Chapter Fourteen
“I think you should sit down,” Xavier told Aaron, nodding to the seat on the other side of his desk. On either side of him, Cade and Lawson stood, flanking him like they were in formation.
“Yeah, thanks.” Aaron sank into the seat and tried to gather himself. He had come here for a reason, and they were as aware of it as he was.
“So, what’s going on? Why did you want to see all of us together?” Xavier asked, clasping his hands on the desk and giving him a serious look.
When Aaron had asked for a meeting with the other men earlier that day, he had known they could tell that something was up. He never tried to spend extra time with anyone here. Not that he didn’t like them, but it just seemed safer to keep to himself.
But he needed their help. More importantly, so did Bailey. They had some serious skills if they were former military, then also adding Lawson and Xavier’s former CIA experience. They could probably make good use of them in their quest to bring Ziegler and his crew to justice.
“I’ve been talking to Bailey,” Aaron explained.
“And we…a lot went on in our past. I already filled you two in on some of it.” He nodded between Lawson and Xavier, and then looked to Cade.
“To keep it short and simple, Bailey and I worked together before. I was a police sergeant for a town similar to here in Blue Ridge, and Bailey was a rookie at the time—training under my supervision. We were in a small department with a handful or so of other guys. We handled mostly small-town stuff, nothing too serious for the most part, but we kept on top if it.”
Lawson and Cade exchanged a glance when he paused.
Xavier nodded at him to go on. “And?”
Aaron filled them in on the rest of the story, how he had discovered some of them were corrupt, and they had beaten the hell out of him, and then threatened to come after Bailey if he didn’t leave.
The report he had written to get her removed, and the six years they had spent apart in the meantime.
How she had come back, only to be faced with the same betrayal he’d been through all those years ago, and how she was determined to take them down.
The men fell silent for a moment when he was done, taking in the enormity of what he had just told them.
“That’s why you’ve kept to yourself all these years.” Cade hit the nail on the head with that one guess.
Aaron nodded in agreement. “I was really messed up from everything when I first got here, and just wanted to forget about it. Plus, I thought if I talked about it to anyone, I might end up drawing them to me somehow and something worse might happen. It just felt safer to stay out of the way and keep my head down.”
“Now, I’ve heard a lot of stories from people who’ve ended up here,” Lawson remarked, finally. “But that has to be one of the wildest.”
Xavier chuckled, and nodded in agreement. “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean we can’t help with it,” he replied. “Bailey’s been leading the charge so far, right?”
“Trying to…so far,” Aaron replied. “I’ve tried to get her to slow down, but she wants to finish this.”
“I can’t say I blame her,” Cade chimed in. “Sounds like she’s committed her life to the force, so of course she wouldn’t want to let that corruption go.”
“Yeah, but I don’t think it’s a good idea for her to be involved in this anymore,” Lawson added.
Aaron raised his eyebrows. “You don’t?”
Good luck telling her that.
She had never been good at hearing no, especially when it was a case she felt personally connected to. And this one was about as personal as they came.
“She’s got too much on the line not to get distracted,” Xavier agreed. “And besides, if she does want to get back to work eventually, she’s not going to want to have a history of working with people off the books.”
Aaron grimaced. He hadn’t even thought of that.
Bailey was so focused on dealing with this in the immediate, she hadn’t thought about how it might impact her career in the future.
She had so much potential, even after being stuck behind a desk for so long, and he didn’t want her to risk putting all of that on the line.
“You’re right,” he agreed.
“We need to get all the details she has to combine with yours, but I think it’s best if we handle it from here on out,” Xavier assured him. “And of course, we’ll keep the two of you updated every step of the way. But it’s better for her in the long term if she holds back from this.”
“We can find somewhere else for her to stay so she’s not tempted to get involved,” Lawson added.
Aaron felt a twist in his chest at the thought. Losing her again, when she had only just come back into his life? It didn’t feel right. But their help would be invaluable to bringing this to a close, and Bailey would surely recognize that.
He hoped, anyway. And he hoped her leaving wouldn’t put an end to what the two of them had just started to share after all these years.
“Yeah, I agree with these two. It’s too dangerous and could cause more problems down the line if she’s involved in this. We’ll come to her for information, if needed,” Cade agreed. “But she can’t be involved with the actual operation. I’m sure she’ll be safer somewhere else, too.”
“Yeah, apparently they know I’m here,” Aaron admitted, and Xavier jerked his head back in surprise.
