Chapter 12
Easton
Oregon rain wasn’t dramatic like the summer storms in Boise, where thunder cracked and lightning ripped the sky in half. Here it just… lingered. Here, a steady mist could soak through everything, softening the edges of every pine and carrying sharp, earthy smells.
I pushed through the glass door of the police department and shook the water off my jacket.
The front desk was manned by Viola, whom I’d met just the other day.
She seemed nice enough and attractive in a girl-next-door way, but I wasn’t sure she was great at office work.
The desk was piled with reports that appeared to need sorting and filing, and she seemed overwhelmed to say the least.
Giving her a nod and a smile, I kept going through the building until I reached Wade’s office.
His door was half-open. He was bent over a stack of forms, pen in hand, the line between his brows deep enough to hold water.
When I stepped closer, he looked up, his expression guarded, like he already knew what I wanted.
“Can we talk?” My voice sounded rougher than I intended, but I didn’t bother softening it.
The whole situation with someone breaking into Lila’s house had been getting to me.
I’d tossed and turned all night until I finally got up and drove to Sage’s, sitting outside in my truck and kicking myself for it the entire time.
There was no good reason that I was so hung up on Lila Merrick, but for some reason, she had wiggled herself under my collar.
He leaned back in his chair, rubbing at the back of his neck before gesturing me inside. “Shut the door.”
I did, then dropped into the chair across from his desk.
My knee bounced as if I had been hopped up on caffeine, though all I’d had was a single black coffee and leftover stew.
I’d been replaying the night of the break-in too many times, my mind circling the image of Lila’s face—her cheek flaming red, her arms wrapped tight around herself as if holding the pieces together.
Someone breaking into her place was unacceptable.
“You got any leads?” I asked.
Wade sat back, pen still between his fingers, but he didn’t answer right away.
He studied me for a moment, his eyes sharp and measuring, the way he did when he was trying to decide how much to say.
Finally, he exhaled through his nose. “Not much. Like you had said, any boot prints in the back were washed out by the rain—no usable fingerprints on the door. Well, we got a partial … but it wasn’t enough. I sent it to Rhodes on the side.”
I clenched my fists against my thighs, hard enough that the muscle ached. “So basically nothing.”
Rhodes Collins was a friend of Wade’s from his time in the military.
I hadn’t met him, but Wade talked about him often, and I knew he was involved in some security business that he’d started with some friends.
Redhawk Security, I thought it was called.
It would probably get Wade in trouble with the chief if he knew he’d sent the print, but he was the golden boy around here—basically in charge most of the time anyway.
Chief Wheeler was one step away from retirement and enjoyed his share of lazy afternoons and lazier weekends.
He had a good crew here, and it wasn’t like Wildwood Meadows was a hotbed of crime normally.
“Basically.” His tone didn’t soften. Wade didn’t sugarcoat things, and I wouldn’t have believed him if he tried. “It’d take a miracle to pull a solve on this one. I’m going to do my best.”
The silence lingered. “You think it was random?” I finally asked. My nerves were shot. I knew my brother was good at his work. It’s not that I doubted his abilities or his desire to do right by anyone here in town, especially Lila.
He didn’t answer right away, just looked at me, steady and unblinking. His silence was louder than words.
“No,” I said for him. “You don’t.”
He gave a slight shake of his head. “No way. Whoever that was, that wasn’t a random occurrence. I already said as much to Lila, but I think she’d rather think it was. Sometimes it’s easier that way.”
I leaned forward, forearms on my knees, feeling restless in my own skin. “Any ideas?”
Wade picked up the pen and turned it between his fingers. He clicked it once, then again, like he was buying time. “You know I can’t go throwing personal information around, East. I’m not talking to you as your brother right now. I’m talking as an officer. There’s a line I don’t get to cross.”
“Don’t give me that bullshit. I’m not asking you to write it in a damn report. I’m asking you straight, face to face.”
His eyes softened, but he still shook his head. “Doesn’t change anything. Everyone in this town deserves privacy. I need to be professional.”
I ground my teeth. He was stonewalling me, which meant there was something to hide. “So it could be someone she knows,” I pressed. “Fuck professional, Wade.” My hands tore through my hair.
He didn’t respond. The silence was answer enough.
“Who’s Derek?” The name came out before I had a chance to think about it. I’d heard it whispered enough in conjunction with Lila that I’d wondered about the guy.
Wade froze, the pen still in his hand. It was only a fraction of a second, but I caught it. Then he leaned back slowly, folding his arms over his chest. “Where’d you hear that?”
“Around town,” I said, keeping my voice even. “People talk.” I shrugged, trying to be nonchalant. “Like they always do.” This was me fishing for information, breaking my rule about indulging in gossip.
“Of course they do,” he muttered, rubbing a hand over his jaw like the name itself gave him a headache. He looked older in that moment, weighed down. “Derek was her ex. Things didn’t end well, or begin well.”
