"Apparently, during the last year, Tom found his conscience. He's been feeding information to the feds. This was payback."
"Tom was finally talking," he murmured, surprised again. Tom had refused to give any information that might have helped him at sentencing saying he'd be safer on the inside if he didn't. Apparently, he'd been right about that.
"Yes, he was talking—a lot. He has also had a stream of visitors since his attack, many of whom worked with you and Tom."
"And probably blame me for what happened to Tom. It's my fault he was in there."
"That would be my guess, especially in light of the nature of the incidents. They're personal. As you said, someone is messing with you. I'm going to do some more digging, see if I can find out if anyone connected to you or Tom bought plane tickets to Southern California or might be in your area."
"Shari referred to her attackers as they. We're dealing with more than one person." He paused. "I appreciate your help, Paul. I know this is way outside of your job."
"You've helped me a lot in the past two years, Griffin, and not just me, but a lot of people."
"Is Megan free now?"
"Yes, she's officially out of the program. She isn't quite ready to be home, but she has been reunited with her sister and they're spending some time out of the country in a very beautiful and sunny location."
"I'm glad. It's nice to hear some good news."
"Watch your back, Griffin. I don't think this is over yet."
"Neither do I."
Twenty-One
While Griffin was talking to Paul, Annie pulled out her phone and went on the Internet. After bouncing around on social media for a few minutes, she impulsively typed in Michael Payton, Chicago police officer. She hadn't had much luck when she'd looked for Griffin Hale, but to her surprise, there were several pages of results for Michael Payton.
She quickly discovered that most of the articles were about the trial of Tom Holtzer and the testimony of his partner Michael Payton. There was even a photo of Griffin/Michael at the courthouse. He looked incredibly somber and isolated, as he walked down the steps wearing a black suit. It looked like he was going to a funeral, and it had probably felt that way to him.
Was this all about revenge? Had Tom and his cohorts finally discovered Griffin's location and decided to make him pay?
It certainly seemed the most likely scenario. But since Tom was in prison, someone else was making the threats. And if they were willing to kill Shari, they surely would have no problem going after Griffin or her.
Was she foolish to stay with him? Was she blinded by her mad crush on the man? Would it be smarter to get out of town for a while, let Griffin figure things out?
But would that matter? She and Griffin had been together a lot, and if someone had been watching them, they'd know that she was involved with him. If they wanted to hurt Griffin, destroy everything he had, as Shari had said, then she could still be a target. She'd told him that she didn't think she'd feel safe anywhere without him, and that was still true, but she didn't know if she'd feel safe with him, either.
Where had her normal, boring life gone?
Everything had changed when she'd gone into the ocean, when she'd decided to test herself. And she couldn't feel bad about it, because with all the danger had come the man she was falling in love with.
She clicked away from the photo at the courthouse, looking for more images of Griffin and his past. Several results later, she found another picture of him with an attractive brunette at a charity fundraiser—Paige Marquette. She drew in a quick breath at the image of the woman Griffin had been involved with. She was pretty—tall and slim, wearing a body-hugging black dress and black boots with a heavy gold necklace. She had a smile on her face, but it didn't seem all that friendly.
Clicking through to the next photo, she saw a photo of Paige standing between Griffin and Tom at the same fundraiser, and her heart skipped a beat.
Tom was taller than Griffin by a few inches, lean, lanky, a relaxed, happy, easygoing vibe to his smile. He was handsome, too, with blond hair and a short beard.
This was the man who might be trying to hurt them?
It was hard to connect this image with that thought, but then she didn't know Tom at all. And obviously, he'd been quite good at deception, until Griffin came along.
Griffin looked happy in the photo, too. It must have been taken before he realized what Tom was doing.
He'd said he didn't think he and Paige would have ended up together even if the problem with Tom hadn't come along, but she wondered if that were true.
Frowning at that thought, she clicked out of the Internet. She didn't want to look at Paige anymore. She didn't want to think about Griffin and another woman.
She straightened in her seat as Griffin came back into the waiting room. He'd been gone awhile, and judging by his worried expression, whatever he'd learned from Paul had not been good.
Fortunately, the other couple who had been in the waiting room had already left, so they could speak freely.
"What did Paul say?" she asked, as Griffin sat next to her.
He met her gaze. "Quite a lot actually. Tom was brutally attacked in prison several weeks ago. He's been in a coma ever since. They don't expect him to recover."
"What?" she asked in surprise. "Tom is not the one doing this or ordering it to be done?"
"Not unless he set the plan in motion before he was injured, but that's doubtful. Apparently, Tom found religion in prison and was trying to change his life around. Some of his former colleagues decided to shut him up before he said too much."
"I'm confused. If it's not Tom, who is it?"
"I suspect that what happened to Tom motivated one of his friends to come after me, possibly someone I used to call a friend as well."
She put a hand on his arm, seeing the pain in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Griffin."
"I never wanted this to happen, Annie. I never wanted Tom to get hurt, to possibly die for his crimes. I just wanted him to take responsibility for what he did. But then I have to ask myself, what did I expect to happen? I put a cop in a prison full of people who hate cops."
