AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Stepdads, huh?” Abe said as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder.
“Told you,” I said.
Abe pressed a kiss to my temple. “I’m a lucky man.”
He wasn’t singing the same tune when Gunderson and Hale ripped us a new one, and Abe seemed to shrink a few inches when Rigby arrived.
“May I have a moment with my officers and their cohorts?” Rigby asked briskly.
“By all means,” Gunderson said. Hale didn’t look like he would budge until Gunderson mentioned taking Jeremy into custody since the arrest had happened in his county. Hale stiffened and started blustering about the crime occurring in his jurisdiction. Gunderson winked at me and headed toward the cabin, knowing Hale would follow.
Rigby kept her gaze on the retreating men as she yelled, “I’m furious with the four of you. What the hell were you thinking pulling a stunt like this?” Once Gunderson and Hale were out of earshot, she leaned closer and whispered, “And how dare you go on this mission without me.”
Abe threw his head back and laughed until I elbowed him. We were supposed to be getting our asses handed to us, and he was ruining the farce.
“Plausible deniability, Commish,” I said softly. “Is now the time to beg for forgiveness?”
She snorted and rolled her eyes. “Get out of here and take Alex with you. I’ll deal with the two of you on Monday because I don’t want to see you until then.”
“Are we suspended, Commish?” Alyssa asked.
“That’s what your official records will say but consider it a bonus vacation with your family.”
I figured Gunderson and Hale would do their best to disrupt our time off, but I’d worry about it when the time came.
I wrapped my arm around Alex’s shoulder and reached for Abe’s hand. “Let’s go home.”
We took two steps down the driveway and remembered we’d left the SUV parked at a trailhead almost a mile away.
“I don’t suppose you could give us a lift to our SUV?” I asked Rigby.
She sighed heavily. “Oh, now you want my help. Very well. It’s not like I want to hear those two arguing over jurisdiction.” She smiled over at Abe and said, “I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but Chatham County could use some new leadership. I think a man with a proven record of straightening out troubled departments would be a perfect fit. Know anyone who fits that criteria?”
“Damn,” Abe said, “has my campaign manager started hounding you now?”
We all laughed as we piled into Rigby’s SUV. We knew the fallout from our stunt wouldn’t be a picnic in the park, but I couldn’t find a fuck to give when Alex rested his head against my shoulder. I looked over at Abe, whose eyes twinkled in the weak moonlight.
“Thank you,” I mouthed.
Abe
The authorities confiscated Jeremy’s phone and found voice notes detailing his spiraling obsession with me and his hatred for Lio that resulted in stalking, attempted murder, and kidnapping. Faced with that evidence, Jeremy gave a full confession. He either loved the sound of his voice or knew Lio and I would get our hands on the recording because he spent hours going into detail. He’d admitted everything from squatting in the woods around my cabin to breaking into homes, including mine, to shower, steal food and gasoline, or charge his cell phone. Jeremy had kept his truck hidden on an abandoned logging road nearby and constantly moved his camp to avoid detection. He seemed to get a real thrill out of detailing the sex acts he’d witnessed between us and how he’d decided Emilio Mendoza needed to die. In his sick mind, I would fall for him if Lio was out of the picture. Jeremy overheard Lio’s conversation with Alyssa where he mentioned a premonition involving Eads. He figured the dirty detective would take the fall when Lio died.
He laughed when he talked about aiming at the road when he saw Lio approaching in his truck. Jeremy had said the big buck running into the road was a sign he’d made the right decision. Eads ending up at the same general store as Lio had turned out to be a true coincidence, unless you were Jeremy, who’d referred to it as divine intervention. He grew bolder as his rage escalated. Alex’s kidnapping had been a botched attempt to kill Lio. Jeremy had knocked Alex out during their struggle, duct-taped his mouth and hands, and carried him to the truck. Alex came to during the ride, and Jeremy subdued him with threats against his parents, which corroborated Alex’s statement to the police. Alex also told the detectives that he’d been terrified when walking through the dark woods at knifepoint but felt much better when he recognized the cabin. Jeremy had mumbled constantly, and Alex deciphered enough to realize his captor knew us. He told the cops he was sure his parents would find him.
The truth was, I wouldn’t have suspected Jeremy if not for Amber’s phone call. I’d already dismissed him after giving him a lukewarm apology because my attention was on pursuing my new relationship with Lio, something Jeremy watched unfold without us knowing. Even if our privacy hadn’t been violated, the guilt eating away at my insides had had a stronger impact on my dick than too much whiskey.
The aftermath of Jeremy’s reign of terror had really taken its toll on us. None of us wanted Alex out of our sight, and he was scared to be alone but sick of us hovering all the time. We were all developing very unhealthy habits, so Alyssa got a referral for a family therapist. All five of us attended the first session together, and I was impressed with Ronelle. It wasn’t that she waved a magic wand and fixed us; she gave us tools and processes to rely on whenever the fear started to win. Ronelle even gave us a homework assignment to complete. Since the cabin was a crucial part of our little family, she wanted us to address any fears we might have about returning. So nine days after the kidnapping, we orchestrated a weekend trip for all of us.
I liked Ronelle’s demeanor so much that I asked if she’d consider counseling me individually, and she agreed. As much as I wanted to believe my issues would go away on their own, I wasn’t willing to risk my future with Lio. I figured I’d start with the most recent trauma and work my way back to my Billie Jo issues. I still hadn’t decided what to do about the contact information Wayne had given me, but that was just one of the many things I needed to unpack someday.
I carried the laundry basket into the bedroom and set it on the floor between the new twin beds we’d picked out. Lio and I had spent yesterday afternoon buying new furniture, bedding, curtains, and opaque shades for the cabin’s two bedrooms. Maybe it was overkill, but after hearing the details of Jeremy’s confession, it was a miracle we hadn’t burned the place to the ground and started over.
Lio turned away from the window with a drill in his hand. He’d measured and remeasured before finally hanging the new pull-down shades. I loved his meticulous nature, but sometimes it took twice as long to finish the simplest tasks. Lio pushed the trigger on the drill to make itwhir.
“Wanna drill me?” he asked.
Lio and I hadn’t made love since learning that Jeremy had spied on us at the cabin. We’d shared many other types of intimacy until we worked through our feelings of being violated by someone we once trusted. I was ready to get back to the way things were, and his corny joke made me laugh and eased the tension gripping me. “Yes, I do,” I replied. “But everyone will be here any minute. Maybe if you help me make these beds now, I’ll drill you later once they’ve all gone to sleep.”
