foolish of me to go out alone. I’d just have to make sure he took it easier tomorrow.
I picked up my purse and coat from the coffee table and headed for the door. Wyatt was leaning with his back against the front of his pickup truck. He pushed away when he saw me, but his gaze darkened as he took in Marco hopping out behind me and holding on to the doorframe.
“You be careful tonight, Carly,” Marco called out. “Call me if you have any sign of trouble.”
I knew exactly what he was up to—trying to stoke Wyatt’s protective instinct.
“I don’t need you to fight my battles, Marco,” I called out as I marched toward Wyatt’s truck.
I heard him chuckle.
Wyatt looked pissed, but he just stomped to his side of the truck and got inside as I did. Yep, he was pissed. He was usually eager to open car doors for me.
Marco waved with a grin as Wyatt started the truck and backed up. We were both silent until he pulled out onto the road.
“You gonna tell me what’s goin’ on?” he finally asked.
“You gonna treat me like a grown woman and not a four-year-old girl?” I countered.
“Carly…”
I shifted in my seat to face him. “I don’t get it. A couple of nights ago, you trusted me to handle Todd Bingham on my own. Why don’t you trust me with this?”
“It’s not that I don’t trust you,” he said. “But I don’t think you appreciate the danger you’re puttin’ yourself in.”
“What made you so concerned about it? Your visit with Max?”
“That and your conversation about Shane Jones.” He shrugged off my look of disapproval. “It’s not like I was trying to eavesdrop. Marco’s louder than an auctioneer. And he did tell me to wait right outside.”
“Marco has a deputy friend looking into him.”
“Why was this guy following you?” he asked. “Because his excuse for dropping by the garage was total bullshit.”
“He wanted a carburetor?” I asked. He shot me a quick glance, his brow raised, and I explained, “I stopped by your office before I left, but your door was partially closed. I heard you on the phone asking about one, but I didn’t wait because of Marco.”
“Who looked just fine when I walked in a few minutes ago.”
“Come on, Wyatt. You saw him behind the garage, and he got a lot worse after we left. I was so worried about him that I called his doctor, who told me to watch for signs of internal bleeding, which was why I went to Ewing for a blood pressure cuff. In any case, Marco slept for at least a couple of hours, and by the time I got back, he looked much better.”
When he didn’t respond, I said, “He was shot less than a month ago. He had major surgery and his spleen was removed. He did too much today, and it wiped him out. He wasn’t trying to pull a fast one on me, for whatever reason you’ve concocted in your head.”
“Are you gonna stop investigatin’ Lula’s disappearance?”
“No,” I said flatly. “Marco’s going to pick me up tomorrow morning, and we’re going to keep looking into it.”
“Why don’t you let the sheriff’s department handle it?”
“Because they won’t,” I said, starting to get angry, but I knew my anger was only partially for him. A good portion of it was reserved for the sheriff’s department. “Both Ginger and Angie at Watson’s Café reported Greta’s disappearance, and last I heard, they wouldn’t look into it.”
“They won’t look into it yet,” he said, “Junior told me, but the forty-eight hours should be up soon. They’ll get started then.”
“You really believe that? Because I’ve seen how the sheriff’s department works around here. Even if they do take the case, I doubt they’ll give it half as much attention as we’ve given it.”
“It’s too dangerous, Carly.”
It was dangerous, and I wasn’t stupid. It scared the snot out of me.
But I was getting used to being scared. I’d been running for months now, and I’d risked my life attempting to find justice for Seth. Fear was a given. And something else was motivating me now, something I couldn’t possibly ignore. A lump filled my throat.
“Greta’s gone because of me, Wyatt.” My voice broke. “Someone took her because I was