by Janie Crouch
Zac nodded. “I hear that. I’ll take being a soldier any day. At least that way we have a better chance of knowing who our enemies are.”
“That’s the damned truth.” Gavin pointed at the chair in front of his desk for Zac to sit in.
Gavin had been the acting sheriff in Oak Creek for the past six months since Curtis Nelson, the actual elected sheriff, had had a stroke. Fortunately, Nelson had recovered and for the past couple weeks had been back at work part-time. He’d be back full-time by the first of the year.
“You need something I can provide in my remaining time as sheriff? Bodies hidden? Parking tickets taken care of?”
Zac grinned. “Both, probably. But the guys sent me over from the Eagle’s Nest to get you. They said your brooding time is up and it’s Friday.”
Gavin raised an eyebrow. “My brooding time?”
“Yeah. We generally give you two days to recover from a visit to Reddington City if just your dad is involved, four days if it involves your ex. It’s been five days that you’ve been buried in here.”
“I did see both Dad and Janeen.” Gavin let out a sigh. Neither of them was the source of his brooding. That dubious honor belonged to a wallet thief. “And that went about how you would expect.”
“Janeen still planning to run for Congress?”
Gavin scrubbed a hand down his face. “Yep. Another couple of years in state politics and then she’s heading for the big league. Like her or not, you have to admit she knows how to make a plan and follow it.”
“She may be a bitch, but she’s definitely an organized one.” Zac gave a sympathetic nod. He’d been part of the group who’d helped Gavin get shit-faced drunk after Gavin had walked in on Janeen with another man five years ago. “And your dad still won’t cut her loose?”
Gavin rolled his eyes. He loved his dad, he really did, and generally they got along very well. But Ronald Zimmerman had a long-term plan that involved the White House. Janeen was part of the plan, the ideal running mate: young, smart, female, and politically aligned.
“You know Dad. He’s looking at a much bigger picture than just our divorce. I’m sure if I pressed it and made him choose, he’d pick me over her.” Probably. “But honestly, I don’t care. Janeen has remarried. She’s someone else’s problem now. And Dad’s.”
That was true. His and Janeen’s marriage had been in trouble before he’d caught her cheating, and the speed of his subsequent divorce had been more a sting to his pride than any true emotional turmoil. Janeen definitely wasn’t the reason Gavin had been cranky and keeping away from people all week.
“You okay, brother? I feel like this is something more than normal political family dysfunction. Generally by this point, you’re back out in public. Maybe I should’ve gotten over here sooner, but I know you don’t like babysitters.”
Gavin eyed Zac. They’d known each other for nearly ten years now. He’d originally written the other man off because of his surfer looks—ridiculous wavy brown hair with some blond highlights. Blue eyes. Quick smile.
But the son of a bitch had proved himself shrewd and a strategic thinker. Zac had made an excellent team leader in the Special Forces and had made an even better friend over the years, both in and out of the army.
Gavin had never planned to be part of Linear Tactical when Zac and another teammate, Finn Bollinger, first started talking about it, but they’d made a place for him when Gavin’s plans had blown up just as he’d gotten out of the service.
He shut off his computer for the night. If his friends were hunting him down, it was time to resurface. Time to stop thinking about green eyes and sad smiles. “So you drew the short straw to come babysit Broody McBroodster?”
Zac grinned. “I was always the first to volunteer for hazardous missions. You know that.”
“Well, I’m not about to arrest anybody for no good reason, so I think we’re safe.”
Although he very definitely wanted to arrest someone. Or at least find her.
He’d been suckered, and he didn’t have anyone to blame but himself. He’d sat at the bar and gotten all hot and bothered over the woman across the way. He’d been about to go talk to her but had made the mistake of taking his father’s call, and when he’d looked up again, she’d been sitting with that asshole.
“Oh my,” Zac said, eyes big. “What’s that look about? You really are thinking about arresting someone.”
