Chapter 38 #2
It takes everything in me to not correct him, to sell the lie that Logan and I are just friends. “Did what you think you saw make you angry with Holly, Axel?”
He falters. “Stop doing that.”
“Doing what? What am I doing?” I’m aggravating him, which probably isn’t smart but I don’t want him anywhere near these girls.
His nostrils flare. He’s aggravated. Good. “You’re trying to make me look guilty when Landry’s the one you should be looking at!”
“I’m just asking questions—”
Axel lunges at me. I wasn’t expecting it—I should have—and he shoves me hard, sending me stumbling back to sprawl across the snow-covered pavement. Pain explodes in my hip.
Instinct alone has me scrambling back to my feet, but it’s not Axel I’m focused on, as Logan charges in.
“No!” I hold out my arms as I jump in the path between him and Axel, trying to create distance.
“You wanna push someone around? Come try that with me!” Logan roars, and the cold fury in his face makes my stomach drop.
“Yeah … Show everyone who you are!” Axel eggs Logan on, his hands out at his sides. “Is that what happened with Holly? Did you get mad at her after she turned you down?”
“No, Logan. Logan! Don’t!” My palms are on his shoulders, my body flush against his as I struggle to hold him back.
Blue and red police lights ignite in the parking lot then, revealing an unmarked OPP vehicle tucked two rows back.
“Please,” I urge in a whisper, only for him, “I can’t lose you again.”
My words—or maybe the anguish in my voice—seem to get through to him. His chest rises with a deep breath. “I’m not going anywhere.” But his focus is still on Axel, who has backed up against his truck door, looking ready to bolt into it if needed.
Mike marches in, his hand within reach of his gun belt, his assessing gaze gliding over Logan to measure the added risk there. “Axel Murphy! You know who you just hit, don’t you?”
“Come on, I barely touched her,” Axel mutters, grasping his dire situation. “And she’s not on duty.”
“Nice try. You’re under arrest for assaulting a police officer. Turn around.”
Axel curses and then does as instructed, allowing Mike to cuff him. “You have the right to retain and instruct counsel without delay—”
“Fuck you! She’s tryin’ to pin Holly on me!”
“You may call any lawyer you wish …”
“Holly was my friend!”
Another cruiser pulls into the parking lot. Mike called backup.
There’s an audience now, with at least twenty parents and players hovering. Mandy watches the spectacle with wide eyes and, I hope, reservations about her associations. Just in case, I’ll be calling her parents first thing in the morning to make them aware.
Andy strolls in, quickly scanning the situation. “Hey, Staff. You good?”
“I’ll be fine.” My hip likely won’t be pretty for a few weeks, though.
Andy’s usual hard expression softens. “Hey there, stranger. Good game tonight?”
Isla has left the safety of the truck and stands nearby, watching the scene unfold. “Yeah, it was okay.” Fear fills her eyes. “Mom?”
I close in to rope my arm around her shoulders protectively. “I’m fine.”
She watches Mike lead Axel to Andy’s car. “Did he do it? Did he take Holly?”
“We don’t know yet.”
Now that the action is over, people are dissipating—to spread their versions of the incident. “Why don’t you go back to the truck with Logan, okay? I’ll be there soon.”
“Come on, kid.” Logan settles a hand on her shoulder, stealing a worried glance at me.
“I’m fine,” I reassure him, nodding toward the truck. “Maybe you should drive, though.” Isla won’t be focused.
I watch them walk side by side, back to the truck. So much for keeping a low profile. Thank God Dillon’s not here. I’m sure he’ll hear about it all soon enough, though.
“So …” Mike strolls up. “Not a fan of a quiet Saturday night, huh?”
“I guess not.”
“You gonna be good? It looked like you hit the ground pretty hard.”
“It hurts, but nothing some ice can’t fix,” I admit. “Didn’t see you in the lot when I came out.”
“I spotted Murphy’s truck pulling into the arena. I thought I’d find out what he was up to here.”
That means he likely also saw Logan and me, in that brief stolen moment before the tow truck distracted us.
I silently chastise myself for the lapse in judgment, even while a growing part of me despises the secrecy.
It’s becoming harder to hide what we are to each other, my motivation to do so less obvious.
“So? What am I putting in my report?” he adds after a beat. “About Axel.”
I walk him through the entire exchange. But the whole time, I can’t help but feel his judgment.
A knock sounds on Logan’s apartment door. “It’s just me!” Annie calls out. “I wanted to check in on Emery! But I can come back later if this isn’t a good time?”
I laugh at the nervous inflection in her voice, afraid of what she might be interrupting.
