“Thanks.”
I tore through the streets of Bend trying to get to Cindy’s house. Holy fuck, if something had happened to her, I would never forgive myself. But my stomach dropped to my toes when I saw Paul’s shiny new vehicle in her driveway.
Shit.
How the hell had that fucker beaten me here?
I skidded my truck into the driveway and ran across the lawn. I banged on her door, yelling for Cindy to get her to open it. The door whipped open, and her cheeks were red. Her eyes were puffy, and her stance was guarded.
And behind her stood Paul.
With that shit-eating grin on his cheeks.
“Get away from me,” Cindy said.
“Look, you have to talk to me. There’s so much I just found out,” I said.
“I don’t want to talk to you any longer. I-I can’t—fuck. I brought you around my daughter.”
“Cindy, whatever Paul’s told you, it isn’t true. I don’t know what’s going on, but I can explain it. I know I can.”
“No, you can't. And even if you could, I don’t want to hear it. Get off my porch and get out of my life.”
Then she shut the door in my face and left me standing there with a hole in my chest.
I didn’t know what that asshole’s game was, but I was going to figure it out. Paul must’ve told her something, lied to her about who I was. There was nothing that Paul had told me today that would’ve angered Cindy like that. Frightened her, sure. Worried her? Yes. But made her so angry, she wanted me gone?
Not by a longshot.
“Did you check on her?” Daniel asked.
“Paul was here. He must’ve said something to her. She doesn't want to talk to me, Daniel.”
“Was she okay?” he asked.
“Yes. She’s fine. Paul was fucking here. How did that asshole beat me?”
I walked into my house with my cell phone attached to my ear. I slammed the front door behind me and resisted the urge to put my foot through the wall.
“We’re going to fix this. I’m going to figure this out. But this Paul guy, whoever he is? He’s a shady fucker. I’ve heard nothing about him from any of my contacts. Keep a close eye on them from a distance, and if you can follow this Paul guy around? Do it.”
“Why? What have you already found?” I asked.
“I’m not sure. It’s a bit jumbled and emotions are running high. Cindy just called Nicole, and she left in a hurry, so whatever’s going on needs to be squashed soon.”
“I wanna know what that fucker told her. I want to know why she’s scared of me now.”
“I can place one phone call and have that answer for you, but it means you gotta let me go.”
“Fine. Okay.”
Then I hung up the phone, sat on the edge of my couch, and waited.
CHAPTER 27
CINDY
“I’m sorry I hid this from you, Cindy.”
“The CIA, Paul? Really?” Nicole asked.
“I deal with a lot of shady figures every single day. I wasn’t going to put Cindy and Lily in the line of fire like that asshole,” Paul said.
“Really? Because you being here puts her in the line of fire,” Nicole said.
“He’s dangerous, Nicole. At least I play for the right side. I dug into that man, and the things I found were rough,” Paul said.
“I still don’t believe you,” I said.
“Then why did you send him away if you think I’m lying?” Paul asked.
“Because what you’re accusing him of is serious. You’re trying to convince me that some super shady criminal group Graham was trying to infiltrate flipped him to their side. You’d have me believe that a good, strong family man went from a decent CIA agent and was made into a drug and arms trafficker,” I said.
“I know it’s a lot to take in, Cindy, but I couldn’t keep this from you any longer,” Paul said.
“Why keep it from her at all if you knew the kind of man he was?” Nicole asked.
“I’ve told him on several occasions to back off. I wanted to do it quietly, so Cindy wouldn’t get so upset. This is serious stuff, things she should never have to think about at night,” Paul said.
“Cindy’s a big girl. She can handle some talk about guns and drugs,” Nicole said.
“Would you two stop?” I asked.
I sighed as a layer of quiet fell over my kitchen.
“What you’re telling me doesn’t jive with what I’ve experienced with Graham. He’s sweet and kind and a family man. Men like that don’t sell drugs. They don’t deal in illegal guns or whatever,” I said.
“Did you think I would ever join the CIA?” Paul asked.
“That’s different,” I said.
“He’s got a point,” Nicole said.
“Was there ever a point during your return at all where you ever questioned that I was something other than a police officer?” Paul asked.
“Well, no. But you put up a good front,” I said.
“And so does he,” Paul said. “Graham was an expert. He went for months without being found out, and when the CIA figured out what he was doing, they went after him. He got spooked, tried to leave, and the devil he made a deal with retaliated.”
“Don’t you dare talk about his family like that,” I said.
“Whether you want to hear it or not, it’s the truth,” Paul said. “I’m on the side of the law that protects people like you. But he’s not. He was at one point, but he got greedy. Selfish. Money can wrap its claws around any man’s neck, no matter how good they might have been in the first place,” Paul said.
“I know Graham. He would never do something like that,” I said.
“Cindy—”
“This is all too much. I can’t … I can’t deal with this right now. I need to breathe, and I can’t breathe with you here,” I said.
“Nicole, you can go, I’ve got her now,” Paul said.
“No, she stays. You go,” I said.
“Cindy, come on,” Paul said.
“For once, would you listen?” I asked.
Paul packed up his things and left, and I promptly went to bed. I didn’t want to talk to anyone about any of this. I knew Paul was lying to me. I felt it in my gut. I knew Graham, the real Graham. The hurt and despondent Graham. The man who craved the body of a woman and the man who was broken from the death of his family. I had no idea what the hell the truth was, but it wasn’t that nonsense Paul was spouting.
I tossed and turned most of the night and finally woke up to the sound of Nicole cooking breakfast for Lily. She was going on and on about how Aunt Nikki stayed and how Aunt Nikki made the best scrambled eggs. I lay in bed, thankful she was getting Lily ready for school.
And I was even more grateful when she offered to take Lily to school.
I kissed my daughter and waved the two of them off. My eyes drifted over to Graham’s house, but it looked like no one was home. The only things in his driveway were the skid marks from last night, and all the lights in his house were turned off.
Though I could’ve sworn I saw a shadow looming in his bedroom window.
A car coming down the road took my attention away from him. I sighed when I saw it was Paul, and I watched as he pulled up into the driveway. Was he ever going to go away? Would I ever have a week where he simply left me alone?
“What do you want?” I asked.
“I wanted to come see how you were doing after last night,” Paul said.
“Did you call?”
He walked up onto my porch before his eyes fell to the empty kitchen.
“Lily not here?”
“Nicole took her to school,” I said.
“You’ve got a good friend in her,” he said.
“Why? You run a background check on her?”
“Cindy, I’m not the one you’re angry with.”
“Actually, yes. Part of me is angry with you. Why do you think you have the right to run my life?”
“Because Brad—”
I held up my hand to silence him. “Enough!” I bellowed. “I’m so sick and fucking tired of you invoking his name every five minutes. He’s not here anymore and I am dealing with that. Finally, I am dealing with it. Looking out for me and deciding who I will and won’t spend my time with are two totally different things, and it stops now, Paul.”
“As much as you hate it, there’s danger lurking around us right now. I just want to make sure you get to work okay today.”
“What, like follow me?” I asked. “No. I’ll send you a text when I get there.”