Chapter Nine Audrey
Chapter Nine
Audrey
After Trevor dropped that bomb on me, he turned and went to his office, leaving me alone with my brother to pick up the pieces. It officially made sense why he’d asked me to hold off on this conversation until today.
Ryder pulled me into his arms, resting his chin on top of my head. “This is . . .”
“A lot,” I whispered, cheek against his chest, his jacket still on but open. I could hear his heart thrashing loud, pulsing in my ear.
“Maybe he’s wrong.”
“Trevor’s never wrong. It’s an annoying trait of his.
Always being right.” Well, when it came to these kinds of things, at least. “Is he suggesting, though, that someone came to my house in search of something of Mitch’s?
They broke in for that reason? Why now?” I had a million other questions, but from the sounds of it, only one man currently had the answers.
This was becoming as messy as it was complicated.
Ryder backed up and let me go, searching for my gaze. “You’re not crying. Are you in shock?”
I frowned. “Shock? Um, I mean, of course. Mostly yes.” A little bit of no.
His forehead tightened as if preparing for something he didn’t want to hear. “What is it?”
“Hey,” Reed called out, saving me from spilling my guts. “You two good? Ready?”
Ryder and I looked over at him, and I started his way without another word. I wasn’t ready to open up yet—not right now. Not after what Trevor had shared. I needed time to process.
Once we were all gathered in the office, the first person to grab my attention was Alex. He had his back to the room, arms folded, eyes out the window and on the mountain view.
As if sensing I was there, he slowly turned, arms falling to his sides in the process. There was a pained look in his eyes, which had me believing Trevor had quickly shared the Mitch news in my absence. I wasn’t clocking sympathy from him, though. Nor pity. More like understanding.
“Ready?” Beau, in classic Beau fashion, stepped into the middle of the room while removing his hat, signaling that it was time to get the show on the road.
The door softly clicked shut behind me as Ryder remained at my side.
“Start from the beginning, please.” My voice came out like a strangled whisper as I went over to the armchair by the closest wall of books and took a seat, deciding that’d be the best course of action for Trevor’s revelations.
Alex remained a quiet and now unreadable statue by the window, and Reed joined him, leaving only my brother and ex-husband in my direct view.
“Talk,” Ryder prompted while taking off his jacket and tossing it on the second armchair next to me.
Trevor went over to his desk and picked up a folder. “After Mitch died, something didn’t sit right with me. There were red flags. Whispers of shit on base. I poked around and wound up poking the wrong bear. Pissed off some people.”
Typical of you. Not surprised there. I gripped the chair’s armrests, bracing myself.
“What didn’t sit well with you?” Ryder asked him.
Trevor glanced at my brother, then over at Beau as the sheriff put his hat back in place. “Two months before Mitch died, his close friend Arlo turned up dead deep in enemy territory.”
“He was captured?” Reed asked in a terse voice.
Trevor shook his head. “No, if Arlo was over there, he went willingly. Well, at first, at least. Clearly something went wrong. The rumors . . . it was rough on his family. He was labeled a traitor. Not publicly, but in our circles he was seen as a disgrace to the uniform. To our flag.”
He gave us all a second to digest that before continuing.
“I believe the same people who took out Arlo were responsible for killing Mitch, because I think Mitch may have been double-crossing our country, too.” Trevor lowered the file to his side, resting it against his jeaned thigh.
“For some reason, the government didn’t want anyone to know about it.
Maybe they were worried about the fallout if another decorated pilot went rogue like Arlo, so they covered it up. ”
“What evidence do you have to substantiate any of this, or is this all speculation?” Ryder was probably hoping to defend my deceased husband’s honor on my behalf, thinking I’d want him to.
“It’s a working theory, but I’m doing my best to confirm it as soon as possible.
I’m still running leads.” Trevor held up the file folder.
“There was just no way I could stay in the navy and worry half a world away that one day something Mitch had been into might come back and hurt you or my son. So I hired someone to—”
“Wait.” I bolted up and approached him, not letting him continue. “You were having us followed after he died, weren’t you? I felt like I was being watched back in Virginia. I even told you about it. You made me think I was paranoid and losing my mind.”
“Until I could officially get out, I needed someone keeping an eye on you and Chase. What’d you expect me to do? You think I could be downrange fighting while wondering if you two were in danger?”
“You were the reason I became so paranoid. You.” I pointed at his chest. “And I was right all that time.”
“Shit, I know.” He surrendered his free hand. “I should have just told you, but without evidence, I didn’t want to hurt you for no reason.”
Alex and Reed faced the window again, giving us privacy. But Ryder remained, hovering like my protective shadow.
“So, let me get this straight.” I held out both hands, slamming a finger down onto my open palm with each new statement.
“You thought my husband was a bad guy, but you had no proof. Just a gut feeling based on rumors. Then you had someone babysit us without our knowledge, then left your career to personally watch over us.” I shook my head, shock continuing to tear through me.
“Did Eden even really need your help, or was that a lie?”
Trevor tossed an uneasy look at the sheriff as if remembering the man was in love with his sister and may not like his answer.
“Was it a ploy to get us out of Virginia to somewhere new?” I asked, and when he looked up at the ceiling, that was an answer in itself. “All of that because of a hunch?”
