Chapter 26 Lennon
TWENTY-SIX
LENNON
The past few days have been a whirlwind of activity, everyone at Grizzly River getting it cleared off so that they could then clear off Dark Skies. Tomorrow, finally, I’ll get to go back into the office again.
Not that Carson is going to allow me to drive myself.
I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to drive myself again.
Since I told Shawn all the information I found out about the sheriff, a.k.a.
Ethan Fury, he’s been keeping me close. No one has mentioned it to me, but I know he had to have told his brothers and Truett.
None of them have been complaining when he’s not with them out in the barn or riding out into the pastures to make sure everything is okay.
The girls haven’t complained either that he keeps hanging out with us.
Which is why the two of us are curled up on the couch while the guys are out in the elements and the girls are making our last lunch together.
Tonight, all of us are going to our own homes.
Well, the home I’ve been in since all this shit started, but to be honest, I’m not sure whether I’ll actually go back to my apartment or not.
“What are you thinking?” Carson asks as he pushes my hair back from my face.
“About whether I’ll actually ever go back to my apartment or not. I’m not sure it’s safe, and I haven’t been there for so long now.”
He makes a noise in the back of his throat. “You don’t have to go. You can stay with me forever, Len. I hope you know that.”
A part of me does. It absolutely knows that.
But the independent part of me wants to retaliate against it.
Once Atlee and I were out from under our parents, I never wanted to have to count on anyone else ever again.
The other part of me, the one that’s a woman who wants to be loved and taken care of like she wasn’t as a kid, really wants to let this man be the fucking man for me.
“I know, and I’m struggling.”
“Why are you struggling, babe? At this point, I hope you know I’m not going to do anything to hurt you.”
“I do know that,” I reassure him. “But I’m struggling because I’ve been a strong, independent woman, and wanting to let you take care of everything goes against all of it.”
He leans forward, dropping a kiss on my forehead. “If you jump, Lennon, I’m gonna catch you. Every fucking time. I’m not going to let you fall.”
And as much as it goes against everything I’ve believed, I whisper, “I know you won’t. You love me.”
“More than you know.” He smooths his lips along my jawline.
“More than I thought possible. I’ve been scared too.
” He swallows hard. “I lost my parents at a young age, and they had this great love. It always got held up in front of my face, and I wasn’t sure that I’d be able to ever find anything like that.
It was almost overwhelming, as if I were searching for something that was just out of reach.
At least for me. I saw my brothers find it, and I wanted it, but the thing is, I didn’t think I deserved it. ”
“You deserve everything,” I interrupt him. “As much as the rest of them.”
“I know that now. Being with you these last few weeks has taught me that. I’m going to fight,” he continues.
“Fight for us, and fuck that guy. If he comes for you, he’s coming for me and the rest of the people on this ranch.
Everyone in our lives will fight for you, Lennon.
You’re important to all of us, and there isn’t any way for you or us to forget that. ”
Tears burn behind my eyes, and there’s a lump in my throat the size of a fucking boulder. “You’re important to me too. How was it that a few weeks ago I felt so damn alone?”
“I don’t know, babe, but you’re never going to feel alone again.”
Relaxing into his embrace, I let the warmth of the moment wash over me and send up a short prayer that all of this will be over for everyone sooner than we think.
The next morning, I’m tense as Carson drives me to work. He is too, judging by the way his jaw is twitching and the way his eyes bounce back and forth across the road, then lift up to his rearview mirror.
“Would you stop?” I hiss. “You’re making me so much more nervous than you have to.”
“I can’t help it. I’ve got precious cargo, and you have information on someone that could ruin their lives, Len.”
I turn to face him in the seat, bringing my knee up so that I can be a bit more comfortable. “Are you going to stay in town with me all day too? You can’t protect me every hour of every day.”
“I hadn’t thought about staying with you, but that’s not a bad idea. It’s not like I’m going to get any work done today while worrying about you here. I’ll stay out of your way.”
“Oh my god, Carson…”
He chuckles, smirking. “I like it better when you say that when I’m deep inside you.”
“I do too, because it means you’re not being unhinged,” I answer dryly. “You can’t keep skipping out on your work days.”
He shakes his head. “That’s where you’re wrong. They understand what’s going on, and they want me to skip out on my work days.”
Sighing heavily, I close my eyes. I’m fighting for my life here in ways I never imagined. “You do what you have to do, but after this is over, I’m fucking driving myself to work.”
He laughs, throwing his head back so that his Adam’s apple moves up and down. “Okay, you’ll drive yourself to work once this is over, I promise. I’ll even send you off with a to-go coffee and a breakfast sandwich.”
“Somehow, I believe you.”
Reaching over, he grabs my hand. “You should always believe me.”
When we pull into the parking lot of the office, I feel like I’ve been holding my breath the entire drive. Carson puts the truck in park and turns to look at me, but I’m already reaching for the door handle.
“Len.”
His voice stops me. It’s low and serious.
I turn to look at him, and his expression makes my chest tight. There’s no fear there exactly, but it’s obvious he doesn’t want to leave me, that he’s worried about what might happen.
“Be careful in there.”
“I will.” I lean over the console and press my lips to his. He catches my jaw in his hand and holds me there for just a beat longer than I intend, and I let him. Because that’s what we do now. He takes, and I let him. “I’ll text you when I get to my desk.”
“And when you go to the bathroom.”
“Carson.” I roll my eyes.
“I’m kidding.” He doesn’t look like he’s kidding.
I shake my head and climb out of the truck, pulling my bag up over my shoulder. The morning air is sharp and cold. It hasn’t warmed up any, and it’s so cold it makes my eyes water. Or maybe that’s just my reaction to everything that’s going on right now.
