Chapter 5
“You can sleep in any room that you wish. If not, there are plenty to choose from.” Gleason wanted to ask her if she wanted the master but knew she’d not take it.
She wouldn’t take it because he’d been sleeping in it.
As soon as he put her in the room down the hall from his own, he went to bed himself.
Tomorrow was going to be a long day, and he was looking forward to it.
If McGee were arrested, then things would look better for Hailey. She’d be able to go to her job and work, and no one would know the difference. He knew that she was going by her real name, and that was fine. Hailey Sheppard was the woman he was having fun getting to know.
Gleason knew that they were working together to keep her safe.
He also knew that she wasn’t going to date him after this because he had money.
She’d mentioned several times that he was out of her league and didn’t think they’d suit, but he knew better.
He thought of his brothers and the wives that they had.
He wanted to get to know Hailey, and now that she was living with him, he thought it would be the perfect opportunity to do so.
When he got up the next morning, he wondered what had gone down at the police station. Calling Rosie to let her know what was going on that he knew, she told him that she’d been called in by the FBI to come and help them run the office until another replacement could be found.
“I guess they arrested all of the department. And have some junior agents there running the place until they can find replacements. I’m going to be telling them where the paperwork is and what the duties are that they’re to do during the day.
I guess nothing has been done there since I left office.
” He told her about the crosswalk and how no one had been there in weeks.
“That figures. I’ll tell them right away that someone needs to be there.
That road is busy at that time of the day, and we don’t need anyone getting hurt or killed there when there is no reason for it. ”
“I agree.” He asked her what she was going to do about the pizza place. “I mean, will you take over the job of chief of police again?”
“No, I don’t want it. I’ve enjoyed being able to stay at home and do things on my own.
Working at the Pizza Parlor gives me something to do and gets me out of the house.
I love our home, but I need some outside work so that I don’t go crazy.
” He said that he understood that. “I knew that you would. You and the others have worked hard all your life, and just because you have a lot of money doesn’t mean that you’re going to give up working. ”
“I also wanted to tell you that Hailey is staying with me. Nothing is going on between us, but she’s going to be safer here.” She asked why not let her stay at a hotel. “Because I like her. I don’t love her or anything like that, but she’s fun to be around, and I like her.”
“You said that twice.” He felt his cheeks heat up and didn’t know what to say. “I hope the best for the two of you. No matter how it turns out. You deserve someone in your life, and I hope you find her someday.”
“I do too, but don’t go looking into things with Hailey. We barely know one another right now, and while she’s living here with me, I’m going to try and get to know her.” She asked if she was afraid of McGee. “Yes. And with good reason.”
He told her about the article in the newspaper about how she was afraid that he was going to pin things on her. Rosie said she was going to find it now and read it over. He waited until she found it and read it to him.
“He’s off his rocker if you ask me. I knew there was something fishy about the man.
Why do you think that he’s in on the hit in the first place?
” He said that he’d never thought about that.
“I think about things like that all the time. It’s good to think outside the box on occasion.
By doing that, I’m usually right. It’s something that I’ve been doing all my life. ”
“I’m glad that I’m on your side.” They both laughed. “I don’t know what’s going to happen between Hailey and me, and I’m not going to be looking for anything to go any further than it is right now, but I like her. She’s funny and smart.”
“All good qualities in a wife.” He laughed and told her that they hadn’t gone that far as yet. “You’ll see that I’m right. And even if it’s just a fling, it’ll be nice for the two of you. You both deserve a little happiness.”
“Thanks. But it could end badly, too. I’m not counting on anything at the moment.
I just want to get things going with her so that she’s safe.
” She told him he was a good man. “Thank you. I just want her to have justice for what’s been happening to her.
There is no reason whatsoever that she should be blamed for what was going on out there at the Sheep.
I’m just glad that she was able to have a friend there who was able to make sure that she was safe for as long as she had been.
It’s a shame that the man had died too.”
“I heard about that. Also, his body had been moved.” He told her that all the bodies had been moved in one way or another. “Figures. I guess he’s going to blame that on her as well. I hope that he gets prison for the rest of his life. It’s no less than he deserves.”
They talked for a few more minutes and then hung up.
He was exhausted from having been up so long, so he decided to take himself a little nap on the couch.
Just as he was dozing off, he thought about Hailey and wondered if she was going to be his wife.
It would be something that he might look forward to if not for the other things that were going on right now.
He decided to take his nap and fell asleep without any trouble.
Waking up an hour later, he was happy to see that Hailey had done the same thing.
She was lying down on the other couch, sleeping, and he was happy that she was getting rest. It must have been hard on her to be worrying about what McGee was going to do to her all the time. He knew that he would be as well.
Going to the kitchen to see what was for dinner, he was surprised to find that it was nearly ten in the evening.
It had been dark out, but he’d not put that to it being so late.
He wondered if he would be able to sleep tonight and found that he wouldn’t have any trouble.
Still tired from the stress of the last two weeks, he decided to let Hailey sleep where she was and go up to bed himself.
After covering her up, he went to his bedroom and stripped down.
Getting into bed, he was surprised that he was still tired.
He wasn’t going to look a gifted horse in the face, or something like that, and set his alarm and went to sleep.
He knew that he wasn’t going to be able to sleep well, but was sleeping in no time.
Waking up just as the sun was coming up, he felt better than he had in weeks.
He knew it had a lot to do with Hailey being safe and was happy to find that at some point in the night, she’d gone to her bedroom.
He took a long, hot shower and got dressed for the day.
He had some things that needed his attention and was happy to be able to get a good start on them.
Just as he was looking over his investments, Hailey came into his office.
“I must have needed the sleep.” He said that he had as well. “I’ve been thinking too that while it was comfortable to have the bed that I had at the greenhouse, it certainly is a lot nicer to have a real bed to sleep on.”
“I know what you mean. I took the advice of my brothers and had a custom bed made so that I could fit. It’s difficult to sleep in a king-sized bed when I’m so tall.
It’s nice to stretch out too when I want to.
” He asked her if she was comfortable in her bed.
She told him that she had slept like the dead.
“Good. I did wonder if the beds would be comfortable or not. I didn’t think to try them out before I ordered them. ”
“It must be nice to have a brand new home. I just love this place. All the added extras that you’ve had put in are really nice.” He said that he’d been thinking about having his own home since he was young. “I guess you knew just what you wanted in a home, too, then.”
“I did. Some of the things that I have were added later, like the warmed floors in the bathroom. That’s my favorite part of taking a shower.
Just knowing that my feet are going to be warm when I get out is a blessing.
” She said that she’d been enjoying the nice, large shower stalls.
“Again, because I’m such a big man, I didn’t want to have to skimp out on how large my showers were either.
It’s nice being able to have the spray hit me on the top of my head instead of in the neck. ”
“Yes, it’s like a waterfall when I take my shower.
” She sat down in one of the chairs, and he asked her what was wrong.
“Nothing. I’ve just been thinking about the things that I saw while I was at the restaurant and how things were changed.
I do wonder how he thought moving the bodies around was going to be helpful.
Or even legal, for that matter. That’s the one thing that sticks in my head the most. Or for that matter, how he thought that he’d be able to handle a case that big and get away with all the things that he’d done to mess up the crime scene. ”
“He’s just arrogant enough to think that he could get away with anything, as he was the chief of police.
And most of his department has been arrested too for their part in what went down there.
” She said that was good. “How about we not talk about this for a while and go out to have some dinner. I already told Mae that we’d be going out, I hope you don’t mind, but I just want to get out and do something normal for a change. ”