All the Missing Pieces

by Catherine Cowles

“Law Man,” Ridley greeted. “Chaos,” I returned. Those eyes sparked. “Chaos?” “Can’t say you don’t bring that in your wake.” Ridley lifted her glass, preparing to take a sip. “Or maybe you’re just boring as hell.”

“You didn’t ask her to leave?” Emerson nibbled on the corner of her lip. “I was going to, but there was something about her.”

“I don’t know. There was something about her. Something that said she cared. She was desperate almost.”

The therapist in town called it agoraphobia.

Colt’s words echoed in my head. You’re scum. Maybe I was. Maybe I was worse than that. The lowest of the low. And not just for reminding Emerson of the worst moments of her life but for abandoning my sister when she’d needed me most.

I simply stood there for a moment, just breathing. Breathing for her and for me—just like always.

“It’s easy to do when you’ve seen the evil out there,” I told Celia. “It just means we have to hold onto the good that much more. The only thing that can cast out darkness is light.” Celia studied me for a long moment. “That’s a profound thing to have realized for someone so young.” I shrugged. “Sometimes life teaches you lessons early.” “Sometimes it does.”

Gratitude is a choice. Just like looking for the sun.” “Looking for the sun…” he parroted. I shrugged, letting my fingers sift through Tater’s fur. “Sometimes it’s finding those actual rays. Just looking up, closing my eyes, and remembering it’s still there. Every day it rises. Sometimes it’s looking for those glimmers of light elsewhere. The amazing hazelnut latte I got from Ezra. The kindness Trey showed to me when I needed it. The run that reminded me I’m still here and breathing. Those glimmers are all around us; you just have to open your eyes and truly see.” A muscle along Colt’s jaw fluttered. “Think I’ve been looking for the opposite lately. The shadows. Feels like it’s all I see.”

Someone had strangled Ridley. Maybe even tried to kill her. As if Ridley had a radar for my emotions, her gaze cut to me. “Law Man,” she started cautiously. “You okay?” “Who. The. Hell. Did. This. To. You?”

I stared at Ridley for a long moment, knowing there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to stop her unless I put her in a jail cell. Even then I wasn’t sure the bars would hold her. So I did the only thing I could. “Be safe, Chaos. It’s going to piss me the hell off if you end up dead.” She grinned up at me. “You say the sweetest things, Law Man.”

“I’ll help, Chaos. But you are going to stay safe. No more putting your ass on the line.” I opened my mouth to argue, but Colt shut me down with a single look. “We aren’t taking chances. Not with you. Not ever.”

“It’s a bad idea,” I rasped. “We’d be playing with fire.” Those ocean eyes sparked. “Then let’s watch it burn.”

Hell, yes, I was feeling things I shouldn’t be. Feeling more. Feeling everything. For a woman who was only temporary, passing through on a mission that could bring my family and me healing. Or leave us in wreckage in her wake.

Because I wanted every piece of him. And that knowledge was dangerous. He was dangerous.

“Chaos,” he growled, but there was an amber heat in his eyes. “Careful. You’re playing with fire.” My breath hitched. “You should know by now, Law Man, I’m not afraid of getting burned.”

We hadn’t once discussed the possibility of this being more. And even if we had, I might be too terrified to reach for it because I knew what it meant to lose someone you loved, and I wasn’t sure I could survive that again.

“Should’ve told you before now. You look beautiful. A kind of beauty that would make any man stop in his tracks. But it’s only matched by your fierceness.” Those brown eyes sparked gold. “Show no mercy, Chaos.” My lips parted on a silent inhale as I stared up at Colt. This man would be my ruin. The way he made my body come alive with the barest touch. How deeply he believed in me, believed in what I was capable of. “No mercy,” I whispered.

I guided Ridley toward the door, I couldn’t ignore the fact that my cabin had never felt like home until Ridley filled the space with light.

She made everything better. But when this case was done, she’d leave. And I’d be left with nothing but a bittersweet memory.

Somewhere along the line, I’d messed up. Because this thing between Colt and me wasn’t just fun and games. It was that, but it was so much more. He saw things in me that no one had ever taken the time to recognize. He understood the colors I painted my world with because he spoke the language of my pain. And now I couldn’t imagine walking away from him.

I also knew that if I tried to clip Ridley’s wings, she’d never forgive me. I had to let her fight the battle in her way. I could just be there to stand beside her and tend her wounds in the aftermath.

“Haven’t you figured it out yet, Chaos? You’ve had me breaking all the rules since the day I met you.”

“Colt, you helped me find all the missing pieces. Even the ones I didn’t realize I needed.”