Chapter 16 #2
“Only that what the authorities are saying is a lie,” Rick replied, flicking back a lock of black hair that had slipped out of the ponytail at his nape. Confusion and worry caused lines along his forehead.
“And that coming from a woman you’ve never met was enough for you to agree to see me?” Aiden challenged in a hushed voice.
Rick shook his head, fingering the edge of his plate. “No, not really. But I know you, Aiden. If you wanted to steal funds, you’d never have been discovered in the first place, much less left two bodies behind.” He snorted, the sound carrying slight worry along with the amusement.
A flashback of the two inspectors made the hairs on Aiden’s neck and arms stand up, but he forced the pang of panic down. “I did… kill these men.”
The confession seemed to surprise Rick, though the shock in his wide eyes quickly gave way to sympathy. “And I’m sure you had a reason to do… something like that.”
“I like your friend,” came Darren’s smooth baritone through the earpiece.
Aiden really didn’t deserve this kind of friend.
He’d kept things from Rick, even if he’d done it so he wouldn’t worry his friend needlessly.
He’d skirted around the truth when it had been more convenient to do so.
But he was going to come clean if Rick decided to trust him, and this time, he wasn’t going to try and push Rick away.
He was done doing that. He just hoped he would get the chance to make up for his many fuckups.
Nodding curtly, Aiden scoped their surroundings. “I did. But I can’t go into details here.”
Rick wrinkled his nose, his eyebrows drawing together. “Yeah… That makes sense. And…” His expression clouded, the tautness in his features making Aiden’s heart race.
PI Deverson’s bearded face came to mind, his friendly smile gone because of Aiden. His mind jumped to the worst-case scenario, images of Rick in a hospital or worse flooding his head. He couldn’t let something like that happen.
“Rick. Is everything okay?” Aiden said with the flattest tone he could muster, trying not to alarm his friend.
“I… I don’t know. Things have been a little weird…”
Aiden didn’t like the sound of that even a bit. “I want you to come with me,” he blurted out, swallowing around a lump. “But if you agree, you will become a fugitive. You’ll… have to leave your life behind, Rick.”
“You can bring him here if you wish to sit down and talk. Then he can make his choice,” Darren supplied.
“I can take you to our ship and we can talk there. I want to tell you everything. I owe you that. You can decide what to do once you have the full picture,” Aiden pressed, partly because of the bad feeling in his stomach and partly because he hoped Rick would agree so at least they could say a proper goodbye to each other if he decided this was too much.
The metal legs of the chair scraped against the floor as Rick pushed it back and stood up.
“I made my decision the moment you invited me. The truth is… I’m scared, Aiden.
I was trying to get in touch with you. I think someone is watching me.
The police harassment stopped, but I’ve been noticing stuff.
Like, at work. And my apartment.” He laughed without humor.
“God, it’s silly, but I even moved to a different place.
Thought maybe my mind was playing tricks on me because of all the strange interrogations, but… ”
Aiden’s world spun. Had Marcus gone after Rick? But he had to realize Rick didn’t know anything… Or was he planning to use him to get to Darren by blackmailing Aiden? He couldn’t put it past the man who’d murdered an entire family.
Head pulsating, Aiden clenched his hands and stood up. “I’m sorry. For dragging you into this mess. It’s not fair.”
“Listen, I get it. Whatever you’ve gotten yourself into is more than a bunch of credits disappearing and two men dying.
The police made that abundantly clear when I was being questioned.
” Rick squeezed Aiden’s arm. “Between trusting my best friend and a bunch of incompetent assholes who won’t even listen when I tell them I’m being followed, I think the choice is obvious. ”
Aiden felt his heart swell with joy despite the tendrils of fear still clutching it. He hated that the choice Rick was making wasn’t really a choice when his life was potentially in danger, but he was happy it was happening now rather than when it was too late.
“There’s no going back,” Aiden said a little breathlessly, needing to know that Rick understood the gravity of what he was about to walk into. “But I promise that you will be safe with us.”
Rick smiled, determination in his eyes. “Yes, I am aware. But I know you and I trust you. So, I pick your side, whatever it is.”
Relief crashed into Aiden, his hand shooting up to squeeze Rick’s.
A part of him couldn’t believe it, how easily Rick seemed to accept this.
He wondered if maybe it was a trick or a trap, but Rick was a shitty liar.
He’d not given up on Aiden so far, proven time and time again he valued their friendship even when Aiden had lied and tried to push him away.
He was one of those genuinely good-hearted people, kind and reliable, and maybe a little crazy, too.
And he is in danger, a voice whispered in Aiden’s head, and you can’t allow what happened to PI Deverson to happen to him. He deserves better even if he has to live on the run.
“Okay…” Aiden stifled down the agitation budding inside him. “Okay. Let’s go. I just need to pick something up.”
He jogged over to get the food from the kiosk, Rick trailing behind. Once he’d collected it, he led his friend to the Maine.
“Woah, Aiden, that’s your ride?”
Aiden bit down a smile and nodded, letting the console at the airlock scan him.
The door whooshed open, and they entered the elevator.
It was set up in such a way that it connected only to the bridge.
The cargo bay entrance was the only other obvious point of entry into the ship, but it was a lot more secure and harder to infiltrate, so such measures weren’t necessary there.
As they traveled up, Aiden tapped his comms device to turn it off, but kept it in his ear like Darren seemed to do.
It was made from a material that allowed it some degree of flexibility, which in turn ensured it was shape-fitting and comfortable.
This allowed them to stay in contact with each other at all times.
Rick kept a running commentary about the impressiveness of the sleek frigate, ceasing to talk when they arrived at the bridge and the doors slid open.
Across from them, Darren was leaning against the wall, staring at his tablet.
He stood in that same spot where Bea had been standing when Aiden had set foot on the Maine for the first time, and a sense of déjà vu washed over him as he remembered how confused and scared and out of his element he’d felt back then.
Rick was probably feeling the same way, but before Aiden could reassure him, Darren lifted his gaze.
His midnight eyes quickly scanned over Rick before moving to Aiden and locking onto him with heart-pounding intensity.
Flicking his tongue over his lip piercing, Darren said, “Welcome back, Aiden.” His mouth curved up on one side, and then he pushed off the wall, schooled his expression and squared his shoulders. “And you must be Rick Degrasse. I’m Darre—”
“I know who you are, Darren Howe,” Rick growled, grabbing Aiden by the wrist and stepping in front of him as if to protect him. “Aiden.” He whipped his head back, confusion and annoyance clouding his expression. “What is he doing here?” he ground out with open hostility.
Aiden hadn’t expected to run into Darren before he’d explained things to Rick and, with the man here with them, he wasn’t sure where to even begin.
With a barely perceptible shadow of a smile, Darren nudged his chin toward the cockpit.
“I’ll give you two some privacy. The conference room can be isolated from the ship’s comms grid.
You can talk there.” He put his hands in his pockets like he tended to do when he was nervous.
“Aiden, come find me later. There’s something I’d like to discuss with you. ”
Rick directed his scowl from Aiden to Darren, hesitantly letting go of Aiden’s arm. The look on his face betrayed how much he wanted the explanation he was owed.
“Yeah, okay,” Aiden said, squeezing the paper bag with the two burgers. When Darren nodded and started to walk off, he cleared his throat. “Wait, Darren. Catch.” He tossed the bag without an explanation.
Darren’s brows drew together, but he managed to catch the bag regardless.
Upon Aiden’s nod, he peeled off one of the flaps to peek inside.
A grin lit up his face as he inhaled the smell of the burgers and, clutching the bag tightly to his chest as if it were a treasure, he turned around and jogged out of sight.