The second I push through the front door of the office, Shawn is already coming toward me, like he was watching out the window. Knowing him, he was.
“Good morning,” he says. But his eyes aren’t saying good morning. They’re saying, We have a lot to talk about. Get into my office now.
“Morning.” I follow him past the reception desk, past the little kitchenette where he’s already made a fresh pot of coffee, and into the back where his door has a small window of frosted glass. He closes it behind us, and I set my bag down on the chair across from his desk.
“How are you holding up?” he asks, settling into his own chair.
His hands fold on the desk in front of him.
Shawn is not a man who is easily rattled.
He’s typically methodical and calm in a way that makes you believe everything is going to be okay.
Even though there’s only twelve years between the two of us, I’ve always thought of him as being a father figure.
So this rattles me. He has a tension sitting across his shoulders today that wasn’t there before all of this started.
“I’m okay,” I say. “Ready to get this over with.”
“Let’s see what you’ve got.”
I pull my bag off the floor and dig into the front pocket where I’d been carrying a USB drive since I found out the information.
I’ve not been willing to leave it anywhere that wasn’t on my person.
I hand it over to him, and then I pull out the folder I’ve put together.
For this one, I went old school and printed the pages because I needed to be able to see it laid out in front of me and not just staring at a screen.
To be able to explain all of this to him.
“Everything is on the drive,” I tell him as he opens the folder. “But I printed it because I needed to be able to walk through it with you.”
He nods, and we start from the beginning.
I walk him through every layer of it. Until we get to the name of the man I believe is actually our sheriff.
Ethan Fury.
Shawn doesn’t say much as I talk. He turns pages, studies the documents, and occasionally asks me a clarifying question.
When he does, they’re sharp and precise.
He’s not trying to understand it for himself.
He already understands it. I’ve seen him do this before.
He’s making sure he can explain it to someone else.
When I finish, he’s quiet.
Shawn leans back in his chair and lets out a long breath through his nose. “How long did it take you to put this together?”
“A while. I didn’t know what I was looking at the first time. It wasn’t until I started thinking the only thing that made sense was us having the wrong name that I put it together.”
“You’re good at this,” he says, and I appreciate the compliment. It feels like he knows the risk I took to put it together.
I swallow. “So what happens now?”
He closes the folder, tapping the edge of it on his desk to square the pages. “I’m walking this to the courthouse myself. This morning.” He holds up the drive. “This and everything on here.”
My heart rate picks up. “Today?”
“The state attorney is meeting me there.” His eyes meet mine, and they’re alert.
He’s ready to get this started. “I made some calls earlier this week, when you first told me about this. We’ve been waiting on you to show this all to me.
To make sure that what you had was good information. They’re ready to move.”
The air whooshes out of my lungs. I obviously knew this day was coming. I’ve been building toward it for as long as I’ve been researching. But hearing it said out loud, hearing that it’s actually happening in a matter of hours, makes it feel more real than I imagined.
“Okay,” I say, and my voice is steadier than I expect.
“I need you to hear me on something,” Shawn says, leaning forward again. His voice drops just slightly, even though his door is closed and no one else is in here to hear us. “This is going to set things in motion that we can’t pull back once they start. You understand that.”
“I understand.”
“That means Fury is going to know someone moved against him. He’s not a stupid man, Lennon.
He’s going to start looking for the source.
” He pauses. “You and Carson are going to need to watch your backs. Both of you. Until this goes to the point where he can’t touch it anymore.
He’s going to know you’ve been staying out there with him. ”
“Does he know it’s me yet?” I ask.
“Not yet. But you’ve been asking questions, and people talk. The less time between now and when this gets filed, the better.” He stands, tucking the folder under his arm and pocketing the USB drive. “I don’t want you alone today. Is Carson nearby?”
I almost laugh. “He’s going to be less than a mile away from wherever I am today.”
Something that might be relief flickers across Shawn’s face.
“Good. Keep him close.” He rounds the desk, pausing at the door.
“You did the right thing, Lennon. I want you to know that. What you found in here”—he presses the folder once against his side—“is going to matter to a lot of people in this county who’ve had no idea what’s been happening right underneath them. ”
My throat gets tight again, the same way it did on the couch at the ranch when Carson told me I’d never feel alone again. I nod because it’s all I can manage.
Shawn opens the door and steps out, and I watch him walk toward the coat rack by the entrance, pull his jacket off the hook, and head for the front door without stopping to talk to anyone. A man on a mission.
I sit in this office by myself for a moment before I pull out my phone.
Me
I’m okay. Shawn just left for the courthouse. It’s done.
Carson’s reply comes before I’ve even set the phone back on the desk.
Carson
Be right there
I almost tell him not to. The words are halfway formed in my mind, the automatic reflex of a woman who has spent her whole life handling things herself.
But I think about what he said in that truck.
About precious cargo. About the way his eyes moved across the rearview mirror the entire drive here, not because he was being unhinged, but because he was paying attention. Paying attention for me.
I let him come.
He pushes through the front door less than two minutes later and finds me where I’ve settled at my own desk, coat still on, hands wrapped around a cup of coffee I don’t entirely remember pouring.
He doesn’t say anything right away. He just pulls the chair from the empty desk beside mine and sits down next to me, close enough that our knees are touching.
“You good?” he asks.
I look over at him—at the line of his jaw, the quiet steadiness in his eyes, the way he showed up and sat down beside me like there was nowhere else in the world he was supposed to be.
“Yeah,” I say, and I mean it. “I’m good.”
He reaches over and covers my hand with his, and we sit there together while across town, the wheels that will undo all of this will start turning.