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Hayley
Matt had a lot of explaining to do.
Hayley had repeated the sentiment over and over in her mind throughout the meeting. It’d seemed as if every time someone opened their mouth, she had added another item to her list of things requiring more information.
And yet, instead of chasing down answers, there she was, sitting in the sunshine, dipping her toes in the cool water, and listening to the gentle woosh of the breeze against the trees.
She’d come to the dock after the meeting, seeking fresh air and a few moments to calm down and put things in perspective. The area around the lake was as beautiful as she remembered. The water was just as clear. The scenery as breathtaking. The dock and the pavilion looked as if they had been completely redone in recent years.
She didn’t have to turn around to know Matt was behind her. She felt his presence. Knew every time his eyes were on her.
“Are you upset with me?” he asked finally.
“Upset? No,” she answered honestly. “Feeling a little blindsided perhaps. I don’t like being the last person in the room to know something.”
He sat down beside her. She could see his beautiful profile in her peripheral vision. Smell his clean, masculine scent. She discreetly filled her lungs with it. It was every bit as soothing as the sun and the water and the breeze.
“Ask me,” he said.
“Ask you what exactly?”
“Anything.”
She closed her eyes and lifted her face to the sun. She had so many questions. Where to begin?
“Are they black ops?”
Matt exhaled. “The Callaghans? Not exactly. After they put their time in, they decided to start their own off-the-books team. They were tired of working for the wrong people and for the wrong reasons, according to Jake. They have some really cool toys.”
Her lips curled at that.
“There are seven brothers, and each one has a specialty. As you might have guessed, Ian’s is hacking. That’s why Cage reached out to him initially. We needed access to sealed records.”
“For what?” She knew she was pushing boundaries. That was the point. Either Matt trusted her or he didn’t.
Matt didn’t answer right away. That was okay. She appreciated that he thought about what he said before he said it. She could sense him arranging facts in his mind, figuring out the best way to present them.
“It was about six years ago. Smoke had just come on board, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to stick around. He’s got a thing about tight, enclosed spaces, so rather than live in a trailer on site like the rest of us, he got an apartment in town. It was right next to Sam’s, and they became reluctant friends.” Matt’s voice was quiet. Hollow. Nothing like the rich, warm tones she was used to.
Hayley felt a sense of dread begin to settle over her. Such an innocuous beginning, but she instinctively knew the story was going to get darker.
“At the time, Sam had a stalker. She’d moved several times and filed multiple complaints with the police department, but they didn’t take her seriously.”
The police department. Daryl. Joe. Lenny.
“Smoke did and took it upon himself to look out for her. He saw the pattern but not in time to keep Sam from being abducted by her stalker.”
Hayley drew in a breath. “Sam was taken?”
Matt nodded. “With Ian’s help, we were able to identify Sam’s stalker and track him. Turns out, he was a serial pyro with mental health issues.”
Serial pyro. Hayley thought back to her breakfast with Lenny and how he’d connected Sam with local fires. Santori’s, Appelhoff’s, and ...
Her blood turned to ice in her veins. “Oh God, Matt ...”
Matt stared out at the water. “Yes,” he said, answering her unspoken question. “In fact, this is where it started. The kid lived here in one of the cabins with his mother. He had issues, but my mother never turned her back on anyone, especially not a single mom. She—and the rest of my family—paid for that compassion with their lives. The kid though, he survived and returned years later as Sam’s stalker.”
“Lenny didn’t mention any of that.”
“No, I don’t imagine he did. Jerry ruled the fire the result of a faulty gas line, but that blaze was no more the result of a faulty gas line than the explosion at Martha’s. But Daryl had just appointed him fire chief and had his back. As far as the rest, well, it’s easier for them to keep casting doubt on Sam than it is to admit they’d fucked up or actually do their fucking jobs.” Bitterness gave his voice an edge it hadn’t had before.
“And the stalker?”
His jaw clenched. “Didn’t survive Sam’s rescue.”
She didn’t ask for details. She didn’t need to know. “So, no one really knows the truth.”
“The people who need to know, know. The important thing is, he’ll never hurt anyone again.” He was quiet for several long moments and then added, “Some good did come from it. Smoke and Sam found each other, and we gained some powerful allies in the Callaghans.”
“Allies? Are you at war then?”
“In some ways, yes.”
“Against Daryl?”
