Chapter 12
Presley stared at the calendar. It had been twelve days since the accident—twelve days since Waylen had come back into her life.
She tapped her pencil against the counter. Her heart beat against her chest. She never had to track her cycle. There hadn’t been a need. Before Waylen, she hadn’t had sex in over six months and that relationship had lasted all of three weeks.
But she’d been careful.
With Waylen, it was as if they didn’t care one way or the other.
She flipped the calendar over, trying desperately to remember the exact date of when she had her last period.
The three-day charter. That was it. Quickly, she counted the days. Fuck. If that were the case, she should have gotten her period today.
No signs of it at all.
That didn’t mean anything. She was under enormous stress. That could affect her cycle. It had in the past. Or at least she wanted to believe it had, although all through her divorce, it hadn’t. Nor had her parents’ deaths changed her cycle.
But this was different.
Her fucking ex-husband had tried to kill her.
“Hey, babe.” Waylen strolled into the office.
She jerked. She hadn’t even heard the bell over the door ding. “Shit. You scared me.”
“I’m sorry.” He leaned over the counter and kissed her tenderly. “What are you doing that has you so engrossed?”
“Nothing really. Just matching up charters in the calendar to receipts.” She folded the calendar and tucked it into the drawer. “Any news on Vernon? Frank? The case?”
“Yup.” Waylen raked his fingers through his hair. “I got confirmation that your signature on the new will has been considered fraud. I sent all that information over to Hale. He’s not happy with me or my methods. But since it came directly from the FBI fraud department, he’s got no choice. He has to investigate. This is good news because it gives Vernon a motive. He kills you, he gets the other half of Driftwood Tours. Hale’s heading over to Vernon’s right now to have a little chat with him.” Waylen let out a short breath. “The bad news is proving that Vernon’s the one who did it could be hard.”
“How is that even possible?”
“Before I sent it to Hale, my FBI buddy and I did a little investigating on our own. Vernon’s lawyer didn’t draw up that will. My buddy inquired, and it appears that a woman fitting your description went to a different lawyer’s office and filed the paperwork.”
“What you’re saying is Vernon had someone else do his dirty work.”
Waylen nodded. “The good news is that will is null and void.”
“Doesn’t do any good if I’m dead.”
He reached across the counter and took her hand. “Babe, I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
“As long as Vernon is wandering the streets, I’m in danger. You and your friends can’t be on watch forever.”
“None of us are going anywhere until this is settled. Cassie is over at the hospital waiting for Frank to wake up. Whether or not he’s a criminal makes no difference. I doubt he will take too kindly to Vernon trying to kill him either.”
“I can’t keep asking all of you to?—”
“Stop that.” He pressed his finger over her lips. “Besides my buddies doing this for me, it’s also a Brotherhood Protectors case now.”
“I can’t afford them, and I didn’t hire them.” She cocked her head.
“I did.” He lowered his head. “I’m not going to argue with you about this.” He yanked his cell out of his back pocket. “It’s my mom. She’s been dying to talk with you. I’ve got some things I need to do on my computer. Why don’t you chat with her? I’m going to go upstairs for a bit.” He tapped his cell and answered the call before she could even open her mouth and protest. “Hey, Ma. How are you doing?” He smiled.
Fuck. FaceTime. That was the last thing she needed.
“Hi, Waylen. I’m good. How are you? How’s Presley? She holding up okay? Last we talked, you mentioned some stuff with her?—”
“Hey, Mom. I’ve got a ton of stuff I need to do right now. But Presley’s right here.” He turned the cell.
Presley smiled and waved.
“Why don’t you two ladies catch up. I’ll call you later. Love you, Ma.”
“Love you too, Waylen,” his mom said.
Waylen winked and handed her the phone.
Inwardly, she groaned. “Hi, Sally. It’s been a long time.” She set the cell against the register and leaned back. “It’s good to see you.”
“You’re as beautiful as I remember.” Sally swiped at her cheeks. “I was so sad to hear about your parents. They were such wonderful people. Kind and generous. Always so good to my son.”
“Thank you,” Presley said. “I miss them very much.”
“I’m sure you do.” Sally nodded. “Waylen hasn’t told me too much about what’s going on. Only that your ex-husband has been giving you a hard time. Something about trying to take your parents’ business from you.”
