Mark set me down, draping his arm over my shoulder. We walked together back to the cabin.
“Did you have fun?” I asked, curling my arm around his waist.
He hugged me against his side. “Surprisingly enough, I did.”
“Murphy, go get Jared and let him know I need him, Eli, and Josh. The more eyes we have on those images, the better,” Oliver said.
“Sure thing,” Murphy said before she jogged off.
“What sort of pictures did you take?” I asked.
“We went out to where Evan was recovered from,” Oliver answered.
“You took pictures of the scene… what for?” I asked.
“At first, it was a hunch, but after we got to the area, we saw two men poking about. Whoever it was, they were too far away to see, so Mark snapped some pictures. I’m hoping that between all of us, and the intel guys back in Chicago, we might be able to ID who it was,” Oliver answered.
“What if they were just locals?” I asked.
Mark shook his head. “Didn’t look like locals.”
Before we made it to the house, sirens greeted us. The sheriff had come to visit.
“Son of a bitch. Paige, go get Jared,” Mark said, dropping his arm from my shoulders.
Jared, hearing the siren, had already come outside. He shot a cheesy grin in my direction. “Just like old times.”
I rolled my eyes.
The car came to a stop feet from where Jared stood. But the absolute highlight to the sheriff’s visit was the passenger he had in his car. Samantha Sloan.
“Does anyone else feel the need to make a stripper joke right now?” Jared asked, peering over his shoulder at us.
Murphy sidled up to me. “Who is she?”
I didn’t take my eyes off the sheriff car when I answered. “She is a bitch, but don’t worry. Jared will put her in her place real quick.”
“What the hell is Sheriff Sloan doing here?” Riley asked, coming to a halt beside Jared.
Both doors popped open. Sheriff Sloan got out of the car, shutting the door behind him as he made a big performance of putting on his hat.
Samantha got out of the car, but stayed behind the door, using it as some sort of prop. “Well, would you look at that? The Six come back home. Lookin’ mighty fine, Jared.”
I felt Murphy stiffen beside me.
I couldn’t help but wonder who’d go for Samantha’s throat first. Riley or Murphy?
Jared ignored her, turning his attention on the elder Sloan. “What brings you out here, Sheriff?”
“Don’t need a reason, now do I?” he asked, hand settling on the butt of his pistol.
The arrogant son of a bitch thought he could do whatever he wanted because of his badge. The worst part was that he bred the same asshole gene into his daughter.
“Actually, you do. This is private property. But you already know that since I tell you every time you come out here without cause or permission,” Jared answered.
“You think you’re above the law?” Sheriff Sloan asked, taking two steps closer to Jared.
Jared snorted a laugh and looked over at Riley. She shook her head.
“We don’t have time for this,” Riley said, curling her hand around Jared’s bicep and tugging him back a step.
“Always sticking your nose in where it doesn’t belong. Where’s your girlfriend, Riley?” Samantha asked, snickering as she twirled a strand of her hair around her finger.
“You’ll need to clear out, Sheriff. Got an inbound helicopter and you’re right in the landing zone,” Oliver said.
“Wasn’t he in the house?” I asked Murphy.
“Walks like a ghost, that one,” she answered.
Sheriff Sloan didn’t move. He just stared Oliver down as if he were his own judge and jury. “No, I don’t think I will. See, I have reports from some of the folks who live close by here that claim they heard a loud explosion the other day.”
“There was no explosion the other day,” Riley answered.
“That’s not what I’ve been told,” he answered, poking his chest out. “Now the way I see it, I have cause to search the property for explosive devices. Best move out of my way and let me get on with it.”
“You know you’re not allowed to search this property without a warrant. And you also know this property is federal property. You have no jurisdiction here,” Oliver said.
“He doesn’t?” Jared asked, eyes wide. “You’re telling me the whole time he harassed us those last few years, he was doing it illegally?”
Oliver nodded.
