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“Government help?” Chase asked, his eyes catching hers.
“Maybe. Or a very powerful crime family.”
Chase’s face dropped. Not news he wanted to hear. “Okay, thanks.”
“I’ll keep digging.”
“I appreciate that.” Chase disconnected the phone.
“Do you really think the cartel could be operating in Granite Falls?” she asked. “We’re a town of less than twenty thousand people.”
“I don’t know what to think.”
“Listen,” she said as softly as she could, “I know it’s hard to believe Aiden is involved, but I don’t think you ever really saw him clearly.”
“I did. I knew he was a screwup who always seemed to find trouble,” he admitted.
“True, but he was also a bully.”
Chase leaned back in his chair. “You don’t know the whole story.”
“Then why don’t you tell me.”
He paused a moment, then looked up at her catching her gaze. “My dad was rough on him. Really rough. I don’t know why, but from the time he was a toddler, my dad wanted him to toughen up. That last night, my dad was going at him hard. They were fighting. Aiden hit him with a shovel across the head, then took off running. I followed him. We got into the car. Dad was drunk and went after us. We were driving fast down the street, trying to get away. He jumped into the road in front of us, pulled his gun, and fired at the windshield.”
Jacquie gasped. “What?” Her body tensed and she covered her mouth as she listened.
“We couldn’t believe he shot out the front window.” He shifted in his chair and rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes distant. “We both ducked, then we felt the impact.”
Jacquie squeezed her eyes shut as her mind involuntarily created the moment for her.,His angry father standing before the car, the fear of thinking you were going to die and trying to shield yourself, then a lurch and crunch. She tried not to wince at the thought. “You hit him.”
He nodded slowly. “He stood in the middle of the street and fired at us. We ducked, swerved, but he didn’t. We hit him dead on.”
“Oh, my God.” The horror of it made her blood run cold.
He took a deep breath and continued. “We called 911. EMTs came, Sheriff Donavan. There was nothing that could be done. He died instantly. I really think in his rage, he was trying to kill us.”
“That’s why you left?”
“Yes. Sheriff Donovan said he’d write it in the report as an accident if Aiden joined the Army. No jail time, no trial, no record.”
She shook her head, unable to accept that this was the only option. “Aiden could have taken his chances with the courts.”Youcould have.
He laughed, a sad bitter, laugh. “With his history of petty crimes and teenaged shenanigans, it wouldn’t have gone well for him.”
It took her a moment, but she knew from her own professional experience how that sort of thing would look in the eyes of the law. Eventually, she conceded, “And getting into fights, hitting his dad with a shovel wouldn’t have sat well with the judge.”
“Trust me, my dad had done worse. Sheriff Donovan made it pretty clear—join the Army or go to jail. We joined the Army. Aiden did well there. Grew up. Matured. He is not a criminal. He doesn’t traffic drugs, and he doesn’t kill women.”
Why was Chase always protecting him?She leaned forward, clasping her hands on the desk in front of her. “And yet, he is back in town in the middle of a drug case, where a woman he loves almost died—could still die—and he’s the number one suspect. Chase, I know you want to think the best of him. You gave up your life here for him, but it doesn’t look good.”
His gaze caught hers, and for the first time in years, she understood why he did what he did. The simmering anger she’d felt toward him all this time was just gone, dissipating like the removal of some physical thing inside her, leaving an empty but welcome lightness.
“Why are you so determined to prove it’s Aiden?” His voice was soft, moving something within her.
She pushed it away and shook her head, trying to hold on to a thread of the righteous anger that had driven her for so long. Her response came out harsher than she expected, but it was satisfying to ask the questions that had been swirling inside her since the day he left. “Why are you so blind when it comes to your brother? He’s not a good guy. He never has been. You’ve always made excuses for him, but this time the excuses have run out.”
He physically recoiled, his eyes sparking with indignation. “You’re wrong. There’s more going on here than it looks.” He stood, his body tense and jaw clenched. “I need to check on my mom. I’ll see you later, Jacquie.” He started toward the door.