That was an interesting way of putting it. But she understood Waylen didn’t want to worry his poor mom. “It’s a long story and I don’t want to bore you with the awful details. But Waylen and his team have been incredible.”
“They are all good men. They helped Waylen through some bad times. He’d be a lost man without them.” Sally waved her finger. “But he’s always been a little lost since we left Big Island. I’m so glad he could reconnect with his dad”s memories and see you again. I can tell how happy that’s made him.”
“It’s been real good to spend time together.” She smiled. Instinctively, she placed a hand over her stomach. “I just hate that some of it is dealing with my ex.”
“He wouldn’t be there helping if he didn’t want to.” Sally leaned closer. “That boy of mine never stopped caring about you. I’m so sorry that I didn’t have the strength to stay and that I took him away from you.”
“Sally, you did what you needed to do for you and your family. Besides, he would have left a year later anyway. It wouldn’t have changed the outcome. We all know that. Waylen was meant to have a career as a Navy SEAL and I’m glad he had the opportunity to pursue it.”
“Same old Presley. Always putting others before herself,” Sally said. “But I can tell you there’s been something missing from my son’s life. I haven’t seen him this happy in a long time and I know it’s because he’s there with you.”
Presley wanted to believe that. Needed to believe that. Last night they had declared their love still lingered. It was real. It had never died. For either of them.
But Presley was a realist. She’d been that way her entire life and she knew love wasn’t enough. Strong, lasting relationships were built on so much more and right now, there was too much uncertainty swirling around in her life—and Waylen’s—to be confident that they could go the distance.
Stop holding back. Stop being so reserved. If you don’t let anyone in, if you don’t risk anything again, you’ll never find happiness.
Those were her father’s words when she’d returned to Big Island after college and made the decision to finally let Waylen go for good.
Of course, he’d wanted her to reach out to Waylen. But he’d also wanted her to start living again. To really expand outside the little world she’d created to protect herself from being hurt.
When she finally allowed herself a chance at love, she let the wrong person in.
She’d vowed never to make that mistake again.
Waylen could never be seen as a mistake. She wouldn’t regret this time with him, no matter the outcome.
“Presley, why the long face?” Sally asked.
Presley sighed. “There’s a lot going on. Between the problems with the business and…” She couldn’t discuss this with Waylen’s mom. That was insane. It didn’t matter that she’d been a sounding board back when they’d been dating and would fight over stupid stuff.
Like how much he used to fish and be late for a date because he lost track of time.
“What has my son done?” Sally asked.
Presley laughed. “Nothing bad. He’s been a perfect gentleman, as always.”
“Then what’s the problem? Because I know he’s working on how to move there. He’s even started sending me places to look at online for me to live.”
Presley blinked.
“He didn’t tell you that?” Sally asked.
“I didn’t know he was actively looking.” Presley rubbed her belly. When Waylen made up his mind about something, he did it and there was no arguing with him about it either. “He doesn’t even know if he has a job here or not. Everything is temporary and up in the air.”
“According to him, he and the boys have had some discussions with Hawk, the man who runs the Brotherhood Protectors there and they want to set up a meeting with Hank Patterson, the head of the whole organization. He made it sound like no matter what, he was staying on Big Island, with you. Don’t you want that?”
“More than anything,” she whispered.
“Have you told him that?”
“I haven’t not said it.”
“Presley Tina Miles, you have always been an outspoken young lady except for when it comes to two things. What you want and matters of the heart. Do you love my son?”
“Yes, and he knows that.” Presley sat up taller.
“Well, that’s a start.” Sally smiled. “Now tell him you want him to stay. Don’t drag your feet. Just do it. Do you hear me?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“All right. I better get going. We’ll chat again soon, and before you know it, I’ll be back on that island, and we’ll do lunch.”
“I’d like that. Take care, Sally.” She tapped the end button and leaned back.
“That sounded like a nice conversation.” Waylen leaned against the doorjamb.
She jumped, nearly falling off the stool. “You have to stop sneaking up on me like that.” She tucked her hair behind her ears. “How long have you been standing there?”
“Long enough.” He smiled wickedly. “Do you have something to say to me?”
“No,” she mumbled. “You’re a jerk, you know that. You shouldn’t listen in on other people’s conversations.”
He pointed to the counter. “I needed my phone.”