“You could have told us that sooner,” he replied. “If they know you’re here, there’s every chance they know she’s here, too. We’ll need to lock down any information coming in and out, make sure we don’t have any leaks.”
“Agreed,” Lawson replied. “Aaron, we’ll get started on this today and start working out a plan. You can tell Bailey what’s going on and we’ll get with you both later to confirm information. We’ll also find somewhere else for her to stay as soon as possible.”
“I’ll talk to her and fill her in,” Aaron confirmed. But he had a bad feeling about this.
He had made a decision for Bailey before in the past, and he was pretty sure some part of her still hated him for it. He doubted she was going to take this well, no matter how sensible it was.
“Uh, one more thing, guys,” he said hesitantly.
He hoped what he was about to say wasn’t going to have a negative impact on anything they’d be planning.
“Bailey and I spoke with Sheriff Willis the other day in town, and she filled him in on some of it, hoping he could search for information for her.”
The guys all exchanged glances, sharing unspoken words within those looks.
“We’ll check in with Willis and see if he’s made progress up to this point. Let him know we’re on it now,” Lawson told him.
“We’ll talk to you later today,” Xavier replied, rising to his feet and opening the door for Aaron.
“And Aaron, thanks for coming to us with this. We haven’t known a lot about you or your past up to this point.
We didn’t want to push and make you feel like you had to defend yourself to stay here.
We wanted you to know you were welcome, regardless of your past. You know you can trust us, right? ”
Aaron nodded. “I know. And I appreciate it. I should have made more of an effort before to open myself up and get to know all of you, but I was…scared, I guess. That I’d bring trouble if other people knew, and I just wanted to forget it all and disappear.
And I thought I was doing right by Bailey at the time.
I didn’t have time to think it all through properly.
I never expected her to come back after everything that happened.
” He paused, suddenly thinking his words were getting too heavy.
“Anyway, thank you. For everything.” He nodded at them all, then turned to leave.
He meant it. He knew he needed to start putting more trust in these guys. They had been there for him when he had needed it most, even if he hadn’t told them the truth about what had brought him to Warrior Peak until now.
Now, he had to go tell Bailey the news. And he got a feeling she wasn’t going to take it well.
It was another beautiful day outside, and Aaron knew exactly where Bailey would be—out at the paddock, hanging out with Wheatie.
The bond she’d made with the old mare was downright adorable to him, bringing out this softer side of Bailey she didn’t always show.
He hoped she would be in a good mood when he got there, something to soften the blow of the news he was about to share with her.
He followed the path out to the paddock, and sure enough, she was standing with Hannah and River, the three of them laughing as they tried to shoo Wheatie away from the flowers they wanted to plant there. He paused for a moment, and couldn’t help but smile.
She didn’t see him yet, and the way she was interacting with the other women reminded him of how well she was settling in here.
She might not have come to this place under the best of circumstances, but it was clear she really belonged.
He had never really had much of a chance to see her outside of work before, and this relaxed version of Bailey was one he was really falling for.
Hannah glanced up and saw him standing there, and gave him a big wave.
He lifted his hand to greet her, and Bailey looked up to see him, too.
A small smile spread across her face, and his heart twisted hard in his chest. He hated that he was going to have to give her bad news, especially when it seemed like she was having such a good day.
He made his way toward them, his mind racing.
Well, he couldn’t tell her in front of the other women, that was for sure.
Maybe that would give him some kind of an out?
He didn’t want to outright ask River and Hannah to leave—that would be rude of him.
That would also invite all sorts of unwanted questions and probably hurt their feelings.
And he didn’t want to dampen the mood, since it looked like they were having so much fun.
He would have to wait until the two of them were on their own.
He finally reached them, and Hannah tapped the fence beside her.
“You’re going to have to come up with something better than this,” she remarked playfully. “Wheatie and the other horses have been demolishing our flowers.”
“Yeah, I think they’ve eaten a solid pound each.” Bailey laughed, shaking her head. “I thought she was my friend, but Wheatie totally ignores me when the flowers are around. She’s got a one-track mind!”
They all giggled, and Aaron grinned. How could he break this good mood with such bad news?
He would wait a little while longer. He knew how badly he had let her down before, when he had written that report about her, and it felt like this would be an echo of that again.
Sent away from the action, when she wanted to be in the middle of it.
“Maybe I can put something up so you can at least get them planted,” he suggested, and he headed toward the shed where he kept his tools. A little guilt stirred in him as he thought about what he was hiding from her, but it was for the best.
At least, that was what he had to tell himself.