“Well, hot damn. Got anything to say to that, Sheriff?” Jared grinned as he hooked his arm around Riley’s neck.
“Oh, look, they have a bodyguard,” Samantha crooned. “What’s the matter? Can’t fight your own battles anymore?”
“I fight my battles just fine. How’s the eye?” Riley asked, shrugging Jared’s arm free.
“You know what your problem is, Clifton?” Samantha asked, lips pursed as if she’d tasted something sour.
“Actually,” Riley interrupted, “it’s Aceton now.”
I couldn’t help but silently cheer her on. How long had Samantha jonesed to be friends with the guys, only to be shut down every single time?
Watching Samantha’s face get all blotchy was something I’d never forget.
“What’s the matter, Sam? Cat got your tongue?” I asked, unable to keep quiet any more.
“Shut up, lesbo,” Sam practically shrieked.
I was spun around before I could tell her off, and then a set of very familiar lips crashed into mine. When Mark pulled back, he looked over my shoulder, piercing Samantha with a look of repulsion. “You should get better comebacks, Sam. Had you ever had a decent bone in your body, you might have been invited to the wedding.”
He didn’t keep his eyes on her. Instead, he looked at me and winked.
“Ew, it’s like a big collective group of incest,” Samantha whined.
“Does she even ken what she’s talking about? Dafty. Incest is between blood relatives. I feel sorry for you if ye dinna ken the difference,” Airen said, joining our growing numbers. “And ye need to be going. The helicopter will be here any minute.”
“Who’s flying in?” Riley asked.
“The boys,” Airen answered.
“Who the hell are you? And can’t you speak English?” Samantha asked, stepping out of the way of the car door and walking toward Airen.
“Sheriff, you need to move your car. I won’t tell you again,” Oliver said.
He didn’t need to stick his chest out. He didn’t need to raise his voice. Oliver was an impressive specimen of a man even when he wasn’t trying.
“I’ll leave, but know this… I’ll be back with a warrant, and when I have it, it will be my pleasure to escort all of you to jail.” He yanked the car door open, saying, “Get in, Samantha.”
“This isn’t over,” she said, trying her best to sound something close to scary.
Riley busted out laughing. “Come back without Daddy and I’ll finish what I started graduation night.”
I walked up to stand beside Riley, and when Samantha slammed the cruiser door closed, I blew her a kiss, fighting the urge to give her the finger.
No sooner did Sheriff Sloan put the car in reverse than the helicopter came into sight. Whoever was flying it brought it in over the sheriff’s car, on its nose, and Aiden waved from the open door.
When it landed, both Ace and Aiden made their way toward us at a crouched run. Once they were a safe distance away, Ace waved. The helicopter took off.
“I see we missed the law calling on you.” He smirked as he lifted Riley off the ground and tossed her over his shoulder.
She propped her elbows against his back, hands on her chin to keep her head up, and asked, “Is this land really federal land?”
“I have no idea,” Jared answered, looking to Oliver.
“When the pond was dug, the Jackson’s were able to get the land turned into a refu
ge for several species,” Oliver answered.
“So, technically, we’re protected from local law because of animals?” Jared asked.
“Gopher tortoise, Red Hills Salamanders, and Wood Storks.” Oliver answered. “I have the TV set up so we can look at the pictures Mark took. Need all eyes inside,” Oliver said, leaving us with quick strides.
“Turtles, amphibious lizards, and birds. Oh my! We could have our own coat of arms with all that protection,” Jared said, slapping his hand against Ace’s shoulder.
“You should draw it up and have T-Shirts made,” Riley said, swatting at him when he tugged on her ponytail.
“I will, and I won’t give you one, because of your sucky attitude,” he bantered back.
“I thought members of the church were supposed to be kind and forgiving?” Murphy asked, elbowing him in the ribs.
He groaned. “I’ll never hear the end of it, will I?”
“You’re the one who went online and pledged your life to… what religion are you now?” Murphy smirked.
