Chapter 6 Hits and Heists #2
Yeah, there was that. The bullet in Aaron’s shoulder had baffled A.J. for weeks, but the good guys weren’t the only ones that got hurt. “I’ve been involved in more than one case where the perp sustained a self-inflicted injury to throw the police off his scent.”
“A flesh wound, maybe.” Aaron rolled his shoulder, wincing. “This one caused a little more damage.”
“Could’ve been an accident.” As in “friendly fire” from the “unfriendly” side, again to throw the police off their scent.
Aaron snorted. “Just like the snake poisoning and gas leak, eh?”
“Nope. The consensus is that you were the target of those.” It still didn’t prove his innocence. “It’s possible you were double-crossed. Maybe your accomplices objected to the haircut you were taking from the profits. As the old saying goes, there’s no honor among thieves.”
“Ha!” Aaron no longer looked sleepy. “I’ll give you points for persistence, but your theories are starting to look like a slice of Swiss cheese—smelly and full of holes.” He leaned closer to the map. “Mind if I take a snapshot of this?”
“Go for it.” A.J. wasn’t sure why Aaron wanted a copy, since he’d been present at the time of the heists. It would be interesting to see what he did with the information.
Aaron snapped a few photographs with his cell phone. Then he flopped back against the mattress. “Since you’re so suspicious of me, why share a room with me?”
A.J. rolled up the map. “Ever heard of keeping your enemies close?”
“Aren’t you worried I might gut you in your sleep?” Aaron shot back.
“You could try.” Fortunately, A.J. had years of practice sleeping with one eye open. He was also armed.
“But I won’t.” Aaron yawned again. “I’m going to need a few gallons of coffee just to get through the day. Whatever happens tonight, I can all but guarantee I’m gonna sleep through it.”
Their cell phones started buzzing at the same time. Aaron sat up, frowning. He lifted his phone to his ear. “Deputy Cannon speaking.”
It sounded like it was an official call.
A.J. answered his own phone in a much quieter voice so he could eavesdrop, which turned out to be wholly unnecessary. Both were being alerted by their bosses about the same incident. Apparently, a local bee farm had been burglarized.
A faint smile lit Aaron’s tired features as he disconnected the call. “I’d like to see you try to pin this one on me, seeing as you’re my alibi.”
It was true. Whatever had happened at Meyer’s Honey Farm had occurred during the past hour.
“Accomplices,” A.J. coughed into his hand as he zipped up his coat and pulled his Stetson lower over his forehead.
Aaron reached for his hat, looking sour. “You’re lucky my sister loves you as much as she does and that I love her as much as I do.”
A.J. eyed his sloth-like movements. “You sure you feel up to riding along? No one will blame you if you sit this one out.”
Aaron pushed to his feet with a muffled groan. “If that’s your way of offering to drive, I accept.”
As they strode across the living room together, Aurora stood with Bandit cuddled in her arms. “Please assure me I’m not going to find a pool of blood in your room.”
“Nope.” A.J. tipped her chin up to give her a quick kiss. “Scout’s honor.”
She kissed him back. “You’re not taking my brother out to lynch him, are you?”
He chuckled against her lips. “Not today, but I like how you think.”
“I don’t,” Aaron grumbled from somewhere behind them.
“Seriously, guys.” Aurora stepped back to eye them worriedly. “What’s going on?”
A.J. drew a finger down her cheek. “Another break-in, I’m afraid. This one’s at a bee farm.”
“There’s no way they’re calling you into work.” She hurried across the room to step between Aaron and the doorknob he was reaching for. “You just left the hospital,” she protested. “You should be in bed.”
A.J. agreed, but it didn’t feel wise to jump into the conversation.
“I need to do this,” Aaron informed her quietly. They seemed to be exchanging some sort of silent message.
“I’ll go with you.” There was a desperate note in her voice.
“Nah, you just focus on getting settled in.” He drew himself up to his full height and shouldered her out of the way. “We’ll be back as soon as we can.”
“We?” Her eyes widened in amazement as she spun A.J.’s way. “You mean you two are working together? You?”
A.J. couldn’t resist sampling her surprise and delight with another kiss. Striding their way, he gave Aaron’s shoulder a nudge to get him moving out the door, lingering behind to palm Aurora’s cheek.
He gave her a very satisfying kiss that left them both breathing unevenly. “Our bosses seem determined to throw us together every chance they can.”
A breathy chuckle slid out of her. “Just don’t kill each other.” She placed her hand over his heart, no doubt feeling how hard and fast it was thumping for her.
