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Steve broke a few speed limits getting back to the airport. Fortunately, he wasn’t stopped. He’d called ahead so the pilot knew he was on his way and he buckled in as the plane taxied toward the runway ten minutes after he’d boarded. Once the plane leveled off, Steve was out of his seat, pacing through the small seating area of the jet. Now that his business was done with that asshole, he wanted to see Josie. He’d spoken with her briefly prior to his meeting with Deets. She’d told him not to worry and that she’d be busy on the phone talking to her contacts. But he’d still texted Troy to check in. If she knew he’d gone behind her back to check on her, she’d blow a gasket.
After the meeting with Deets, Steve had tried several times to reach Josie again but his calls had gone straight to voice mail. Troy confirmed she was on the phone and was perfectly fine, but the longer Steve went without speaking to her, the more he needed to hear her voice. He wasn’t just worried, he realized, he flat out missed her—and he hadn’t even been gone a full day.
As soon as the plane landed, he was on the phone again. This time Josie answered.
“What?” she barked.
“Is that any way to answer a phone?” he responded, smiling because she sounded so strong. Annoyed, but strong.
“How am I supposed to get any work done if you keep calling me?”
“We’ve only talked once today.”
“Yes, but how many times have you called? I need to talk to people to get answers. Besides, hasn’t Troy been keeping you updated?”
Steve didn’t say anything. He’d been caught but he wasn’t ready to admit to it.
“You shouldn’t have texted Troy after every attempted call to me. He either has a girlfriend with an uncanny sense of timing or you were checking on me.”
“I have a right to be worried. You were injured yesterday.”
“I’m fine,” she said, then added, “I have some interesting information to share. When will you be back?”
“We just landed. I see Gib pulling in now. If you’re feeling up to it, I’d like to have everyone over to discuss what we’ve learned today.”
He also needed to discuss the phone call he’d gotten from McClaren during his ride back to the airport. He was going to need the team’s help with that one.
***
Josie waited for Steve in the bedroom. She couldn’t decide whether to be pissed or touched by his concern. She was the best judge of what she could and could not do.
Troy, on the other hand, thought the whole situation was comical. Getting Steve worked up was some sort of entertainment for him. He’d played along with him all day, letting Steve pretend Josie wasn’t wise to the texting. At least he didn’t get his jollies by reporting that she’d fallen prone to a disaster while Steve had been gone. Plus, the teasing had melted a layer of ice between Josie and Troy. She wouldn’t call them friends but the tension between them had lessened. Odd, because Troy was the only one in the group who had her pegged.
The rear door slammed shut. A few seconds later she heard Steve’s voice. “Where is she?”
“She’s out in the garden. Didn’t you see her?” Troy answered.
“What the hell?”
Troy’s laughter was loud and contagious. Josie was still grinning when Steve stormed into the bedroom. “That wasn’t funny,” he growled.
“Yes, it was.”
The laughter had taken the edge off her temper. Steve dropped onto the bed next to her and pulled her to his chest. His heart was racing but slowed as he held her. Bless the man’s heart. She didn’t mean to be such a burden. She’d debated again today whether leaving would be best—just slipping out if the chance presented itself. She wouldn’t get far before one of them caught her, though. If she hadn’t come here in the first place Steve wouldn’t know about her trouble and wouldn’t be worried. But she couldn’t undo that and leaving would compound Steve’s hurt and worry. Besides, she’d promised she’d not leave without discussing their past.
“I’m fine, Steve.”
“It killed me to leave you after last night.”
Josie laid a kiss on his cheek. “It’s okay. I felt the same way the day you shipped out. Helpless and worried.”
“I won’t be shipping out again,” he said as he pulled her close.
“Don’t make me the reason you’re leaving the army. God, Steve, I couldn’t stand that guilt.”
“You aren’t, Josie. I want to be with you, true. But I’ve put in my time and thanks to Colt, I’ve realized there is life after the army. I want that life with you. The time is right, if you’ll have me.”
Josie closed her eyes. The time for the talk had arrived.
“Have you thought this out? What are you going to do?”
“I have a few ideas. Rick said law enforcement is always looking for former military men or I can go into auto racing,” he added with a smile.