“I’m Saint Jared of the feathers and scales,” he answered.
“You, for real, are going to hell,” Aiden said with a shake of his head.
“Oh, relax. I’m not really a man of the cloth. I went online and did the notary thing. Eesh, you people are touchy being non-church goers yourself,” Jared said, lifting Murphy up into his arms and jogging ahead of us. “Besides, I could never live up to their expectations anyway.”
“He’s got that right at least. Can you imagine? Pastor Jared?” Ace asked as Riley swatted at his backside so he’d put her down.
When he set her on her feet, she swayed. “I think all my blood is in my head.”
"NICE PLANTS, JARED SAID AS the first image came up on the TV.
“Shut it, ass wipe. We need to look at every image and see what stands out to us. Eli and Paige, can you take a look at this and see if there’s anything odd or off with what you see?” Mark said, pointing at the image.
“The grass is crushed… is that where we found Evan?” Eli asked.
“Yes. I’m not so concerned about where his body was laying, but…”
“But there’s a lot of disruption in that area,” I said, cutting Oliver off.
“That’s what I thought too,” he replied, getting closer. “If you look here, it’s almost as if there was a struggle. Zoom in, if you would, Mark.”
The image enlarged as Mark, laptop on his knees, focused in on an area feet away from where Evan was found. “The ground is torn up here, and if you look…” The image enhanced again. “There are splatters of blood even further from that.”
“So it’s very possible Evan was attacked?” Murphy asked.
“That doesn’t fall in line with his injuries though. There were contusions on several parts of his body, but nothing that would cause his blood to fly out that far and leave a splatter,” Eli said, adding, “Someone else was out there with him all right, and they were injured too.”
“Is it possible that Evan was fighting the other person off, and that person set off the explosive?” Ace asked.
“I don’t know, but as soon as we’re done looking through the pictures, I’m going to go back and gather up as much of the evidence I can get my hands on. Maybe we’ll get lucky and a blood sample will tell us who the other person was,” Oliver said, motioning Mark to go to the next picture.
There were a lot of them to look at, but after the fourth image of the area where Evan was found, Oliver told Mark to go skip the rest of them and get to the other images.
“I’m hoping you got a good shot of one their faces,” Oliver said as flashes of green came and went on the TV.
“Me too,” Mark replied.
The first image showed two figures, dressed as if they were about to go on a night raid.
“They dress like special ops,” Oliver said, nodding for the next picture.
“It’s a little far away. Hold on, let me see what I can do,” Mark said.
“Let me see that for a second,” Jared urged, plopping down beside Mark on the couch.
Whatever Jared did made Mark’s eyes widen in surprise. “I need this program. Holy shit, look at that!”
The image came up on the TV clear as day as Jared asked, “Recognize either of these two gentlemen?”
Something tickled at the back of my mind when I saw the man on the left. “He looks… familiar.”
“As in New York familiar or just a general familiar?” Oliver asked.
I squeezed my eyes shut and tried my hardest to recall where I’d seen him, but nothing came. “I don’t know.”
"MY MEASUREMENTS?" I ASKED AS Riley advanced on me with a smirk.
“You don’t own a suit, so we’ll have to have one ordered for you,” she said, pulling one end of a limp-looking piece of tape.
I backed away. “I have a suit!”
Her eyes widened as she looked around the room. “Oh? And where is this suit you speak of? Because I’ve already asked Paige, and she told me the only dress clothes you own are a pair of black jeans and a button-up shirt.”
I opened my mouth to argue the fact that I’d been in the process of having one made, but when I saw the look on Riley’s face, I knew my argument wouldn’t hold.
“This will only take a minute,” she said, eyeing me up and down.
I stood still as she instructed me to lift this and hold that. In between her directions, she’d stop and jot numbers on small notepad.
“See? Painless,” she said, balling the measuring tape in her hand and then stuffing it into her pocket.
