Romance on the Edge 01 - Hooked

he’d aged a decade. She walked over to him and laid her hand on his shoulder. “How are you doing?”
    “Been better.” He tried for a reassuring smile, which failed miserably and reached up to clasp her hand in his, giving it a squeeze before letting go. He stood and addressed the troopers. “If you don’t need me anymore, I’m going to check on Lana.”
    “You’re fine to leave, for now,” Skip said. “We’ll contact you when the body is ready to be released.”
    Aidan paled, swallowed, and then nodded.
    “Harte, you see or hear anything regarding Roland, you let us know,” Skip followed up as Aidan turned toward his camp.
    “I will.” Then he was gone. Sonya ached for what he was going through. Hopefully Lana would look after him. She was a sweet girl, contrary to her genetics.
    “Wait,” she asked Skip. “What’s the deal with Roland?”
    “He’s missing,” Skip answered. “We’d like to question him.”
    Sonya looked to the troopers, settling on Garrett. She knew he hadn’t taken his eyes off her since she’d showed at the fire pit. She’d felt a weird mix of heat and cold coming from his direction. “You think Roland had a part in this also?”
    “He and Earl seemed integrated,” Garrett said. “He had to know what Earl was up to, even if he didn’t have a hand in it himself.”
    “You think he did, don’t you.” She continued not waiting for an answer, “What about the Mystic ? Do you think he had a part in that too?”
    “We don’t know. It’s one of the many reasons we’d like to talk to him.”
    Sonya realized how hard this had to be on Gramps. Grams didn’t even know yet, unless she’d been filled in when Sonya had slept, but she didn’t think so. Otherwise Grams would have mentioned something to her. Gramps would have to be the one to tell her. She reached for his hand.
    He took it, holding it in both of his. “You up to looking over the Double Dippin’ ?” When she nodded, he asked, “Do you need me there?”
    “No, I can handle it. Grams made cranberry nut muffins. I’m sure she’s pulling them out of the oven right now. Better beat Peter to them.”
    Gramps stood and placed his hands on her shoulders, looking deep into Sonya’s eyes. “Are you sure you’ll be all right?”
    Tears clogged her throat as she saw the worry and fear he clearly felt. She nodded and reached out to hug him. His arms enclosed her in a bear hug, and he squeezed the very breath out of her. If he kept this up, she’d be bawling like a newborn. He released her, his own eyes suspiciously wet.
    He cleared his throat and turned to Garrett. “Keep her safe.”
    “With my life,” Garrett returned.
    “Safe from what?” She frowned. The threat was over now that Earl was dead.
    “Until we find Roland and assess his role in all of this, everyone needs to remain on their guard,” Garrett said.
    Well, fucking fiddlesticks.

C HAPTER T HIRTY- N INE
    Sonya boarded the Double Dippin ’ with Garrett and Judd. Wes had delivered all of them, including Skip, to the Calypso . In turn, the Calypso took them to the Double Dippin’ and then tied up alongside.
    “Look at this mess,” Judd said, snapping pictures of the destruction with the camera slung around his neck.
    Sonya treaded carefully across the deck, taking in the damage. Garrett seemed distant as he stood off to the side. She didn’t know if it was from the pain of his head injury or something else. He should be lying down, doing what Wanda had no doubt prescribed.
    Her booted feet crunched on glass from the broken windows of the pilot house. The deck and side rails of her boat resembled a pin cushion. She didn’t even know what she was looking at. It was like her boat had literally been nailed. A hole had been blown through the aluminum cover in one of the holds, scorch marks flared out in blackened shadows where the bomb had detonated. Most mystifying of all were the nails sticking out of everything.
    “The son of a bitch packed the pipe bomb with framing nails,” Garrett said, yanking one out of the aluminum side rail. His jaw tightened, a vein in the side of his face pumping in tune to his pulse. It was sexy as hell, and Sonya found herself wanting to concentrate on that rather than the destruction the pipe bomb had caused.
    “Bet that’s what hit you,” Judd said, snapping Garrett’s picture. “You’re one lucky SOB. A nail to the forehead would have killed a lesser man. It probably ricocheted off that hard head