Josie didn’t return it. “And if I’m not in the picture? What would you do then?”
Steve left her side to shut the bedroom door then took a seat in the single chair that occupied the corner of the room. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, his fingertips formed a steeple. “I’d be miserable but I’d manage. I need to know, Josie. I need to know why you’re so convinced this won’t work between us. I deserve to know that much.”
He deserved to know. He also deserved more than the person she was—more than the person she was destined to become. So much more. “You’ve never met my parents,” she started.
“No. You didn’t like talking about them. That was easy enough to figure out when you refused to invite them to our wedding.”
“I don’t like them. That’s a terrible thing to say but I have no desire to see either of them again. I don’t like talking about them either but since telling you about my idyllic childhood might explain why you’d be better off without me, I’ll open up that vein you wanted. You’re right. You do deserve to know and you do deserve better than me.”
“I’ll be the judge of what I deserve, Josie.” His voice was as strong as steel. “What is it that you believe that makes us wrong for one another. What is it you’re scared of?”
“I didn’t say I was afraid.”
“I’ve seen fear, Josie and you’re afraid. You’re afraid of a future with me. I want to know why,” he pushed.
“You want to know why I didn’t want to marry into the military? Because my dad, career army man and officer, was a womanizer and adulterer.”
Steve’s eyes widened but she gave him credit for keeping silent. Whether he was reacting to her tone or the statement, she couldn’t say. She’d go with the statement.
“He was a man-whore, male slut, womanizer...whatever you want to call a man who sleeps with every woman willing to spread her legs for him. He never wore a wedding band. Saved him the trouble of slipping it off if the opportunity presented itself.”
She glanced toward Steve’s hands and his bare fingers.
“My dad saw every deployment as a playing field. Not that he was faithful when he was home but deployments made it easier to hide his cheating. My mother didn’t report his adultery fearing he’d reciprocate by cutting off her finances. After all, she had a daughter to raise.” She’d spit out the words like a nail-gun. She didn’t care.
“He should have been court-martialed. It was a wonder he never contracted some form of STD. Maybe he did. I wouldn’t know. I haven’t talked to him since I turned eighteen,” she admitted to Steve.
Blood rose in his face. “You thought I’d do that? You thought I’d cheat on you?”
“I don’t know. Yes. A little... And then there’s my mother. Among other things, she’s mean, belittling and selfish. What happens if I become a mirror image of her? I already have the last trait down pat. You said so yourself. Do you want to stick around to see what other attractive traits I develop?”
“I’m not your dad and you’re not your mother,” Steve argued, red-faced.
Josie let out a slow breath. “I thought I’d convinced myself you were different. Then you left. Just like my dad. You left.”
“I was deployed, Josie. I didn’t leave you.”
“It was all I knew, Steve. I’d lay in bed alone at night wondering if someone shared yours. Knowing you were in a freaking war zone still didn’t stop my mind from wandering there.
“We’d only been ‘married’ for three months.” Three months, two weeks, and three days, if you were counting the day the certified letter had arrived. “We were apart longer than we’d been together. My dad didn’t hide his indiscretions. I would overhear him and his buddies brag about them on the rare occasions his friends stopped by.”
“Like minds attract, Josie. He picked friends with the same lack of morals. The army is made up of good men. Your dad was an ugly exception.” Steve argued.
“I know that. Deep down, I know that. But I didn’t trust you. What does that make me?”
“Human.”
Josie harrumphed. “Doesn’t rate very high on the loving wife scale, though. And I wouldn’t subject you to living with the person that my mother became. Bitter, vindictive, cold...”
“You’re none of those things.”
“Yet,” Josie countered.
“Why are you convinced that’s your fate? Our fate?”
“Because I ran. When I received the news about our vows, I ran like a mouse with its tail on fire. All those fears came slamming back into me. I ran, Steve. Don’t you get it? My family history is nothing compared to that fact. I willingly walked away from you. Shouldn’t that be reason enough to end this relationship?”
“Josie...”
