AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m so sorry, Otto,” he said into my shirt.
“Thanks,” I mumbled. “It was just a house and some stuff. At least no one was hurt, you know?”
He pulled back and gazed at me. “Sometimes ‘stuff’ is where the memories live. Don’t discount your feelings. Losing your childhood home sucks, plain and simple.”
I thought about everything he’d gone through as a teen runaway and knew he, of all people, understood one’s attachment to a place, a home.
“Yeah. It sucks,” I agreed.
Doc dumped Pippa into my arms. “Here, if that ain’t a cure for what ails you, don’t know what is. Come inside and cool off.” He and Nico turned to enter the house.
I pulled my niece in for a snuggle and inhaled her baby scent for a moment to center myself before going inside. She smelled like a combination of some kind of baby lotion or shampoo and crackers. Her tiny hand immediately went for my sunglasses, and I took them off to hand them to her.
Gravel crunched, and I turned to see the Hobie sheriff pull up.
Walker.
He got out of the car looking like every slow motion scene of a hot cop stepping out of a vehicle. It was almost like a porn clip. Thick, muscled thighs in tight uniform pants, a full weapons belt riding on his hips, arm muscles popping out of his uniform sleeves, and aviator sunglasses on his tanned face.
I whistled low in my throat, and Pippa giggled.
Just when I was preparing to walk into his arms for the hug I’d been wanting all afternoon, he took off his glasses and met my eyes.
Shit.
Something was wrong.
Chapter 23
Walker
Walker,
I’ve been back at Pearl Harbor for several weeks… I met a man. It’s weird… I’ve slept with other people since joining the navy, but this was the first time I actually considered more than just a quick fuck with someone. We went out to dinner, and the date went so well, I stayed over at his place instead of ducking out of there after the sex. We spent the entire next day at the beach together talking and laughing.
How is it that four years after seeing you for the last time, I still feel like I’m cheating on you?! Nick is a good guy, Seth. But he isn’t you. And he won’t ever BE you. How the fuck am I supposed to go forward into a relationship knowing I’m always going to be settling for second best?
God, that pisses me off. I hope you sleep with some asshole who gives you crabs.
Wilde
(Unsent)
After I’d gotten off the phone with Otto, I’d gotten a call from the arson investigator.
“Sheriff, the fire at the Wilde home last night was definitely arson,” Teri said, right off the bat. “And as of right now, we can’t rule out Lieutenant Wilde as a person of interest.”
Even though Otto had kind of warned me they were thinking along those lines, hearing it spoken by an authority on the matter was extremely disconcerting. “What? That’s ridiculous. Give me one reason Otto Wilde would torch his family’s home.”
“We don’t know that he did, Sheriff, I’m only informing you that because he’s a person of interest at this time, I’d like to suggest you tread lightly around him while we look into the matter.”
“Tread lightly? What the hell does that mean?”
“It means, Sheriff, you are not at liberty to share information about the investigation with him, including the fact he’s a person of interest, and it would be in your best interest to limit communications with him altogether while we get to the bottom of this,” she said. “I’m sorry, Seth. This is standard advice I’d give anyone else in your position. I believe you know that.”
I’d always known Teri to have a sterling reputation. A no-nonsense investigator who was both thorough and fair. Deep down, I knew she was only looking out for Otto’s and my best interests as well as the best interest of the departments involved.
“I understand,” I told her. “I appreciate you keeping me in the loop.”
“Of course. And I promise I’ll try to get this cleared away as quickly as possible. You have to know I don’t want to find out Otto was involved in this any more than you do. But until his name is cleared, we need to keep this investigation aboveboard. Agreed?”
“Agreed.”
When I pulled up at the Wilde ranch, my stomach was twisted in knots. How the hell was I supposed to tell Otto I had to stay away from him?
“Walker, what’s wrong?” he asked. The man looked so vulnerable holding Pippa to him like he needed every bit of comfort he could get.
“Can we talk in private for a minute?”
I saw the worry in his eyes right away. “Sure, let me just take Pippa in, and I’ll be right back. You want something cold to drink?”