The understatement made my stomach twist. “What kind of not well?”
“I’m not going to lay her history out for you,” Wade said firmly, his voice taking on that clipped, official tone that I hated.
“If she wants you to know, she’ll tell you.
You know those things called conversations between two adults?
Relationships?” My brother frowned at me.
“You just got back into town, East. Are you interested in her?”
“Wade.” I tried to keep my voice steady, but it came out rougher than I intended. “If he’s dangerous, maybe …” I was grasping at straws. Was I interested in Lila? “Maybe we should be concerned for Sage.” I blurted out like an idiot.
“Okay,” Wade drawled, unconvinced. “Well, I think Sage would be pissed at you right now, even bringing that up. You know how she feels about that sort of stuff.” He clicked his pen again. “Either way, Derek’s not here,” Wade cut in, sharper this time. “And if he were, I’d know.”
Sage did hate when we were overprotective. Not that it stopped any of us from worrying about her.
He sounded sure. Too sure. But I couldn’t make myself believe it. “You’re certain about the ex?”
He met my gaze, steady and unflinching. “I’m sure. Leave the investigating to me.” He frowned.
“I just don’t get why I give a damn,” I muttered, mostly to myself. All night I’d wondered about it. When Wade had gotten the call from Sage, he’d been at the farmhouse playing backgammon with me, Kipp, and Maggie. There was no way I wasn’t going along.
Wade’s mouth curved, not quite a smile. “Maybe because you’ve got a pulse. She’s pretty, nice, funny, and successful. A catch.”
I shot him a look. “Funny.”
“Not funny. True.” He leaned forward, elbows on the desk, pinning me with his eyes.
“You act like you don’t care, like you can pack up and walk out of this town tomorrow.
But if that were true, you wouldn’t be sitting here asking me about Lila Merrick.
I’m guessing you’re the one who boarded up the broken glass last night on the back door. ”
“Well, I wasn’t going to leave it like that.” His words landed harder than I wanted. I looked away, focused on the rain sliding down the windowpane. “I don’t like seeing someone shoved around, that’s all,” I said finally. “She’s friends with Sage and Chloe.” The reason sounded weak even to me.
Wade let it hang there, not calling me out, not letting me off the hook either.
After a long silence, he asked, “How’s Maggie this morning?”
The question pulled me out of my spiral.
“Holding steady. She’s frustrated, though.
Wants to move around more than she should.
You know her. She expects a lot of herself.
Sage is with her now. I’ll head back after this and take the evening shift.
Make her dinner, go through therapy exercises, and get her settled. Kipp will be with her tomorrow.”
He nodded, his expression softening. “Good. Chloe said she’s making progress. Slow, but it’s progress. She looked good last night.”
“She did,” I said. “She just hates depending on us. You know how she is. Stubborn. She’s mad she can’t do everything by herself.” I shook my head.
He huffed a quiet laugh. “Guess she taught us well.”
For a moment, the tension cracked, and we were just brothers again. Then it slipped back into place.
“You’re not going to let this go, are you?” Wade asked.
“Are you?”
He didn’t answer right away. Then his mouth twitched. “Point taken.”
He clicked his pen a few times, as if the sound would break the heaviness, before digging a piece of candy out of his pocket.
“Stay out of trouble, East.” Unwrapping it, he slid the Jolly Rancher into his mouth and twisted the plastic for a minute before pointing it at me.
“Let me do my job. If Derek shows his face, I’ll deal with him. ”
I stood, tugging my jacket back on. “And if it’s not Derek?”
Wade’s eyes hardened, steady as steel. “I’ll find out who it is.
One way or another. I’m still going over things with Lila to see if anything was taken.
I’m talking it out with the guys at Redhawk so they can do a deep dive.
Maybe there’s someone in Lila’s past who has a vendetta.
I’ll let you know of anything that pops, okay? ”
“Thanks, man. I just want to help.”
On the drive home, I passed the old feed store, then slowed by a small craftsman bungalow I’d been eyeing.
The place needed everything—new roof, new siding, probably a complete gut job inside—but my contractor brain was already running estimates.
I’d picked up two smaller jobs in the last few weeks, a deck repair and a kitchen remodel, and word was starting to spread.
Holt Construction was barely a name yet in Wildwood Meadows, but if I was going to stay here for Maggie, it needed to be.
My business was still doing well in Boise, and my right-hand man, Jett, was managing it while I was gone.
I hadn’t fully decided what I was going to do about work yet.
Right now, I was just taking on jobs to stay sane, but maybe there was a way to run a branch here. It was something to chew on.
Still, when I rolled past Lila’s shop, my chest tightened. I told myself it was the smell of vanilla and sugar that carried even out to the street. But I knew better.
I was in deeper than I’d meant to be. Maggie needed me. The business needed me. And Lila Merrick’s bruised face wasn’t leaving my head anytime soon.