Suspicions

So it was finally time for him to move in...

I’ve been waiting, Ava. So patiently. Now you will be mine.

* * *

AVA HATED HER family home. It was beautiful, a sprawling ranch with a bluff and a lake, surrounded by old-growth trees. Her father had once said it was a slice of heaven. He’d told her that when her great-grandfather had emigrated from Ireland nearly one hundred years before, he’d taken one look at the land and fallen in love with the place.

Ava didn’t think the ranch was heaven. To her, it was much closer to hell.

She parked her car near the small guest house and very much not near the main home. When she got out of the vehicle, she wasn’t surprised to see Brodie already heading toward her. Brodie and Davis—identical twins who were both way too keen on the overprotective vibe. One look at Brodie’s tense face and she knew that Davis had already spilled about the events of the previous night.

She thought he’d lecture her. Instead he pulled her into his arms, nearly crushing her in a giant bear hug. “It’s about time you came home.”

The words hurt. She knew he didn’t mean to hurt her. Brodie loved her. She knew that. But when Brodie looked at the ranch, she knew he saw hope for the future. He and Jennifer were getting married and planning a family. Ava had no doubt the two of them would be deliriously happy there.

When she looked at the ranch, she saw her father telling her to run. She saw blood and death.

“It’s...temporary,” she told Brodie as she pulled back. “I’ll start looking for a new place in the city as soon as—”

“He was wearing a black ski mask.”

Right. He’d definitely already gotten the update from Davis. She bet that every one of her brothers had—and, knowing them, they’d be checking in with calls or visits ASAP.