"Tom put himself in that prison. His actions made that happen, not yours."
"Maybe I could have done something differently."
"Protecting him, going against your own conscience, would have destroyed you, Griffin."
"Well, it doesn't matter now. Tom is as good as dead from what I hear."
"Then let's start talking about who else was his friend, who would try to find you, come after you, be willing to kill a woman in the process of getting revenge against you."
"I've been thinking about that. Tom had a cousin who was also a cop—Kenny Taylor. He came at me one day after work. We slugged it out while several of our cop friends watched, most of whom cheered him on. Eventually, the captain broke it up."
"That's disgusting, and he sounds like a good suspect."
"But he wasn't the only one who'd told me I'd be sorry. Tom's partner before me also had a lot of anger—Hank Palmer. He gave me a difficult time on more than one occasion as well."
"Then we'll start with them. But do you really think another cop would stab Shari?"
He frowned at her question. "That does seem like an anomaly. There are a lot of people who would like to do that to me, but why her?"
"Obviously, she angered them in some way. What about whoever attacked Tom? You did take down their inside person. Maybe it's not a cop who's after you at all, but someone from that gang."
"It's possible, but this criminal organization would have been more likely to hire a hit man to take me out with one shot. Shari said they want me to suffer. I think Tom's friends are behind this. Maybe they're cops; maybe they're not, but my gut says I probably know at least one of them, if not both of them. Paul is going to send me the log of visitors to Tom's hospital room. He's also going to check on whether any of those people have booked a trip to Southern California in the past week."
; "Maybe that will help."
"I just wish I knew how they found me. I've been so careful to cover my tracks, to stay offline, out of sight."
"Except the day you rescued me from the sharks. Your photo was online."
"I forgot about that. My name wasn't mentioned, so I thought it would be fine, and it was local. But maybe that photo came up in front of the wrong person."
"Nothing is local where social media is concerned. Anyone could have shared that story on one of their sites, and who knows where it went from there? Not that it has to be because of the photo—"
"But it is the one thing that changed. The timing fits," he said with a nod.
"I'm sorry if that's the reason why they found you."
"I can only blame the sharks, certainly not you."
"So, what's next?"
"Shari makes it through surgery and tells us everything we need to know."
"In the meantime…"
"We try to find out who Shari has been talking to in the past few weeks. I'd like to get Shari's phone."
"The police probably have it. Maybe you should share your past with them, Griffin. Give them the whole story, so they're not operating in the dark."
"Paul is doing that as we speak. He can provide a more objective narrative, and I don't have to be the cop telling another cop why I broke the code."
"You know I come from a family of firefighters, and I know that they stand by each other. But I don’t believe that anyone in my family would not do exactly what you did. You're a man of honor, Griffin. I am sure there are other police officers who were proud of what you did, even if they were afraid to say so. I know I'm proud."
He stared back at her. "That means a lot to me, Annie."
"Good." She stopped talking as a doctor came into the room. They quickly got to their feet, and she grabbed Griffin's hand, hoping for good news.
"Are you here for Shari Carlan?" the doctor asked.
"Yes, I'm her employer, Griffin Hale. She doesn't have any family," Griffin said. "How is she?"
"She made it through surgery. Her condition is critical, but we're hopeful. The next twenty-four hours will tell us more. If you leave your number at the nurse's station, they can give you a call when she wakes up."
"Thanks," Griffin said.
As the doctor left, she felt some of the tension leave Griffin's body. He gave her a smile, and she smiled back.
"Shari is going to make it," she said.
"I am so glad and not just because I want answers."
"Oh, Griffin, I know that. You care about Shari. You care about everyone who works for you. That's very, very clear."
He slid his arms around her waist and pulled her into a long hug. "Can I just say that while I hate that you're going through this with me, I'm really glad you're here."
She was touched by his words. "Me, too. I want to help you, Griffin."
"You are helping." He stepped back as they let go of each other. "I think we should go back to the bar. There's nothing more we can do here until Shari wakes up."
"I agree." As she moved to grab her bag from the chair, a man in a dark suit came into the room, flashing a badge.
"Mr. Hale? Miss Callaway?" he asked.
"Yes," Griffin said warily.
"I'm Annie Callaway," she added.
"I'm Detective Mark Baker. I just got off the phone with a US marshal by the name of Paul Daniels. He filled me in on your situation, Mr. Hale. I've also spoken to Officer Rodriguez, who said you did not share your personal story with him. Why not?"
"It's a complicated situation. I thought it might be better if an objective party shared it with you first."
"Possibly," Detective Baker said, giving Griffin, a long, measuring look. "How's the stabbing victim?"
"The doctor thinks she'll make it, but she won't be awake to question for several more hours."
"The marshal told me what happened in Chicago and that this stabbing is most likely related to that. Is there anything else you want to tell me?" the detective asked.
"Shari told me she was sorry before she passed out. She didn't say what she'd done, but she'd apparently been helping someone get to me. That is truly all I know. She did not give me names. I wish she had."
"You didn't tell Officer Rodriguez that, either."
"I'd be happy to add to my statement."