She snagged it and stretched out her arm. “Here. Take it.”
He inched closer, wrapping his arm around her waist and heaving her to his chest. “Why is it so hard for you to tell me you want to be with me? That you want me to move here and be in a relationship with me.”
“Isn’t telling you that I still love you the same thing?”
“Nope. Not even close.”
“Fine. I wouldn’t mind it if you took a job with the Brotherhood Protectors and you and your crazy band of brothers stayed on Big Island. Does that work for you?” She rested her hands on his shoulders.
“It’s a start.” He kissed her nose. “Come on. We’ve got to go.”
“Where?”
“To that lawyer who drew up the fake will. Hale’s meeting us there.”
“Why?” she asked.
“To see if the lawyer recognizes you or not.” He took her hand.
“Ugh. I hate this.” She reached behind the counter and grabbed her bag.
“It’s one step in putting your ex-husband behind bars.”
If they accomplished that it would be a fucking miracle.
Waylen leaned against the hood of the car next to Presley. “That went about as expected.” He folded his arms. “We need to find this girl who impersonated Presley and tie her back to Vernon.”
“That might be like finding a needle in a haystack,” Hale said. “Especially when the lawyer denies having any contact with Vernon and both witnesses swear it was Presley who asked them to sign the new will.”
“That’s bullshit. I did no such thing.” Presley leaned into his arm.
“That lawyer stated you weren’t the woman who came to his office and signed the document,” Waylen said. “That’s something.”
“But it doesn’t tie Vernon to the crime.” Hale arched a brow. “I’ve got nothing on him at this point.”
“I feel like there’s something you’re not telling us.” Waylen wrapped his arm around Presley, resting his hand on her hip. He understood her frustration with the situation. Patience had never been her strong suit.
Hale rubbed his jaw. “There is something my department has been investigating for a bit now that we believe Vernon is involved in. I can’t get into the details with you.” Hale raised his hand. “I’m well aware of what the Brotherhood Protectors can do for me in a case like this, but I’m not even close to being able to issue a search warrant, much less drag Vernon in for questioning. It’s too early for that. I need time and more importantly, for you and your men to give me room to do my job.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Waylen asked.
“Vernon knows you’re tailing him and because of that, he’s holed up in his house or places of business, lying low. How the hell am I supposed to catch him at his own game when he’s refusing to play? Maybe if you gave him a little more rope?—”
“No. No fucking way.” Waylen shook his head. “He blew up her boat and broke into her home. I’m not letting him come after her again.”
“Look. You’re with her twenty-four seven. You can protect her. Let me handle Vernon. Okay? Call off your men. Put them on the marina. The boats. I don’t care, but I can’t have them up Vernon’s ass. It’s hindering what I need to do to shut him down. There’s more going on than what happened with Presley.”
Waylen glanced toward the sky. A big, puffy white cloud danced across the sun. His father had taught him to respect the police. He’d given his entire life to serving his country. He’d worked with every government agency known to man. Most were good people, and he trusted his instincts. Hale was about as good as they came.
“How big is this case you’re working on?” Waylen asked.
“Probably the biggest one of my career,” Hale said. “Unfortunately, it’s the kind of thing that takes time to put together.” He glanced over his shoulder. “I shouldn’t be telling you this, but two months ago, we put an undercover cop on the streets. His goal is to get inside an arms dealer organization. I just got word yesterday that he was supposed to meet with the head honcho. But it got canceled.”
“You believe Vernon’s that man?” Presley asked.
Hale stared at Presley but said nothing.
“Come on, Hale. I gave you all those financials. You know as well as I do what that looks like. He was laundering money through Driftwood Tours. Possibly running drugs or guns. When Presley took over the books and divorced that asshole, that deal went away on him, and he had to scramble,” Waylen said. “I’ve been nothing but straight with you. If you want me to call off my team, give me a damn good reason to. Otherwise, we’ll do this my way.”
“Fuck. I can’t have that,” Hale muttered. “Fine. Yeah. I looked closely at those records, and I agree. That’s exactly what Vernon was doing. We believe he’s doing that with his other businesses. And yeah, we believe he’s buying and selling guns, among other things.”
“Jesus,” Presley whispered. “How did I not know any of this? I feel like the biggest fool.”