“He’s the leader, but he wouldn’t be in the position he’s in without people keeping him there,” he said, choosing his words carefully. “There used to be a balance. Men like Mitch Feeney and my father. They kept things in check.”
“I always wondered why Mitch Feeney never tried to shut down Darius’s parties.”
“He understood that as long as people had the freedom to make bad choices, they would. You couldn’t stop them, but you could contain them. Mitch looked the other way as long as Darius kept his business out in the woods and didn’t try to bring it into town.”
Hayley wondered if Chief Feeney had known about what really happened out in those woods. She doubted it. Most people just thought it was a bunch of bikers and good ole boys getting together and raising a little hell, but the reality was so much darker than that.
“As soon as Mitch was out of the picture, the mayor—whose son was a frequent guest at Darius’s parties—appointed Daryl as the new police chief. Over the years, Daryl used his influence to fill township and school board seats, solidifying his power and eliminating opposition.”
“That sounds like Daryl,” Hayley agreed. Matt wasn’t telling her anything she didn’t already know, simply providing confirmation. “And then you return like the prodigal son, and people expect you to pick up the family mantel, threatening Daryl’s evil empire. No wonder he’s trying so hard to discredit you.”
Matt exhaled. “I’m not my father.”
“No, but you are a good man and a natural leader. People are drawn to you. They want to follow you.”
Matt shook his head. Politics was not—and never had been—something he was interested in. “I have no intention of running for office. Any office.”
“No,” she said with a tilt of her head. “But you’re not the type of man who can sit idly by and watch from the sidelines either. If you see something’s wrong, you can’t not do something about it. It’s not who you are, and Daryl knows that. That’s why he and his cronies are spreading their vicious bullshit. And you aren’t doing anything to defend yourself. Why?”
“My dad always said that actions speak louder than words,” he said quietly, “but apparently, that’s not always true, is it?”
His voice was even, but she felt his pain. How disheartening it must have been for him to return home after so many years and have the people he’d known all his life so quick to think the worst of him. She wished she could take that pain from him and carry it herself. People had been misjudging her her entire life because of things other members of her family said and did. It was part and parcel of being a Freed, and she’d accepted that long ago. But Matt, he was a good man from a good family and deserved better.
“The truth always comes out in the end.”
Matt grunted, and Hayley returned to the topic at hand. “So, how are the Callaghans helping you?”
“Sharing information mostly. I mentioned they have some cool toys, right? One of those is access to private satellites. Another is a digital signal filter that lets us identify and piggyback on any operational surveillance camera and send the feed directly to us.”
“That’s the awareness you mentioned,” she murmured. “That’s how you found out about the illegal weapons.”
He nodded.
“But what made you decide to keep tabs on Daryl in the first place? It had to be more than a dislike of his politicking. Did you discover what he was doing when dealing with Sam’s stalker?”
“No. Someone was sabotaging Sanctuary every step of the way, so we installed security cameras and set up perimeter alarms.”
“Dwayne,” she breathed.
“He was one of them, yes,” Matt confirmed.
One of them.
Matt refrained from mentioning others, but he didn’t have to. Where Dwayne went, Lenny wasn’t far behind. Jerry had always been Daryl’s cohort, too. Like father, like son.
“It wasn’t until Kate’s stray dog had puppies in the old Paxton mine shaft that we realized Daryl was stockpiling illegal weapons underground.”
Hayley blinked. “I bet that’s a story.”
“It is,” Matt said with the ghost of a smile. “You should ask her about it.” He was quiet for a moment and then said, “You used to explore the mines with her, didn’t you?”
“What makes you think that?”
Matt’s lips quirked knowingly. “Educated guess. Kate disappeared one night, and Mad Dog went looking for her. He tracked her to Paxton. She told him she used to explore the mines as a kid. Kate’s smart enough not to go far into the mines alone, and I don’t know anyone who spent as much time down there than you. Used to terrify me.”
She laughed softly at that, even as her heart squeezed. Matt was one of the few she’d told about her underground adventures, and that was only after he’d offered her use of the chambers beneath the resort. He’d been worried she’d be uncomfortable down there, but that room was like the Taj Mahal compared to the hollowed-out caves she was used to.
“The Paxton mine connected to the shafts beneath the hunting camp, and I used to come out there sometimes. Kate caught me one day, and I promised not to tell on her if she didn’t tell on me. It was our secret.” Hayley smiled at the memory.
