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“She’s also pregnant with our child,” Luke says.
“Precisely. She really doesn’t need to know about Charlene at this point,” I insist.
Fallon runs a hand through his short, black hair. “What do we do, then? Avery can obviously tell we’re on edge. We’re distant. We don’t even know how to look her in the eye anymore. And it’s not like we ever cheated on her—”
“Yet that’s precisely how this feels,” Luke remarks with resounding bitterness.
“We’re keeping Charlene away from Avery for a reason,” I remind them. “She did a lot of damage before we got her arrested. She was determined to hurt us in every possible way. Imagine how she must be feeling now, after five years in prison.”
“Avery has got enough on her plate,” Luke says. “The pregnancy is taking a toll on her nerves. She’s already scared and constantly worried for herself and the girls, no matter how much we reassure her that everything is okay with us.”
When Charlene accosted me outside the station, I could see it in her eyes—the contempt. She was smiling and seemingly warm and friendly, apparently happy to see me and eager to put that ‘ancient history,’ as she called it, behind us. But her eyes never lied, not even for a second. Charlene has no respect for the rule of law and she’s proven that repeatedly. It’s all an act, and I do see where Fallon is coming from as far as Avery is concerned. We will protect our woman no matter what, and I’m hoping that what Avery doesn’t know can’t hurt her. Avery’s presence in our home is considered a secret—no one at Wolfhound Security would ever disclose her whereabouts.
“Avery doesn’t need additional stress with her pregnancy,” I say after a long pause. “We can handle Charlene. Honorably, I think. We just need to keep her away from the mansion. As far away from our circle as possible.”
“Do you think Mom and Dad had something to do with her early release?” Fallon wonders aloud. “They would definitely have the juice to bypass the District Attorney on this. Nobody called us about Charlene’s parole hearing and they should’ve. Right?”
“From what the parole officer told me, the DA was caught off guard by the board’s decision. Nobody thought they would approve Charlene’s early release. So, if our parents wereinvolved, we should be looking at any connection between them and the parole board.”
“We all know that their tentacles run deep,” Luke says.
Our parents’ influence is like a cancer, slowly but surely eating away at the integrity of my county. Long before I even joined the police force, I knew that our family name stood for power, influence, and corruption. The Cassidy’s were always a driving force, stomping on anybody who ever got in their way or tried to stop them. Bribery, racketeering, fraud… if only I had enough evidence, I’d do away with them once and for all. Unfortunately, my mother and father have learned to cover their tracks—particularly since my brother and I left the family to join the Navy. They’d expected the two of us to take their place at the helm of the dynastic conglomerate, but Fallon and I could never stomach all that dirt and illegality. Especially me. I was always the righteous little fucker who got in their way.
I’m pretty sure Dad breathed a sigh of relief when I left town. He sure wasn’t happy to see me when I came back and got elected Sheriff of Lincoln County. I’ve been a thorn in their heels since, but I have yet to gather enough evidence against them for a RICO bust. It’s been a hard pill to swallow, knowing that I’d have to do everything in my power to make sure that it all ends with them.
The worst part is that Luke is right. Their influence runs deep, and Charlene was a good friend and business partner to them long before we ever met her. My parents would benefit the most if Charlene restored her Lincoln County operations.
“Should Charlene go back into business, she’d have so many eyes on her,” I say. “And given the open case files I’ve got on Mom and Dad, I’m not sure it would be in either of their best intereststo be suspected of further association. Sooner or later, a dime would drop.”
“Nobody can know about Avery,” Fallon replies. “Not Mom, not Dad, definitely not Charlene. How do we keep Avery safe? Think about it, Kellan. It’s not like we can keep her on lockdown in the mansion. She’s got work projects. The girls’ school stuff. A life to live. Sooner or later, they’re gonna catch on to her. They’ll figure it out. They’ll know she is with one of us.”
“It would be worse if they knew she’s with all three of us,” Luke sighs.
“Charlene,” Fallon says. “She’d know something was up.”
“Dammit, we can’t tell Avery yet,” I cut in, angry enough to have to think twice before slamming my hand on the table. “Let’s see what Charlene is up to first. She’s not an idiot. She’s a smart woman—she’d know better than to start stirring up shit so soon after her release.”
“I’ll put a pair of eyes on Mommy and Daddy Dearest, too,” Luke says. “We need to know if they cross paths with Charlene over the next couple of weeks.”
“And in the meantime, we continue to let Avery do her thing,” I reply. “I don’t like this any more than you guys, but she is still healing from that fucking nightmare with Daniel. I don’t want her to get the wrong idea—to pack up and disappear one night because she’s scared that she’ll lose us or that we’re hiding something, even though we are. Still, she can’t know about Charlene. I’ll figure out the best way to tell her, I promise. Just… not yet.”
Luke can’t help but smile softly. “It’s not Avery who’s afraid of losing us, it’s you who’s afraid of losing her if she finds out aboutCharlene.”
“Aren’t you?” I ask him.
He nods once. “A little. But she’s a smart girl, Kellan. I think she deserves more credit than what we’ve given her in this matter.”
“I need more time,” I insist. “A couple more weeks, just so I can get my feelers out and observe Charlene’s behavior.”
Fallon leans back into his chair. “Has she asked about us?”
“Who?”
“Charlene, obviously,” he scoffs. “When she came up to you at the station. Did she ask about us?”
“Yeah. She just wanted to know how you were doing.”
“Why did she come up to you in the first place?” Luke replies, giving me a curious look.
