Chapter Fourteen #2
The fact he wanted to make it all right for her was completely and utterly foreign. He’d just never before believed he could make something awful right. Better maybe. Put a stop to something terrible. But not actually make it right.
There had been too much awful all around him to ever make right.
But Franny hadn’t grown up like that, and he found himself…needing to fix this so she didn’t have to live with any bad hanging on her shoulders.
He shook his head as he let himself into his temporary apartment.
That was a little ridiculous. He needed to…
screw his head on straight today. Focus on the case.
He couldn’t decide if this was an escalation of threat—sure, fire was worse than a piece of paper, but the piece of paper had been on her doorstep. The fire had been miles away.
Though it didn’t really matter what he thought, did it? It mattered what the person doing the threats thought. And he had the background to know that even if you thought you understood a bad person, that understanding could change on a dime.
The fact it was a woman bothered him. And that so easily could be a coincidence, but… It just didn’t feel like one. He should call the sheriff. Hell, call Beckett. But Simmons worrying about leaks left Royal needing to be cautious.
He was probably being overly paranoid. But if there was anything his childhood had taught him it was to listen to all those looming bad gut feelings. It usually meant something was wrong.
Simmons had said he’d get in touch once he had information on the picture of the woman. And if she was a Fed, it’d be something for Simmons to look into, not him. But what if she wasn’t? What was next?
Royal worked through that question as he did his Hope Town patrol duties.
It was nearing lunchtime when he saw Simmons was pushing a giant stroller down the sidewalk toward the bakery Royal had considered hitting up.
Maybe as an excuse to text Franny and ask her if she wanted anything.
So he was pretty glad for the distraction, because that would have been foolish and unnecessary. He’d spent the damn night on her couch. She was certainly fine for a few hours.
He thought back to her saying she slept so much better with him there, and he couldn’t for the life of him figure out what to do with the…sense of purpose and satisfaction that gave him.
Simmons offered a wave and started pushing the unwieldy stroller toward him, so Royal walked toward him instead of away. He couldn’t resist looking around to see if Daisy Delaney was going to appear.
“My wife isn’t here, if that’s who you’re looking for,” Simmons said somewhat irritably when they met on the sidewalk. “Lucy’s out of town, so I’m on kid duty and let’s just say we all needed some fresh air before we all started crying.”
Royal peered into the double stroller. A kid clutched a giant plastic dinosaur and was fast asleep.
The baby—the one that had been crying the other day—was sitting there babbling to herself happily.
She held a sock in one pudgy hand and was waving her bare foot around like she’d amazed herself at what she was capable of.
For a second, he was struck by the idea that Brooke would have one of these soon enough. It was kind of a nice thought. She’d have a baby to push around in a stroller and who would grow up and run around that big ranch, happy and protected and loved. So unlike everything they’d been given.
But that was the future and this was the present.
“You got anything for me on the woman?”
“I’m still pulling a few old threads, but no one I know and trust at the FBI knows who she is. I can almost guarantee she’s not a Fed, but it worries me you thought she was one. When this all started, the sheriff seemed to think you’d have a good eye for that kind of thing.”
“Yeah.” Royal ignored the speculative look from Simmons, considered this new information. “What about other agencies? Maybe not FBI. Would ATF or someone be involved? You know what Albennie Ward is mixed up with better than I do.”
“Yes and no.” Simmons shook his head. “I don’t want to poke too hard, raise any suspicions, so it’s possible she could be with a random department, but…”
“It feels off.” Royal studied Main Street around them.
It was a quiet day. “I have a theory. I can’t confirm yet, but someone started a fire with Franny’s books in Sunrise this morning.
Apparently, yesterday a woman no one knew got a library card at the Sunrise library and checked out all Franny’s books. ”
“A woman… You think it’s the same woman.”
“It’s not the male kidnapper. So… It’s a theory. Copeland is running the woman’s name, but it’ll be fake.”
“I guess you could try to get an APB out, or something through Bent County, but…”
Royal could read Simmons’s reluctance. “It’s delicate. I feel like… This is a case where we don’t want to tip anyone off. We need to keep things close to the vest.”
Simmons nodded. “Agreed, Deputy.”
Which brought him back to the thought he’d been ruminating over all morning.
He’d figured if he went through with it, he wouldn’t tell anyone, but maybe…
Maybe Simmons was the guy to tell. “I—I know someone who might be able to figure out who she is. Under the table. Not exactly…within the law. But they’d be able to do it without anyone knowing.
I can’t go through the sheriff for this one. ”
“Does this person know what they’re doing?”
“Probably better than you or me.”
Simmons was clearly dubious, but he didn’t mount any objections. “How much you think they’ll charge?”
Royal shook his head. “It’d be a favor. I just… It’s the right course of action, don’t you think? Find out who this woman is kind of under the radar? If you weren’t worried there was some kind of FBI leak, you’d have them do it, wouldn’t you?”
Simmons nodded. “I would.”
“All right.” Royal couldn’t help but be a little concerned that by not taking this to the sheriff he was stepping out of his lane, risking his job.
But he couldn’t go against his gut instincts that this was right, and the best option to keep Franny safe.
He was distracted momentarily by some grunting and groaning sounds. He looked into the stroller again. The boy was waking up, wriggling and noise making enough to earn his sister’s wide-eyed attention.
“Keep me in the loop, Campbell,” Simmons said, pushing the stroller forward. “If I have to fall on the grenade, let me know. Sheriff can’t fire me.”
Royal laughed in spite of himself. “I’ll hold you to that.”
More roaring from the little boy in the stroller.
“I better get him something from the bakery before he turns into a pint-sized monster.”
The boy squealed. “I’m a T-Rex! Not a monster.”
“Oh boy, here we go,” Simmons muttered under his breath. “Let me know, Campbell.”
Royal nodded, watched Simmons go for a few seconds, trying to reconcile having that conversation over two cute kids. He shook his head. Well, life was weird.
And about to get weirder, because now he had to figure out how to ask Zeke for a favor.