“Cage and Doc have been working on a program that combines satellite images, ground-penetrating radar, and scans of old mine company maps,” Matt told her. “It’s not an exact science. A lot of those old shafts are undocumented, or they’ve collapsed, or the entrances have been sealed off. We’ve been going down there in two-man teams with surveyor-type equipment as well as installing cameras and microphones to create a map of our own.”
“Sounds fascinating,” she said honestly.
“Thought you might like that. I know they’d love your input. I bet we haven’t even scratched the surface of the mental map you have in your head. If you’re interested,” he added.
“You didn’t tell them?”
“I promised I wouldn’t, remember?”
Her heart once again ached for a man who was holding to a promise he’d made twenty years earlier. Who did that?
“Sounds like fun. I’d love to help.” She was itching to get down there again anyway and get an up-close-and-personal look at Daryl’s underground operation.
An idea suddenly occurred to her. “Matt, are you the one who’s been feeding information back to the DOJ?”
“No,” he answered without hesitation. “At least, not directly. We share what we find with Ian, and he uses his contacts to pass along the information. He’s the one who told us the DOJ had someone on the inside.”
“He seems to know a lot about what’s happening.”
Matt said nothing. She moved her feet in the water, watching the ripples as they radiated outward. One tiny action. Far-reaching consequences. So representative of her life. What would be the consequences of her return to Sumneyville? Of her time with Matt? Of doing everything in her power to rain justice down on Daryl?
“I missed this place,” she said, changing the subject. “I always felt so at peace here. I bet others do, too. It’s perfect for what you’re doing.”
“Would you like a tour?”
“I thought you’d never ask.”
She pulled her feet from the water and gave them a shake. Matt took one in his hand, and then he extracted a folded bandana from his pocket and began to dry her with gentle strokes.
Inside, her heart swelled painfully. Such a sweet, caring gesture. This man had always known exactly what to do, exactly what to say to make her insides melt.
“Just happened to have that on you, did you?” she teased.
“A gentleman must always carry a handkerchief when in the presence of a lady in case she should have need of one,” he said, reciting the words with a wistful smile.
“Did your father tell you that, too?”
“My grandfather.”
Matt got to his feet while she slipped on her shoes and then held out his hand to help her up. His touch reached far beyond her hand. It connected his soul to hers, if only for a little while.
Her hand remained in his as he led her past the restored gazebo and onto one of the trails that led into the woods. He pointed out the cabins where the other partners lived with their wives, and she couldn’t help feeling a pang of envy.
They stopped frequently along the way. Once to pick and partake of wild berries. Another to watch a trio of young squirrels engage in a spirited game of tag. Her favorite pause by far was when he tugged her from the path, commanded her to grab an overhead tree limb, and then made love to her from behind while she gazed out at a pair of swans swimming gracefully on the lake.
After they returned to the tour, a few people rode by on horses. Matt waved and called out greetings and then told her about the hippotherapy place they’d partnered with and how it had made such a difference for some servicemen. She could hear how much he cared in his voice. Felt his genuine commitment to the project and the people of Sanctuary.
On their way back, his pride was evident in the lush orchard Tina had restored as well as the greenhouses designed by Kate’s husband and the new fitness center they’d built with the help of more “friends.”
“Sanctuary is wonderful, Matt,” she said, laughing as more than a half-dozen pit bull mixes vied for pets and scratches after Matt had explained how Justin—aka Dog Whisperer—had been training them to be therapy dogs. “You’ve built something incredible here. You know that, don’t you?”
“It’s a team effort,” he said modestly, “and I’ve got a hell of a team. The best.”
He did have a good team, but what he didn’t seem to realize was, it was so much more than that. Matt inspired people. He brought out the best in them without having any idea he was doing so.
“Your parents would be so proud of you.”
He squeezed her hand. “Thanks. I hope so.”
They said good-bye to the dogs and headed back to the main building.
“Matt?”
“Yes?”
“I wish I’d known,” she said, whispering what had become her greatest regret.
He knew exactly what she was talking about. “There was nothing you could have done.”
“I could have been there for you.”
Matt reached out, tracing the slim chain around her neck with his finger, gently tugging at the citrine pendant. A small smile curled his lips. “You are always with me, Hayley. Don’t you know that?”