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I ignored the comment and looked across the field one more time and finally saw her standing beside her mother. They were engaged in a conversation with the two officers who had been put in charge of Connor's case.
"Have you told her about the dreams?" Asher asked, pulling me back to our conversation.
"What is it with you and the million questions today?" I barked as I watched Bailey leave her mother's side and cross the park over to the water’s edge where she sat down on the grass and looked out over the water. I was still tormented by the confrontation I'd had with Garrick the other night and the words he had spewed when I had shut the door to the alley. Connor had been actively investigating the Donnelly gang when he'd been killed, and the threats Garrick had thrown at me had me wondering if he perhaps wasn't the one responsible for Connor.
"What's with you, Walker?" Grant questioned, sitting down with a plate full of food, Ryan following.
I knew this wasn't the time or the place to bring this up, but I didn't feel it could wait. "Grant, after Connor died, did you guys investigate any of the Donnelly members as suspects? I mean, he was actively investigating them. It is a possibility that he ran into one of them."
Asher, Ryan, and Grant all stopped chewing their food and looked up at me. "I don't think this is the time to talk about this, Jackson," Grant bit out and nodded to the people who were surrounding us.
I ignored his warning and lowered my voice. "Grant, seriously, it’s been five years, and we have no more leads than we did that night. I think it’s time that we look at them, especially one of them—Garrick Barton. We know for a fact that those men were in the area that night. I just had a run-in with him the other night, and he said some things to me that lead me to believe he might..."
"So they were in the area. Connor was alone, you saw a shadow, that's it. There was nothing on the video feeds from the alley. We can't just go making suspects up."
"Dammit, Grant, please, just listen to me," I said, smashing my fist on the table, which pulled attention over to the four of us.
"Jackson, it’s enough," Grant bit out.
I stared at Grant, searching his eyes for any more allowance of what we had been talking about, but I saw none. Instead, he went back to eating, and I sat there waiting for the tension between the four of us to dissipate. Ryan and Grant soon struck up a conversation, and soon it was as if none of the talk between us had even happened.
"Hey, Bailey," Asher said, looking behind me as the others greeted her, and I turned in time to see Bailey approaching us.
"Hey, guys," she said, smiling.
I stood up and was surprised when she immediately wrapped her arms around me, pressing her body up against mine.
"Everything okay?" I questioned.
"Yeah. I just thought I would come over and say hi and let you know that I think I'm gonna take Mom home now. She says she is tired. I'm tired myself, and I have to work tonight," she said, looking up at me, her eyes hiding something.
"Okay," I said, pushing a strand of hair from her face. "Everything else okay?"
She shrugged. "Do you have a minute?"
I nodded and turned to the guys. "I'll be right back. Let Mike know I will be back in time to man the grill."
"Nice to see you, Bailey." Grant waved.
"You too, Grant."
We had only taken a few steps away from the table when she slid her hand in mine. We finally found a quiet spot under a large oak tree. "What’s up?" I looked into her eyes and saw they were lined with worry.
"Um, I am not sure how to tell you this," she bit out, almost on the verge of tears.
"Tell me what?"
When she wouldn't look at me, I placed my hand on the side of her cheek and raised her head.
"I was sitting over at the water’s edge, and that Garrick guy approached me again."
I felt every muscle in my body tighten. "What? Did he put his hands on you?"
"No." She sniffled. "I ignored him, told him to go away, but he wouldn't. Instead, he knelt down beside me and started asking me questions about you and I."
"You’re sure he didn't touch you?"
She nodded. "I refused to answer him, and I got up and started to come back here. "He told me he would see me tonight at work. That he would wait at the end of the bar like you do because you wouldn't be able to be there. Then he took off."