“We couldn’t if we wanted to,” I whisper from my horizontal position, my head resting on Logan’s lap.
I woke up this morning in agony, wondering if I should be going for an X-ray, and I’ve been on one couch or another for most of the day, icing my aches.
Logan smirks and then calls out, “Now’s fine.”
The door creaks open and Annie’s face appears. In her hands is a telltale white box from the market. “I haven’t seen the garage so empty since … well, a long time.”
Since she finally brought herself to pack up all her sons’ things for storage.
“We’re finished with Jay’s stuff. I’ll tackle my boxes in the spring.”
“That sounds like a plan. I brought you both dinner. Thought you might like to eat here tonight, seeing as Isla’s at practice. It’s tourtière. I made it yesterday. I’ll pop it in the oven.” She charges into Logan’s kitchen, busying herself.
Logan smiles as his fingers caress my neck. He’s doted on me all day. “Thanks, Mom.”
With her work there done, she saunters over. “How bad is it? Well, come on, let me see.”
It’s the second time I’ve had to drop trou today.
Earlier, Clara came over to take pictures for the case file.
If anyone else was asking, I’d tell them to sod off.
But for Annie, I slip the band of my sweatpants down enough to show the angry purple bruising that takes up half my hip. “Looks worse than it is.” I think.
She winces. “Gosh, Sandy and Clive used to walk on eggshells every time you were out on the road. Here you are behind a desk and still getting hurt on the job.” She tsks. “I hope they punish the young man who did this accordingly.”
“Yeah, we’ll see.” He’s a first-time offender and it was just a push—against an off-duty cop who was pressing him pretty hard. “The Crown’ll likely pursue regular assault charges and give him probation, if anything. He won’t see a cell.”
Annie’s scowl reveals her thoughts before her words do. “If only Logan had seen that kind of mercy.”
“These are different times.”
She collects the Toronto Star from the coffee table.
My eyes skim Logan’s before I ask, “Do you remember that paper?”
“Yes. It was in the glove box of Jay’s truck.” She looks to the stack of printed articles regarding the jewelry crime. “Why are you interested in this?”
“Just caught my curiosity,” I lie with a casual shrug. I hate doing it, but I’d hate explaining the real reason more.
“You know how Em is,” Logan adds.
Annie hums and sets it back down. “Take the pie out in about forty-five minutes. As soon as it’s golden brown. There’s also a salad.” She rounds the couch and leans down to kiss Logan’s forehead as readily as if he were a five-year-old boy.
He waits until she’s gone. “You really think that was them?”
“Four armed suspects. Ian, Jay, Hank, and Travis.” I count on my fingers.
“A white van that they could have gotten from the auto wreckers Hank was working at. We already know he was willing to mess with VINs under the radar. What better way to hide your crime than scrap your getaway vehicle? And then you’ve got half a million dollars’ worth of jewelry from a high-end store that hasn’t turned up, and no arrests have been made.
” That’s motivation for Hank and Travis to be pressing Logan.
“So, they rob this store and then hold on to everything?” Logan says doubtfully.
“They couldn’t start hitting up pawnshops right away.
That’s the first place the cops look. And the more expensive stuff had serial numbers laser engraved.
It’s not easy offloading those without risking getting caught.
Plus, that.” I tap the word armed in the headline. “They did not want to get caught.”
“So, they hid it all until they could figure out a safe way to unload it.” Logan sees where I’m going with this. “And what better place than on your family’s bison ranch.”
“Except it doesn’t sound like they told Hank and Travis where.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t tell Travis either. A guy like that would be back the next night to dig it up.” He smooths his palm over his bearded jaw. “Fuck. This means there’s literal gold and diamonds buried somewhere on my family’s land.”
“Safe bet. Yeah. And likely on that parcel Jon and Sarah bought. Nobody ever went back there.”
“What do we do?”
“We’re going to nail them for this. I’m going to build a case against Hank and Travis. Quietly. The last thing your family needs is a bunch of treasure hunters catching wind and showing up on your land with metal detectors.”
“And wandering into a field of bison, thinking they’re like cows. Can you imagine? Fuck.” Logan shakes his head.
“We have to find this stash,” I admit. “It could take years. And then figure out how to get Hank and Travis put away for it. For a long-ass time too.” I smile with grim determination. It’ll be what they deserve, both for the crime and for what they’ve done to Logan.
“You’re cute when you’re plotting revenge,” Logan muses, his hand smoothing over my abdomen.
“Yeah?” I wince in pain as I adjust my position to admire his handsome face. “How cute?”
He leans down to kiss me and then, with a sly smile, his hand ever so carefully slips under the waistband of my pants.