Gavin rubbed his face. “It’s a very short, humiliating story.”
Zac stretched his legs out in front of him. “Those are always the best kind. You know you’re going to have to tell me.”
“I left Dad’s house, tired of the political bullshit—Dad still can’t understand why I don’t jump at the chance to be in the same house with my ex. I decided to have a beer and watch the game for a few before driving home. Ended up at the Hilderbrand Hotel.”
“This is not nearly humiliating enough.”
He’d really been taken in. When he’d seen that asshole pressing her up against the wall, he’d been ready to beat the shit out of the guy, to forget he was a law enforcement officer. And then, he’d fallen for it when she’d cried—held her like the dumbass sucker he was.
Gavin rolled his eyes. “Let me summarize for you. Basically, I got fleeced by a cute blonde with big green eyes and a very practiced sad smile.”
Zac sat up a little straighter. “Now we’re getting somewhere. Fleeced how?”
Gavin shook his head. “I offered her my jacket, and she stole my wallet right out of the pocket.”
Zac laughed. Not a small chuckle, a straight-up belly laugh.
Gavin let out a long-suffering sigh. “Glad my hardship amuses you.”
“No wonder you’re holed up in this office.” Zac was still laughing. “Damn, Redwood, no good deed goes unpunished, does it?”
“Evidently not.”
Zac tried to get his merriment under control but wasn’t having much luck. “But seriously, having your wallet stolen is a hassle. Did you have to cancel all your credit cards and stuff?”
Gavin shook his head. “No, fortunately, she took the cash but left the plastic. Cash I would’ve given her if she’d asked. Two hundred and eleven dollars.”
He’d come back out after searching for her jacket with the bad news that it wasn’t in the booth and hadn’t been turned in to either of the bartenders. Worst fucking thing? He’d been prepared to give up his own favorite bomber jacket to replace hers.
Because he hadn’t wanted her to be cold. Wherever she was going, whatever seemed to make those ridiculous green eyes of hers so sad, he hadn’t wanted her to be cold.
And that made him a fucking idiot.
“Damn,” Zac said. “Did you turn the whole hotel into a crime scene? Drag people out of their rooms for questioning?”
Gavin could chuckle about it now. “No, I decided to let it go as a lesson in the pitfalls of falling for a pretty face.”
But evidently not a very well-learned lesson, because he had dusted his credit cards for prints. Not because he planned to actually arrest her, but because he wanted to know who she was. To have a way and a reason to see her again.
Because he hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind in the five days since they’d met.
So yeah, that made him a really big fucking idiot.
“If that lesson only cost you two hundred and eleven dollars, then I think you got off pretty cheap,” Zac said. “Everybody’s at the Eagle’s Nest. Come have a couple beers. I’m buying since—”
“Don’t you say it.” Gavin knew what was coming.
“—you’re broke.” Zac stood up and grinned. “There’s no way out of it for you now. If you don’t come, I’ll be forced to tell the guys what happened and why you’re hiding here. But if you come with me, I promise not to say a word.”
All he had to do was ask Zac not to say anything and the man would go to his grave with the secret nowhere near his lips. Zac MacKay had saved his life more than once during their miss
ions with the Special Forces. Gavin had returned the favor a time or two.
But the fact that the guys had a system for dealing with him whenever he came back from Dad’s didn’t sit well with him. Gavin didn’t want to be a burden. So he would go hang out.
“Well, when you put it that way, I think it’s definitely time for a beer.” He grabbed that very same bomber jacket and slipped it on, and they walked out of the office together. Everything he was working on here could wait until tomorrow.
He felt better as soon as he stepped foot into the Eagle’s Nest.
Oak Creek got quite a bit of business year round. They were close enough to the Tetons to bring in all different types. Hikers and nature lovers in the warmer months, skiers and snowboarders in the winter.
