Bailed Out (The Anna Albertini Files #2) - Rebecca Zanetti Page 0,105
probably take all weekend. I promise I’ll return Monday night and we can have that talk then.”
That talk? What talk? I was glad I was sitting. “Are you based out of Seattle?”
“No. Los Angeles,” he said, and there was shouting in the background. Not angry shouting but shouting over an engine?
“Where are you?”
“Fairchild Air Force Base,” he said, sounding farther away than that. “I’m catching a ride to Seattle.”
I really didn’t want him to go. It was like if he left, then it was all done. I didn’t want it to be all done. “You’re not going to head undercover again and not say a word, are you?” It was like something out of a movie. One with a crappy ending.
“No.” He chuckled. “I’m just going to Seattle. I’ll call you when I land Monday night. Bye.”
“Bye,” I said softly, turning as Pauley came out to the porch and sat next to me.
He tapped on his pants in his usual rhythm and watched something I couldn’t see. “That was Aiden?”
“Yes. He has to go to Seattle to the field office, whatever that is,” I said, my chest aching just enough to give me pause. “I hope he comes back.”
“Did he say he would come back?” Pauley leaned down to make sure his tennis shoes were double knotted.
I nodded. “Yeah. I should look to see if there are any field offices here.”
“There’s one in Spokane,” Pauley said. “I don’t think it’s full time, though.” He sat perfectly straight and watched a ladybug crawl across the freshly cut grass. “I looked it up when Tessa told me Aiden worked for the ATF SRT.”
“Oh.” It figured Pauley would get to it before I could. “What did you find out?”
He set his hands on his knees. “There are five locations for the SRTs. Los Angeles, Dallas, Miami, DC, and Detroit. At least, that’s what I found on the Internet. My guess is that Aiden is out of Los Angeles?”
“Yeah.” I rubbed my stomach. “There’s no base close to here?”
“No.” Pauley blinked into the sunny day. “I texted Aiden and asked him how he started working for the ATF. I might want to do that someday, but it would be in intelligence and not tactical.”
I leaned back. “You and Aiden text each other?”
“Yes. Sometimes. He started texting me after you and I got kidnapped in June, and I text him back sometimes. We just check in.” Pauley started tapping again. “He was in the marines, was discharged, and went to work for the ATF. I find that impressive. You should not give up on him even if you have to live in different cities.”
“What makes you think I won’t move?” I asked.
Pauley thought about it. “Your family is here.”
Yeah. My family was right here. Aiden was not. I sighed. “Let’s go back inside and see if your dad wants to arm wrestle me this time.”
My phone buzzed and my heart leapt. Was it Aiden? “Hello?”
“Hi Anna, it’s Saber. Boy, do I have some news for you. There was an award for putting Rich Pucci away. Congrats.”
Chapter 38
After a weekend of being babied by my entire family, I was grateful that Monday morning came finally. I dressed down in white capri’s and a frilly blouse to deliver the papers regarding Pucci’s death and subsequent dismissal of the case against him. While I hadn’t lost my first trial, having my client kidnap me before being shot to death by my boyfriend probably didn’t belong in the win column.
If Aiden was my boyfriend. It wasn’t like he’d called during the weekend.
I drove down Main Street and parked in front of the three-story building where Cousin Wanda had her office.
Clark was waiting on the sidewalk for me. “Why are we meeting here?”
“I’ll show you.” I walked inside the cool interior and up the old fashioned stairs to the third floor. Then I moved down the hallway to the second door on the right, reached in my purse for the keys, and pushed it open.
“What have you done?” Clark followed me inside the dusty space and instantly sneezed.
I looked around, seeing the dust mites sparkle like diamonds from the sunlight streaming between the blinds. “It’s our new office. The Bunne & Albertini Law Firm.” I twirled around. “This is obviously the reception area.” Dusty boxes littered the filthy floor, and the wallpaper peeled in several sections. I moved to the doorway beyond the reception area. “Come on. There are supposed to be two offices.”