Likely realizing what she was doing, he tried to look away, but it was too late. All it took was a second for her to connect to him, and as her hand fell away from his cheek, a horrifying scene unfolded in her mind. Garrett stepping into a log cabin, screaming ‘Russell!’ and then everything exploding around him, and Garrett being thrown from the blast.
Reese gasped, and clutched at her chest. Garrett was still young. Probably the same age as he was now. She staggered, her feet searching for solid ground as the last of her worst fears faded into the present moment. “Noooooo!” She screamed.
Garrett reached for her but she turned and ran, unable to think or speak, hardly able to breathe. She raced back toward the house in search of - something - anything - she didn’t even know what. She had to get out of there. She never should’ve let Garrett help her. And now she was about to ruin Caden and Hallie’s big day.
She was nearly past the house when Tanner stepped out in front of her from seemingly out of nowhere, and she practically bounced off him. “Whoa,” Tanner said with a chuckle, holding her so she didn’t fall backwards. “Where’s the fire?”
She averted her eyes and tried to push past him, but he stood there like a brick wall, unmoving, unyielding to her silent pleas to get out of her way.
“Hey,” Tanner said softly. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
Breathless from her run and from what she’d seen, she looked up but averted her eyes from his. Everything was suddenly too loud and too bright. A door opened behind Tanner.
“Reese?” Orly’s voice caught her attention, but Reese just glanced at the woman, then back at Tanner. She didn’t know what to do. What to say. And before she knew what washappening, Orly was dragging her past Tanner, into the house, past a large, beautiful kitchen, and into what appeared to be a guest room. Orly gestured for Reese to sit on the bed, and shut the door, leaving the light off. The dusky lighting in the room was perfect. No chance of making eye contact here. “What happened? You know you can talk to me,” Orly pressed.
Reese shook her head. “I won’t ruin Caden and Hallie’s day. You should go be with your best friend. I need to leave.”
“My best friend is having a moment with her mom right now, and I’m exactly where I need to be. Let me guess, you looked into someone’s eyes and saw something horrible?”
Reese gave her the barest of nods.
“Who was it?” Orly asked. A knock at the door interrupted them. Orly opened the door. Someone said something in a hushed tone. Reese thought it might’ve been Hallie’s dad. Orly turned back to Reese. “I’ll be right back. Don’t move.”
Reese nodded, wiping the tears rolling down her cheek. She was glad for the interruption. If she told anyone about what she saw, it would not only ruin their day, it would ruin everything because they’d know Garrett was going to die.Because of her.
And then a moment of clarity hit her. Maybe there was something she could do to stop all this. The only reason Garrett would ever go after Russell was to protect her. But if she left right now, maybe there was a chance of stopping all this.
She loved Garrett so much. From the way he looked at her, how protective he was, how much he genuinely cared about her thoughts and feelings, to the way he made love to her and called her Miss Graham. There was nothing she wouldn’t do for him, even if that meant breaking his heart. But that had to be better than the alternative. At least her leaving would give him a chance to live. Hopefully.
The door opened and Tanner came in. “I saw Orly step out. Mind if I join you for a few minutes?” The man wore a traditionalcowboy hat, blue jeans and a flannel short sleeve shirt. He looked like he’d just stepped out of a modern Western.
“I have to go,” Reese said, starting to stand, but Tanner gently took hold of her arm.
“Garrett is out there talking to Caden. He says you looked into his eyes. Tell me what you saw. Maybe I can help,” Tanner said.
Reese bit her lip and shook her head. “No. The best thing you can do is stay away. I don’t want you or anyone else getting hurt, too. Please, just let me go.”
“I once saw a guy about to pull the trigger on a sixteen-year-old kid.”
“What?” Reese’s head jerked up to look at Tanner. The room was too dark to see his eyes, so she wasn’t worried about that.
Tanner sat in a chair in the corner of the room and removed his hat, placing it in his lap. “I was a rookie back then. My training officer and I were on a case in gang territory, and this guy across the street pulled a gun on the kid. I froze and my T.O. was involved in a situation he couldn’t get out of. There were other officers on the scene, but they had their hands full. I opened my mouth to say something or to scream… I’m honestly not even sure what was going through my head at the moment, but the next thing I heard was a bang, and the kid dropped with a hole in his head bleeding out onto the pavement.”
Reese drew in a ragged breath and covered her mouth with her hand. “I’m so sorry that happened to you. That’s awful. And you were so young. Only a rookie.”
“Yeah, it definitely tainted my view of the world.”
“Tainted it? Isn’t that why you became a cop? Because you knew the world sucked and you wanted to make it a better place?”
“Not exactly. But my point is that just because you see something happen, doesn’t mean you’re responsible for it.Whatever you saw happen, maybe it will happen, maybe it won’t. But -”
Reese closed her hands into tight fists. “I can’t let that happen to him. Not if I can stop it.”
“How can you stop it?” Tanner asked, leaning forward in the chair. “You told us yourself; you have no control over anything you see.” When Reese didn’t reply, Tanner sighed and nodded in understanding. “Something happens to Garrett?”
More tears streamed down Reese’s face and she quickly wiped them away. This wasn’t the time to sit around and cry. She had to get moving. If she could get out of here before the ceremony started, maybe the night could be salvaged. Garrett would be forced to stay a while longer to watch his friends get married, giving her time to pack a few things and disappear from his life.
“Reese?” Tanner asked. “Is it Russell?”