Plus Linear Tactical itself brought in a steady stream of law enforcement and private security groups who wanted to train with the best. LT offered all sorts of classes from basic self-defense to weapons usage and management, from hour-long situational awareness seminars to week-long immersive wilderness survival training sessions. Gavin enjoyed them all.
He also enjoyed the unique mixture of small-town living and some of the amenities of a bigger city: a hospital, a local community college, and a number of shops.
The Eagle’s Nest, the bar that sat at the south end of town and had been run by old Mac Templeton since decades before Gavin had ever set foot in Oak Creek, was like a second home for all of them. Tourists tended to flock to a couple of newer, trendier bars a little closer to the resorts. The tourists could have them. Gavin and his friends weren’t looking for trends.
Two of the Linear Tactical guys, Finn Bollinger and Aiden Teague, sat at one of the booths they tended to frequent. Kendrick Foster, a younger man who’d come into town a couple years ago to help with a kidnapping situation and never left, sat across from them.
All three men called out a welcome as Gavin and Zac walked toward them. Zac slid in beside Kendrick and Gavin pulled up a chair so he could sit at the end of the booth.
“Finally.” Finn slapped Gavin on the shoulder. “When are you coming back to take over the beginning self-defense classes?”
“Depends. Male or female classes?”
Finn rolled his eyes. “I have not seen the inside of a female self-defense class since a certain five-foot-two blonde bombshell walked back into my life nearly two years ago. The only self-defense I’m going to need is my own if she hears I’m teaching them.”
Gavin leaned back, crossed his arms over his chest, and nodded solemnly. “Then I guess I’ll take one for the team and volunteer to teach the young, attractive coeds.”
Everyone laughed. Gavin felt better. It was his nature to be alone—he had the nickname Redwood for a reason—but being with his friends was always a good thing. He needed to remember that.
“Who wants a drink?” Finn asked. “Mac hired a new waitress. Actually, I hear she’s more like a manager. She’s going to take over running the place for him.”
Gavin nodded. “Good. With Mac’s heart issues, he needs to slow down. Should’ve started backing off a decade ago. I’m surprised he’s willing to give up the reins, even in his seventies.”
“Me too,” Aiden said. “But evidently this new girl is some sort of . . . family member.”
The guys all let out awkward chuckles around the table.
“What?” There was obviously something Gavin didn’t understand.
“Let’s just say that if they’re family, there’s not much resemblance between the two. The new waitress is . . .” Finn faded off, glancing over at Kendrick.
“Don’t stop on my account.” Kendrick ran a hand over his dark head, hair cut so short he was nearly bald. “Mac is black and that woman is as white as they come. If they’re blood family, it must be an interesting story.”
“I’m glad Mac finally has someone helping him out,” Gavin said. “Even better if he’s going to be retiring.”
Finn nodded. “Totally agree.” He raised his hand to get the new waitress/manager’s attention.
A few seconds later, Gavin stiffened in his chair as a voice behind him asked, “What can I get you guys?”
Oh hell no.
“Beer for me,” Zac said. The other guys echoed the same.
Gavin turned slowly in his chair to face the green eyes he’d had on his mind for nearly a week. “I’ll take a beer also. And maybe two hundred and eleven dollars.”
4
Gavin wasn’t going to lie. The look of sheer panic that fell over her face as he turned around and she recognized him felt pretty damn good. Let her squirm.
Of course, the other guys had no idea what he was talking about and were all looking at him funny. Except Zac, whose jaw might actually have hit the table, but the other man didn’t say anything.
Kendrick was the one who broke the silence that was heading into awkward territory. The computer expert was easygoing and charming. He didn’t like awkward, especially when he obviously knew something odd was going on.
“Lexi, this is Gavin Zimmerman. He obviously has a weird sense of humor as you can tell.” Kendrick turned to Gavin. “Sheriff, this is Lexi Johnson, the Eagle’s Nest’s newest member of the waitstaff.”
Lexi gaped like a fish. “Sheriff?”