I gave her a weak smile and nodded. A wedding in the middle of everything that was going on made no sense to me. But everyone else seemed to think it was the most wonderful idea. There was even a spark in Paige’s eyes no matter how much she protested.
Even better was that we were able to see our parents. Both visits had been brief, owing to the fact Oliver wasn’t too keen on us being out and about.
Neither of our parents batted an eye about us staying at the cabin, especially when they found out everyone was back. Paige’s mom had taken up the reins on wedding plans. That sort of bent Riley’s nose out of joint for a few days until Paige’s mom showed up on our doorstep and commandeered Riley’s help.
The way the two of them were running circles around us, the more it made me believe the wedding would be ready long before the rest of us had time to catch up to it.
There’d been a few disagreements about how elaborate it would be. Paige’s mother was ready to go all out, but Paige refused to allow her to get carried away. Put her foot down when her mother had made a list of guests as long as my arm. I didn’t even know she knew that many people.
It was going to be a small, quiet ceremony with the closest of friends and their parents. I was glad for that. Nothing like a wedding to make a grooms knees weak enough to falter. And it wasn’t like I didn’t want to marry Paige. I wanted to more than anything. It was all the extra fanfare about it that gave me the jitters. So when she put her foot down, I breathed a very big sigh of relief.
“…and music. I think I’ll leave it to Jared. He should be able to handle that and officiating the ceremony, don’t you?” Paige asked, sweeping past me on her way to the coffee pot.
“Huh?” I asked, turning to look at her.
“Off in left field again, I see,” she said with a slight shake of her head as she refilled her cup.
“That’s like the fifth cup you’ve had today,” I said, opening the fridge so she could get the creamer.
“Keeping track of me, are you?” she asked, splashing a dollop into her mug.
I took the carton she extended to me and put it back in the fridge. “You’re running on pure caffeine. You know, no one would mind if you took a break.”
“I’ll take a break when this is over and we can go on our honeymoon,” she said, sipping the steaming brew.
I couldn’t help it; I sighed. “Paige, you’re planning a wedding, not a battl
e. And really, I wouldn’t care if we were both in the clothes we have on right now. So long as I can call you my wife, that’s all that matters to me.”
“The clothes we have on now?” She gaped at me and then down at the oversized T-shirt and tights she had on.
I leaned over and kissed her. Straightening up, I said, “You know what I mean.”
A smile hovered on her lips. “I just want to get all the plans done so I can sit back and enjoy it. I never wanted a big fuss. I just wanted something simple with our parents and our friends. At least I won that round.”
I returned her smile. “Just think, only a week and a half from now, we’ll be Mr. and Mrs. Stevens. All this other stuff will be over, and we can kick back and relax.”
A wistful look came over her face as she said, “I like the sound of that.”
“You two lovebirds done mooning over each other now?” Jared asked, carrying what appeared to be a very large stack of magazines.
“What in the world is that?” Paige asked, setting her mug down.
Jared set his armload on the table, cursing when half the stack slid off and landed on the floor. “Don’t ask me. Riley said she wanted them down here.”
“Jared!” Riley cried out. “They were in order. It’s going to take forever to figure it out now.”
“Order of what? Slipperiest to non? Looks like these,” he said, waving a few in each hand at her, “won.”
She grumbled, snatching them from him and dumping them on the table. “It took me all night to… never mind,” she said with a huff.
“Riley, there has to be over fifty different bridal books here,” Paige said, picking up a copy of Modern Bride and thumbing through it.”
“Hey, this one has a sticky note,” Jared said, peeling it up.
“Leave it there! I need that,” Riley said, snatching the sticky note from Jared and slapping it back on the page.
“Riley?” Paige said her name cautiously, waiting for Riley to look at her before continuing, “I thought we had everything just about ready?”
Riley scowled. “Everything but the reception decorations and the rehearsal party. There’s still a lot to do, and it’s my job for the decorating and planning for both.”
The Vows We Make (The Six Series Book 4) Page 11