She raised her hand to stop him. “You asked. I answered. You have the whole ugly truth now. The stock I came from. My inability to trust. Think about it, Steve. Even if I don’t turn into the shrew I had for a mother, why would you want to trust me again?”
“Our ‘stock’ doesn’t make us who we are, Josie. Bad people come from good homes and good people come from bad ones. It’s what’s inside us that makes us who we are.” Steve rose out of his chair and stood in front of her. “The fact that you doubted me hurts. I admit that but I don’t believe you’d walk away given a second chance.”
“I committed to you once and failed that test.”
“True, but that commitment was ripped away by something out of our control. You’re a decent, honorable person, Josie. I know that.”
“How can you say that?” How could he say that? Her eyes burned from holding her tears in check.
“Why are you a freelance journalist?”
“What?”
“Why do you freelance? You’re good. You could get a job with any news organization. Why do you freelance?”
“What are you asking?”
“Answer the question, Josie. Why do you freelance?”
“Because I don’t like the crap that’s published for the sole purpose of selling advertising.”
“Exactly. Because you set your standards high. Because you want your stories to be unbiased. You tell stories that need to be heard. What’s that if not honorable?”
Josie stared back at him. “Running isn’t honorable,” she argued. “You deserve better.”
“Where do you get off telling me what I deserve. You made yourself judge and jury of this relationship. You played this breakup game without ever showing me the cards.” Steve grasped her shoulders, giving them a gentle shake. “I had no idea what you were thinking—how you felt. Now you act like you care about my feelings but you haven’t even asked what they are. You’ve decided what’s best for us. For me.” Steve’s gripped tightened around her shoulders and brought her to her feet so they were face-to-face.
“You’re not exactly the sharing type either, Steve.”
“Oh, I haven’t forgotten our last discussion,” Steve spit out.
“I’m talking about now. Not your tours. Since I’ve arrived here, you’ve done nothing but tell me what to do. When I’ve tried to help, I’m shut down.”
“For your safety.” Steve told her.
“And I was trying to keep you safe—from me.”
Steve closed his eyes then pulled her close, pressing her head to his shoulder. “How could two intelligent people be so stupid?”
Josie pushed back enough to look at him, her eyes narrowed. “I mustn’t be one of those intelligent people. I don’t understand. What do you mean?”
“We didn’t talk. You’re right about that. You should have told me what you were thinking. We might have argued but I’d rather be arguing with you than have a life without you. You never asked questions. I assumed I knew what was best. Neither of us was very smart.”
“I guess not,” Josie said. “I’m sorry I doubted you.”
“We can get past that, Josie. We can get past anything but the big question is whether you want to. Do you want this relationship to be permanent?”
***
The living room was silent when Steve returned. Some of the men were flipping through Cat’s gardening catalogues as if that held their interest. No doubt the men had a good idea of what had just gone down behind the bedroom door. Most of them would argue that the talk had been long overdue but none would broach the subject unless Steve did.
He didn’t. Instead, he grabbed one of the dining room chairs, straddled it, and filled them in on his meeting with Deets then told them about the call from McClaren.
“McClaren is nervous. His security staff isn’t in the protection business and he knows it. He offered me a job as his bodyguard. I told him I couldn’t do that but I did tell him I’d put the request for protection out there for us to discuss.
“He’s tied to this somehow,” Steve continued. “It wouldn’t hurt to have one of us nearby. What do you guys think?”
“We’re stretched pretty thin but, I agree, it’s not a bad idea,” Rick said. “It wouldn’t hurt our investigation if we got our hands on the guy who tried to run him off the road. He could make another attempt on McClaren. Unfortunately, I can’t help you on that end,” Rick added. “That’s way out of my jurisdiction. But I can help fill in here when I’m not on duty to free up one of you.”
They’d be working on a lot less sleep but they’d done it before. Plus, Colt told Steve he’d be back in a couple of days. Regardless of his new marital status, there would be no keeping Colt out of it. He’d wouldn’t sit on the sidelines while his friends put themselves in the line of fire. The best option would be to have the problem resolved prior to Colt’s return.
With the McClaren issue dealt with, Steve turned to Don. He’d spent the day hacking into the background of each man on the list, including the two who were dead. “What did you find during your research today?” Steve emphasized the word research for Rick’s sake.