That’s right, sweetheart, squirm. He gave her a smile that couldn’t possibly be mistaken as friendly. “Technically, the title is acting sheriff, but the ability to arrest someone remains the same.”
He almost felt bad for her when the color leeched out of her face. Kendrick kicked his leg under the table.
“Don’t listen to Gavin.” Kendrick gave her a friendly laugh. “He must have some handcuff fetish none of us knew about. Thus all the arresting talk.”
Gavin gave her another smile, still not friendly. Both of them knew he wasn’t joking.
“I—” She swallowed and tried again. “Should I get you your beers?”
One sentence from him could let her off the hook, but he wasn’t ready to do that yet, so he said nothing.
It was Zac who finally spoke. “Yes, if you could bring us beers all around, that would be great.”
She took off like she was on fire. He had to force himself to turn back to the table and not watch. Would she run straight out the door like she had in Reddington City? Was she truly concerned he was going to arrest her?
She should be. He wasn’t, but she should still be concerned.
“Dude,” Kendrick was glaring at him. “Do you have some sort of head trauma? What is wrong with you?”
He glanced over at Zac, but the other man was studying his fingernails, obviously not about to get involved in this conversation. Aiden and Finn stared at him, trying to ascertain what they were missing.
Gavin shrugged. “She doesn’t seem very trustworthy to me.”
Finn shook his head. “I’ve already been here a couple nights this week, and there’s been nothing about the new waitress that struck me as questionable.”
Aiden nodded. “Yeah, she seemed fine to me too. Although, granted, I do feel like I’ve met her before, but can’t put my finger on where. I’m usually pretty good about that sort of stuff.”
Gavin straightened in his chair. “All I’m saying is, what do we really know about this woman? As you guys pointed out, obviously she’s not family to Mac. How do we know she’s not taking advantage of him?”
Exactly the way she had taken advantage of Gavin a few days ago.
“You want to tell me why my new manager looks like she’s going to hightail it out the door after one conversation with this table?”
Shit. Gavin glared at the other guys as he turned around to face Mac. This was why he didn’t like to sit with his back to the rest of the room—too much of a chance someone might sneak up on him. The guys could’ve given him some warning the older man was coming up behind him.
He twisted in his chair so he could look up at Mac. Despite being in his mid-seventies, he really did seem pretty fit.
At least fi
t enough to be glaring at Gavin. “Just because my ticker isn’t as spry as it used to be doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with my brain, young man.”
Gavin held his hands out in surrender. “I’m only looking out for you, Mac. I want to make sure you really know this woman before you hand over the keys to the kingdom.”
Mac folded his arms across his chest. “I’m seventy-three years old. I’ve been running this bar since before your father first ran for office. He’s been in here to have a drink more than once. Are you questioning my business sense?”
Double shit. Now he’d offended Mac, and that wasn’t what he’d been trying to do at all. He looked back at the guys but they were all solidly on Mac’s side. Zac gave a little shrug of support, but Gavin knew he was on his own.
Why not tell everyone what had happened with Lexi in Reddington City? Then they would all at least stop looking at him like he was tossing puppies into oncoming traffic. But for some reason—hell if he knew what it was—he was loath to do that.
He turned back to Mac. “I thought you had family coming to help you. Lexi is family?”
Mac raised an eyebrow. “Just because she doesn’t look like me doesn’t mean she’s not family.”
Great, he was making this worse. “Mac, you tell me that woman is one of yours, and I’ll back off completely.”
He would too. Hell, Gavin would be the first to admit that family wasn’t always blood and blood wasn’t always family. If Mac wanted to claim this woman as kin, then Gavin would let it drop. He would never bring up the $211 ever again, because he’d give that much out of his pocket for Mac any day of the week, and Mac would do the same for him.
If Mac told him Lexi was family, Gavin would go over right now and apologize to her for making her uncomfortable. Tell her she never had to pay back a dime of that money as long as she promised to let him know if she was ever in financial trouble again rather than pull a stunt like she had.