As Annie watched Griffin and the detective size each other up, she couldn't tell what the detective was thinking, if he would also consider Griffin a traitor for turning in a fellow cop, or if he would be more objective because he wasn't part of the Chicago police force.
"Let's take a little walk," the detective said to Griffin as a young couple came into the waiting room. "I have a few more questions for you."
"Do you need me, too?" she asked.
"Not at the moment," the detective said.
She sat down after they left, wishing she could hear what they were saying.
As the minutes passed, she grew more restless. She pulled out her phone and texted her sister Kate: Are you around? I have something to ask you.
While she was sure the police and Griffin's friend Paul would do everything they could, she wanted to bring Kate in. Kate had FBI resources, and if nothing else she might be able to keep an eye on the investigation and make sure Griffin wasn't going to get shafted by the local cops.
Her phone buzzed a moment later. "Hi, Kate, that was fast. I wasn't sure if you were still in London and I was hitting you in the middle of the night."
"I actually just landed at Dulles," Kate replied. "I'm waiting for my bags. Is everything okay?"
"No. I'm in the middle of a mess."
"Why? What's happened?"
"This guy I've been getting to know—he's in some trouble, and now I'm in trouble, too."
"This does not sound good. Where are you? Do you need someone to come and get you? Mia is not that far away and Jeremy is a police officer. Did you call them?"
"I don't want to leave Griffin—that's the guy I'm seeing. He's not the problem. He's a good person. But several years ago, he testified against some people in Chicago, and now it looks like someone is trying to get revenge. We've already spoken to the police and Griffin has a friend with the US Marshal's Service who is helping us, but I was hoping you might be able to stick your nose in the investigation and make sure no one is missing anything."
"Of course. I will do whatever I can. But I have to tell you I'm really concerned. I think you should get out of San Clemente. Go to Mia's."
"I can't go to Mia's. She's pregnant. The last thing I need to do is stress her out."
"She told you she was pregnant?"
"Yes. She came down last weekend. I'm so happy for her."
"Me, too. Okay, don't go to Mia's. Go home. Be with the family. You'll be safe there. Tell your guy that's what you want to do."
"That's what he wants me to do, too, but I can't. I don't want to bring danger to anyone in the family, and I don't want to leave him on his own."
"I sometimes forget how stubborn you are," Kate said with a sigh.
"Just like you."
"Why don't you text me all the pertinent information, and I will go straight to the office and see what I can find out?"
"I really appreciate it. I'm sure you'd rather be getting home to Devin."
"He's actually working today, so it's fine."
"Good. Thanks again."
"Be careful, Annie. I wish someone was there to protect you."
"Griffin is an ex-cop. He will protect me."
"Wait, he's an ex-cop who testified against someone?"
"Another cop, actually. Griffin crossed the blue line, Kate."
"Great, so he has pissed off a lot of people." She paused. "The bags are coming out. I'll call you later."
As their call disconnected, she texted her sister the short version of what had happened and all the names Griffin had mentioned when he'd spoken about the case. She had just finished when Griffin came back into the room alone. "What di
d the detective want to talk to you about?" she asked, getting to her feet.
"He just wanted to hear the story from me."
"Do you think he's going to help us?"
"I believe he's committed to finding out who attacked Shari. Whether or not he really wants to help me…we'll have to see. He's going to put a security guard outside Shari's room."
"You think they'd go after her again?"
"We can't rule anything out."
The grim look in Griffin's eyes was not inspiring. "I talked to my sister, Kate, the one who works for the FBI. I hope you don't mind, but I texted her the information on your past case and what's going on now. I feel like we need someone else we can trust."
"We can trust Paul."
"I hope that's true, but I don't know him, and I do know my sister. I hope you're okay with it. But even if you're not, I'm not sorry I did it."
"I'm fine with it," he said wearily. "You have every right to talk to whoever you want to talk to."
"Thank you. What are we doing now?"
"I need to go back to the Depot and talk to Vinnie and the rest of the staff. We need to shut down for a few days, and I want to make sure that we cover the staff for lost wages, so I need to talk to a few people and make some calls. Then we can go to your place. It shouldn't take too long."
"Of course. Let's go."
As they walked out of the hospital hand-in-hand, she was as aware as Griffin of everyone they passed. She hated feeling like there were unseen eyes on her, and maybe that was just her imagination, but she couldn't be sure. Whoever had almost killed Shari was not done. Shari had never been the target. Griffin was who they wanted, and maybe her, too.
"What do you think their next move is?" she asked Griffin, as they got into the car.
"I wish to hell I knew," he muttered. "I think it's coming soon."
"Well, that's not terrifying at all," she said.
"I will protect you, Annie. With my life."
"I hope it doesn't come to that."
Twenty-Two
When they got to the bar, Griffin pulled the staff together and shared the terrible news about Shari. Annie saw genuine shock and emotion in every face. She noted that Griffin did not share information about his past or the trouble heading their way but simply told his concerned employees that they would be shutting down the bar after lunch service and would remain closed for a few days while they improved security and made sure everyone—both staff and customers—would be safe.
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