Free My Tye by Kristin Daniels Page B

told him he had only a few more moments alone before his deputies arrived. He scanned the rest of the room quickly, remembering his promise to grab some of Laine’s things. But there was no way he could take a single item out of here, not since everything inside this house was now a potential piece of evidence. She’d just have to survive using some of his stuff at the ranch until his men were able to give him the all clear.
    He made his way out of the house just as carefully as he made his way in. Once outside, he jumped down the three steps of her back porch and stood there, silent and with his hands on his hips, staring at Laine through the truck window.
    Tires squealed on the street out front, but he never took his eyes off her. He knew by the dread on her face that his own expression came across grim and troubled. No point in lying or making nice about what he found inside. And when she rolled down the window and spoke, he knew he didn’t have to.
    “He was here, wasn’t he?”

Chapter Five
     
    “Someone was,” Tye answered coolly.
    A chill ran over Laine’s entire body. “What did you see?”
    He rubbed the back of his neck and looked away, not saying a damn thing. It had to be bad if he couldn’t put to words whatever it was he saw inside. Her imagination ran the gamut, from him being upset over nothing more than a few overturned chairs all the way to him witnessing a scene of bloody violence. Despite that, or maybe because of it, she was torn between charging for the door behind him to see for herself and crouching on the floorboards of the truck to hide away. After all she’d been through in the last fifteen hours, the latter idea carried a bit more appeal. Besides, she needed to save her bravery for when she told Tye the truth. Lord knew she’d need a ton of courage then.
    “Sir!” Deputy Tom Wyland shouted as he and Chuck Sayers jogged up the driveway toward them. Tom stopped in front of Tye, nodded, then peered over to where she sat in the truck. He cocked his head a little, like he was surprised to see her here. “Ma’am.”
    “What have we got?” Sayers asked, coming up beside the two other men. He eyed her in much the same way Tom had.
    Under the scrutiny of the two men, Laine rubbed her arms in an attempt to make her goose bumps go away. It didn’t work, and the up and down motion only jostled her head and made it hurt that much more.
    “Break-in. I’ve already called for Steve to head back over to gather evidence. He should be here within the hour. In the meantime, I need the two of you to search the remainder of the house. I’m fairly certain our perp is gone, but I don’t want to make any assumptions.”
    A call broke in from the radios the two deputies wore on their shoulders. “Sullivan here. ETA, three minutes.”
    “Good,” Tye said, opening his truck door. Laine slid over just enough to make room for him. “Sully can aid in the search. Call me on my cell the second you’re finished.”
    The two men glanced at each other before coming back to Tye. Their questioning expressions left her feeling more than a little uncomfortable.
    “I’m getting her the hell out of here,” he explained. “You’ll understand once you see what’s inside.”
    Laine didn’t like the sound of that, not at all. The chill she couldn’t shake was now joined by a fresh bout of queasiness. “Tye?”
    He didn’t answer her, and she had a feeling she knew why. Men like Tye Carter didn’t like to be kept in the dark.
    “Please, Tye. What did you see in there?”
    Tye continued to ignore her as he slammed the truck door closed, started the truck and began backing out. When he finally spoke, his tone of voice had her trembling for an entirely different reason.
    “There’s more to your story, Laine. If I’m going to help, I need to know it all.”
    He looked toward her then, like he was waiting for her to blurt everything out.
    “I know.” Not that knowing she had to went very far in her