I wanted to be mad at him for overstepping in his typical and secretive way, but his goal had been to keep us safe. So could I be? No, I didn’t think so.
I knew he’d go to the ends of the earth to protect Chase—and even me, despite our marriage being over.
“I thought I was doing the right thing, and as more time passed, I hoped I’d just been crazy. Or at least, if Mitch was a shitty asshole, that his past would never come back to bite you or Chase.”
“But you think Friday night, it did?” Ryder broke through our back-and-forth. “Why?”
Beau spoke up. “Because the men who hit the house were professionals.” At least this wasn’t news to me anymore since Eden had spilled the beans yesterday. “It was a targeted team. Precise movements.”
“Bypassed every one of my security measures that only someone with the kind of background I have would be able to do, and that’s stretching it,” Trevor said, picking up for the sheriff.
They’d clearly talked about all this behind my back before now.
“No way was that random, and I don’t have any enemies I’m aware of since my identity was hidden while serving, which leads me to Mitch. So I made a call.”
“To?” Ryder asked him.
“My cousin’s married to Admiral Chandler’s son.
Secretary of defense.” Trevor handed Ryder the folder.
“I asked Gray to speak to his dad for me. Try and pull some strings. Poke the right bear to get answers I couldn’t get a year ago on my own.
In hindsight, I should’ve done that when Mitch died, even if I barely knew Gray back then. ”
Ryder passed the folder off to Alex and folded his arms, rocking back in his boots. “We’re familiar with the secretary. With Gray’s team, Falcon Falls, too.” I could read his uneasy expression as he spoke, as if he wasn’t allowed to share much more than that.
“I take it the secretary confirmed your suspicions about Mitch?” Reed asked while looking over Alex’s shoulder as Alex flipped through some documents.
“Not yet. Gray’s father is with POTUS in the Middle East right now, wrapping up a meeting.
” Trevor’s shoulders dropped. “Gray will reach out as soon as he talks to him.” He pointed to the file in Alex’s hands.
“In the meantime, I asked Gray’s team to do some digging since they have extensive resources.
That file contains everything he found on Mitch.
I haven’t had time to really dive in and take a look yet, though. ”
“Were these files obtained by legal means? I see half the information has been redacted, so they’re clearly still classified records.” Reed half smiled, then held up his hands in apology to Beau, as if forgetting he’d been talking about hacking in front of law enforcement.
Beau waved him off with a flick of his wrist.
At that, Reed continued, “Was Gwen Montgomery behind getting the files?”
Gwen? It took me a minute to connect the name. Right. Wyatt’s twenty-something-year-old daughter. We’d briefly met once.
“I know better than to ask Gray’s team how they do what they do.” Trevor lifted his chin, gesturing to the folder. “But I’m sure there’s something in there that’ll point us to the fact my gut’s right about Mitch. Gotta be a breadcrumb or two.”
Alex stopped flipping through pages, keying in on something in front of him, and his facial expression, and every line of his body, visibly hardened.
“What is it?” I asked, but instead of acknowledging my question, he remained in some kind of daze, quietly closed the folder, and passed it over to Reed.
“Let’s say we believe your theory, that Mitch is a traitor and was killed by terrorists,” Ryder began, pulling me back to the problem at hand. “Why come after Audrey now? Something doesn’t add up.”
More like a few somethings, right? “Because maybe Friday really was random.” The words fell flat even as I said them. “Fine, fine—but why’d only a few men come to my house if I’m important for some reason?”
“To keep a low profile. Get in and out with whatever they were after before anyone found out,” Trevor said in a gritty voice. “My hope is they were after something there, not you, and they didn’t expect to find you home.”
I rubbed my forehead, forgetting the skin was sensitive at my temple. “I have no idea what they’d want. Mitch certainly never opened up to me about anything op-y. Not ever.”
“We’ll figure out what they wanted. Don’t worry.” Beau removed his hat, using it to motion to everyone in the room. “We’ve got your six.”’
“I appreciate that.” I did my best to give them a hopeful look, when in reality, I was ready to crawl under a blanket and I Dream of Jeannie my way out of this mess with one wish: Make this nightmare vanish. Go back to yesterday, when ignorance was bliss.
“Let me know as soon as the secretary talks to Gray, will ya?” Alex hiked a thumb toward the door. “I think I’ll head over to Audrey’s and have a look around. I take it you have eyes on her place in case anyone tries to break in again?”
Beau nodded. “Deputy parked out front.”
“Wait,” I jumped in. “Shouldn’t I go with you? I mean, I knew Mitch. None of you did. Maybe I—”
“Absolutely not,” Trevor interrupted.
“Take Reed with you for backup,” Ryder ordered before turning to face Beau. “Can you send an extra cruiser over to park out front while my men are gone as an extra deterrent?”
Beau began texting someone as Reed quietly joined Alex at the door, where he’d been hovering—and why did Alex look like his dog just died?
Also, why the heck didn’t I feel that way? Because I already know Mitch is a bad guy, I reminded myself. I’d had a damn good reason to divorce him after all. I’d known he was bad, just not working-with-terrorists bad. Well, allegedly.
I closed my eyes and touched my cheek, remembering why I’d demanded the end to our marriage. And for the first time that weekend, I let the tears fall.