“No red flags showed up, at least not on the surface,” Don said, looking at his notes. “After your meeting with Deets, though, I spent most of my time digging into his history. There’s a lot there and it’s quite colorful. He’s from a wealthy family who made their money in the smelly, but lucrative, paper mill business. Over the years, they’ve branched out, no pun intended, into other areas including the hospitality industry. That’s now the family’s major source of income. Most of their hotels are considered resorts and are located here in Florida, though they’re slowly expanding outside the state. Not surprisingly, the family and its businesses contributed heavily to his campaign.”
“Interesting, but not exactly eye raising,” Steve said.
“Well, this might raise an eyebrow or two. Deets has a sealed juvenile record. I don’t know what’s in it,” Don added quickly for Rick’s benefit. “But that discovery had me looking closely at his school records. He transferred schools frequently once he hit middle school. Unfortunately, social media didn’t exist so I’ve no public domains to search. I did find the names of a few of the guidance counselors and principals that were at those schools when he attended. They might shed some light on him.”
“Interesting but still not a lot of help,” Steve said raking his hands through his hair. He’d been involved in missions that took a lot of time and research to pull off. By comparison, this investigation had barely started but it couldn’t move fast enough to suit him. Because of Josie.
As if that thought had conjured her up, the door to the bedroom opened. He turned his head. Pride filled his chest as he saw Josie walking toward him. Her eyes and nose were red but her spine was straight. She wasn’t hiding. He wasn’t wrong about her. She had guts, backbone, and a deep sense of right and wrong. The question was could he make her believe it?
She’d thought he might cheat on her. That stung. The admission would have been a deal breaker if not for the bastard she’d had for a father. The whirlwind romance, the news from the County Clerk and her family history—it all added up to a level of insecurity he hadn’t even begun to suspect. Adultery was a court-martial offense, as it should be, but this man had retired comfortably. He could still be brought up on charges and the idea was tempting but it would just open old wounds for Josie. It would serve the son of the bitch right if he was suffering from a host of STDs.
Steve reached behind him and grabbed another dining room chair and pulled it next to him as Josie neared. She gave him a timid smile before accepting the invitation.
After she’d taken the offered seat, Steve turned back to the others present to continue the discussion but they were all watching Josie. Each had a welcoming smile mixed with a bit of concern in their assessing eyes. Steve reached for her hand, telegraphing the message that they were okay. “Go on,” he prompted the group.
“Deets was kicked out of his fraternity in college,” Don announced.
“That takes some doing,” Rick commented. “How does a bad boy get to be a State Attorney?”
“Money,” Josie jumped in. When all heads pivoted in her direction, she hesitated.
“Go ahead, Josie,” Steve encouraged.
“It’s all about money, unfortunately. Candidates with large financial backers or lots of family money have more to spend on the race—advertising mostly. The more advertising—written, spoken or visual—the more ingrained the name becomes in the voter’s mind. It’s similar to brainwashing. Political beliefs are secondary. Most people believe what they hear. They don’t dig deeper. Cynical but true. Unless he had an ambitious or connected opponent, no one would have bothered, or would have reason, to look this deep. Being an asshole is easily overlooked when money is waved around.”
“Okay. What else do we know about him?” Steve searched the faces of the men in the room but it was Josie who spoke out.
“He may be planning to run for a higher office,” she added.
“How high?” Rick asked, leaning forward, resting his arms on his thigh.
“Congress.”
Steve’s eyebrows rose a notch in surprise. “He wants to jump from local State Attorney straight to Washington. That’s quite a leap. Where did you get that info?”
Josie related the conversation she’d had earlier in the day with Haskins. “Mike’s not a journalist anymore but he’s always had connections in the political world. If he says it’s likely, I’d bet money it was going to happen.”
“Could be that’s why Deets was so closed-mouthed today,” Gib suggested. “He doesn’t want his name connected to our investigation.”
“Or have the investigation into Ruth Carr reopened. It could be the names on the list can connect him to the missing girl.” Steve mused.
“I’ll be damned,” Gib said.