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We walk to where the food tents are located. A sensation I know only too well from two deployments prickles the nape of my neck. Adrenaline floods my veins, taking my heart rate for a rapid spin around the block.
Someone is watching me.
My training kicks in, an old friend who never goes away, who always has my back. I scan the area, searching for a sniper. Searching for signs the calm is about to end.
My mouth feels as dry as the Afghan desert during the summer heat. Find the threat. Immobilize it. Protect the civilians.
Protect my girl.
My gaze shifts from one potential hiding place to the next. I can’t locate anything out of sorts. Nothing that sets off sirens. But knowing that doesn’t chase away the unsettled feeling in my gut.
30
Simone
I sit on the couch and study Jodi’s Instagram feed. So far, her social media accounts haven’t given me much intel about Lucas’s replacement in the PT clinic.
Correction. The sites have provided me with lots of info about the woman, her cat, her general interests and day-to-day activities, and her boyfriend, Rick. What they haven’t done is answer my questions on how she ended up with the temporary position. Was it random? She happened to be available at the right time? Or did she put in a request to be sent to Maple Ridge if a position opened up?
So far, she seems to love her new job and hopes it will become permanent. Jodi normally lives in Eugene. Her boyfriend lives in Maple Ridge.
It’s been almost a month since Rebecca mentioned Jodi to Lucas while we were at the July Fourth festival. I hadn’t planned to look Jodi up. I stumbled across her account after she commented on one of Zara’s posts for Picnic & Treats.
I grab my purse, load Jasper and his crate into my car, and head to the worksite where Troy is working. He’s placing tools into a toolbox when I pull up. I attach Jasper’s leash to his collar so he can visit with his new friend, Butterscotch, and we walk over to the duo.
The dogs sniff each other. Jasper lies down, then jumps up and plays with Butterscotch.
“You almost finished for the day?” I ask Troy.
“Yup, just cleaning up now. You come to pick me up early for our date at Barside Brewery?” He gives me the signature Carson Brothers’ flirty eyes that he’s so good at.
I laugh. “You wish. No, it’s something even better. You and I are going to Eugene. You’re the muscle in this escapade. But don’t worry, we’ll be back before we’re supposed to meet everyone at Barside.”
He picks up the toolbox on the ground near Butterscotch. “Can I assume at some point you’re gonna stop talking in code and tell me what’s going on?”
“Where’s the fun in that?”
“You’re not dragging me clothes shopping, are you?” Troy glances at me like a shopping-phobic boyfriend, and I laugh.
“Since when have I ever dragged you clothes shopping?”
“Hey, I’m just eliminating the possible reasons for you wanting me to join you. Experience has taught me that when it comes to women, needing muscles usually involves some sort of shopping trip.”
“Don’t worry. I’m not dragging you clothes shopping. But I do need your help. Lucas isn’t around to help me out, and I need to pick up some supplies for my subscription boxes. My order is ready, but something came up and the small business owner has to fly out tonight to go to Texas. Plus, there’s somewhere else I need to go while I’m in Eugene. And that’s where I need your help.”
“All right. But I’m driving.”
“I need to drop Jasper off at Grams’s first.” Lucas went hiking, which means I have no idea when he’ll be back. “Meet me at her house in say, thirty minutes?”
Troy pulls up in front of Grams’s house shortly before he said he’d be there, and I climb into his truck.
“If Tuuli and Robert sell the land to you guys,” I ask at one point during the drive to Eugene, “what will happen if Blake can’t prove Lucas is innocent? We know he wasn’t responsible for the narcotics in his house, but his trial is in ten weeks and three days, and there’s still no proof he was framed. If Lucas is found guilty, are you still going ahead with the plans for the outdoor program?”
It’s a question I’ve wondered for a while now. But it’s not one I can ask Lucas. His response might not match what his brothers are thinking.
“To be honest, I have no idea. But it is something Garrett, Kellan, and I have discussed.” Troy looks at me, and I nod at the unspoken message in his expression. What he’s about to tell me is not something he wants me to share with Lucas. For now, anyway. “Our grandfather had the idea for the program years ago when Lucas was doing his kinesiology degree. It didn’t fit with what Garrett, Kellan, and I were studying in college, but it was perfect for Lucas. I just figured the idea died with our grandfather when Lucas went on to get his PT degree. It wasn’t until a few months ago that he brought up the idea again. He’d heard the Wakefields were planning to sell their land. It was the only place he could imagine having the program. But I think you know why that is.”
“I do. It was because of Aiden.”