“Hey. Don’t beat yourself up.” Hale reached out and squeezed her forearm. “You know my wife, Gina, right?”
Presley nodded.
“Do you know how I met her?”
“I heard the stories,” Presley said.
“How do you think she felt when I busted down her door and arrested her husband for being a serial rapist? She had no idea. While she knew her husband had cheated on her, she had no clue he was the one going around taking advantage of teenage girls. It was a total shock and something she still grapples with. Even if you saw the signs, I know enough about your family history to know you had other things going on at that time.”
“I’m sorry for what Gina had to go through. I don’t wish that on anyone,” Presley said softly.
“Men like Vernon find your vulnerabilities and exploit them. No one can protect themselves completely from that. Not even people like me and Waylen.” Hale dropped his hand and shifted his gaze. “Are you going to call off your team?”
“On one condition,” Waylen said. “I want daily updates. I want to be completely in the loop, and I want your word that you won’t stop us from doing our own investigating.”
Hale let out a long breath. “As long as it’s not illegal, I won’t stop you.” He poked Waylen in the chest. “But you’ve already skirted that line a few times with this IT shit. Be careful. Don’t put in a position where I can’t use what you give me.”
“Trust me, I know how this shit works.” Waylen pulled out his cell. “I’ll text my boys now. However, if Vernon comes after my girl, or any one of my men, all bets are off.”
“I just hope I’m not putting handcuffs on you because I hate doing that to people I like.” Hale turned and marched off toward his dark sedan.
“Are you really going to ask Raider and Harlan to stop following Vernon?” Presley asked.
“Yes and no.” Waylen texted the team to inform them of the situation. “I had Harlan slip into Vernon’s house and bug it this morning. It’s better than nothing.”
“So, I’m a sitting duck.”
He pulled her close to his chest. “Babe, Hale’s right. We need to give Vernon rope to hang himself. You’ll never be alone. I’ll always be with you, and one of my team members will always be close by. If and when Vernon comes, he won’t know what hit him. But let’s hope Hale gets to him first, because I won’t be using cuffs to take him down. I’ll put him six feet under.”
“Don’t talk like that.” She shoved him, placing her hand on her stomach. “I don’t need you going to jail for being a Neanderthal.”
His heart dropped to his toes. He glanced between her belly and her eyes. “Are you trying to tell me something?”
She planted her hands on her hips. “Yeah. Don’t even joke about things that could send you to prison. I don’t find it funny. I get you’ll do whatever it takes to keep me safe, but I can’t have you going all rogue on me or shooting off your mouth.”
He inched closer, his mind spinning with thoughts that had nothing to do with Vernon and the threat that he posed. However, he did understand her concern about his words. “I’m not going to do anything to him unprovoked. While I’ve been in situations where human life has been lost because of my career, I don’t take that lightly and I shouldn’t have implied I’d do that so easily. I’m sorry for that. The only way that would happen is if he were to try to kill you, me, or any one of my men.” He took her hand and pressed it against her midsection. “What I want to know is why did you do this when you got so upset with me about my poor choice of words?” He tilted his head. “It’s like you were protecting something. Like a baby.”
“It’s a little too early to know about that.” She pushed his hand away.
“Then why did you do it?”
“Because I felt sick to my stomach. We just found each other again, and if there’s one thing I know about you, it’s that you’re fiercely protective of those you love. You’d do anything for them, including something crazy.”
He palmed her cheek. “I do love you, and you’re right. I’d lay down my life for you. But trust me when I say I won’t do anything stupid.” He kissed her tenderly. “Are you sure it’s too soon to find out?”
“Positive. I’m not even late yet.”
“You promise you’ll tell me as soon as you get it or don’t get it?”
“Yeah.” She patted his shoulder. “Can we go? It’s getting late and I’m hungry.”
“Why don’t we stop at that little Italian place you like and pick up something to bring back to the marina? Sound good?”
“Sounds great.”
Waylen opened the door, helping her into the passenger seat. He jogged around the hood of the car. He didn’t like not believing Presley, but he could tell she wasn’t being completely truthful about the whole baby thing.
On the one hand, he totally believed she didn’t know if she was pregnant. However, he could tell by the way she stared at him that she wondered if she could be.
The really scary part was that Waylen wanted her to have his kid. He wanted a family, a concept he’d given up on a long time ago.