“We won’t.” A.J. used his shoulders to shield her from the blast of cold air coming through the door.
“Look after him for me,” she begged softly.
“If you insist.” He cuddled her and Bandit close for a lingering hug before following after her brother…and immediately wished he’d taken longer to do so.
Aaron was hitching his way slowly down the metal stairs, clutching the railing with both hands. There was nothing feigned in his labored breathing and huffs of pain.
It was hard for A.J. to watch, instinctively knowing the deputy hated being seen like this. What man wouldn’t? When they reached his truck, A.J. didn’t dare open the door for him, either, but he sure wanted to.
As soon as he slid behind the wheel, he opened the storage compartment in his console and pulled out two bottles of water from his stash of munchies and beverages. He handed one of them to Aaron while he revved the motor.
“Thanks.” Aaron uncapped it and took a swig. “If you try to drape a blanket over my knees next, there’s gonna be trouble.” His meaning was unmistakable. Enough coddling.
“No blankets, bro.” A.J. tapped the address of the bee farm into his GPS. “But if you’re ever in need of a gas mask again…”
“Let’s hope not,” Aaron groaned.
A.J. hid a smirk as he started driving. “Is it just me, or do the police and the Lonestar team seem determined to throw us together?” Being sent twice in a row to the same 9-1-1 call didn’t feel like a coincidence.
Aaron took another swig of water. “If they’re trying to turn us into besties, they can forget it.”
A.J. curled his upper lip at him. “You cut me deep, man! Real deep.”
When they arrived at the bee farm, it was crawling with patrol cars. An ambulance roared into the gravel parking lot behind them with its sirens blaring.
“What in the world?” A.J. couldn’t fathom why anyone had felt the need to bother Aaron, since it looked like they already had all the help they needed. Or myself, for that matter.
The sheriff jogged over to them as soon as A.J. leaped to the ground. “Fair warning. It looks like a slaughterhouse inside the store, but I assure you it’s red dye. No body fluids.”
“Appreciate the heads up, Sheriff.” A.J. glanced toward the red barn rising in front of them. The windows and doors were trimmed in traditional white paint, and the owners still had their Christmas lights up. The sign over the door read Meyer’s Honey Farm.
“Is that Maggie?” Aaron hobbled around his side of the truck and broke into a faster hobble. He made his way to the ambulance blocking the front entrance of the market.
A curvy brunette wearing a white smock had her arms around a weeping older woman. A.J. recognized her as the nurse from the morning shift at the medical center. What was she doing here?
He hurried to catch up with Aaron, with Luke speed-walking at his side. “Looks like they know each other,” he noted briskly.
“Yeah, she was his nurse at the medical center.” That wasn’t the biggest issue here. A.J. eyed the sheriff curiously. “Any particular reason he’s been called to duty so soon after his discharge?” It was obvious that he was far from a hundred percent.
“Yep,” he grunted. “What happened here may be connected to the other stuff you guys are slogging through.”
A.J. frowned. “In what way?”
“Just a suspicion.” He didn’t say why. “How about you two examine the scene and tell the rest of us?” He paused before they reached Aaron, gesturing for A.J. to continue without him.
It was another test. Got it. A.J. preferred to draw his own conclusions anyway. He closed the distance between him and Aaron and arrived in time to see Maggie catch Aaron’s eye over the shoulder of the sobbing woman.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded.
“I’m a police officer, remember?” He frowned with concern at her.
“Who just got out of the hospital himself,” she spluttered. “Are you sure—”
“Can you tell me what happened here?” he interrupted coolly.
She blinked at his tone. Then she started talking again in a rush. “I came as soon as my grandmother called.” She nodded at the ambulance in front of them. Its doors were open wide, revealing a pair of EMTs tending to an elderly man on a stretcher.
“My grandparents were on their way back from one of his doctor’s appointments and interrupted a burglary from the looks of things.”
Aaron proceeded to grill her about what her grandparents had seen, which wasn’t much.
“My husband collapsed in the parking lot, and I dialed 9-1-1,” her grandmother quavered.
“It all…happened so fast.” She vaguely recalled a man in a black mask hopping into a big vehicle and roaring off, which they eventually deduced was an SUV.
From her tearful description, it was impossible to determine its make and model.
“How is he?” Aaron’s voice was infused with a surprising amount of empathy for a guy who probably felt like garbage himself. Yet here he was, doing his job and looking after the welfare of others.
“He’s stable,” Maggie said firmly, giving her grandmother another reassuring hug. “They’re taking him to the medical center for observation, but it’s only a precaution.”