much about Bud.
We finished the bottle and headed out.
I had to admit that knowing Bud was behind me in the police car did provide comfort, considering the world was scary right now. Both of my sisters had offered to stay the night, but it was time for me to be a grownup.
I pulled into my driveway and waited for Bud to park before heading toward my cottage.
A package by the door caught my eye, and I grabbed it, unlocking the door and moving inside. Interesting. The postal guy often left packages, but I didn’t remember shopping online lately. Of course, that didn’t mean I hadn’t. I set the keys in the bowl and turned on lights as I went.
Then I yelped.
Aiden Devlin sprawled on my sofa, his shoes off, his eyes closed. He opened them and that blue was a dark bottom of a riverbed in the height of fall. “Hey.”
“What are you doing here?” I looked wildly around. How had he gotten in?
He yawned, looking all mussed with his hair and wrinkled T-shirt over what appeared to be very hard muscles. “Wanted to check on you. So much has been going on.”
“There’s a cop outside.” Why I told him that, I wasn’t sure. “I could have you arrested right now for trespass.” I faltered, truly not sure what to do.
“You could,” he agreed, swinging his legs so he was more sitting than sprawling. “But why would you?”
I licked my lips and tasted wine. “Did you steal Charles Monroe’s car today?”
“Nope, but if I did, I wouldn’t tell you.” His gaze dropped to the package. “What’s that?”
I shrugged and turned it over. No return address, and it had been processed in Spokane. Blood rushed through my veins and I set it down, ripping open the sides. Probably a neighbor had left me goodies? The back of a frame showed, and I pulled it out, flipping it over to see the picture. It was the newspaper photograph of Nick and me after the shooting. A folded note had been tucked into the corner.
“What the hell?” Aiden stood and moved for me.
I unfolded the note to read:
Dearest Anna,
This is not appropriate. Please act like a wife. You always have, and I’d hate to change things. XO Your Loving Husband.
Aiden read over my shoulder. “Fuck.”
Yeah, that summed it up. I swayed. “He’s never contacted me like this. Never even signed a note.” The picture with Nick had done it? It was that simple. “I always figured he’d be back, but now?” I looked up at Aiden’s concerned gaze. “Of course, you’re here now, too.”
He shook his head. “Things always come full circle, now don’t they?”
I nodded. “Yeah. But they change, too. I’m calling the Silverville sheriff about this and then I’m calling Detective Pierce. You’re not going to want to be here, Aiden.” I couldn’t change the decisions everyone else made in their lives, but I could sure make the right ones for me. But I had something to say first. Words that needed to be expressed. “Thank you for saving me years ago. If I could save you, I would. Until you tell me everything, it’s impossible.” I faced him as squarely as I could, letting go of any childhood dreams I’d had of him. It was time.
He studied me, looking big and bad and so sexy it hurt to look back. But I did, and I fought the insane urge to jump him and take him down to the ground with a hard kiss.
Then he nodded. “Bye, Angel.”
Chapter 38
Tuesday morning dawned with a crackle of thunder and a zing of lightning. I rolled over in my bed and tucked the pillow over my head. Where had the decent weather gone? Oh, in Idaho we could have rain, snow, hail, sun, and too much heat all in one day. Spring was for volatile weather, so why it was ticking me off was beyond me.
Grunting, I rolled over and tossed the pillow across the room before glancing at the clock. It was only seven. The local cops had been at my house until about midnight, gathering the picture frame and scouting the area for any other signs of a person. They found nothing. I appreciated that Sheriff Franco and Detective Pierce opened an investigation together, using all of the old anniversary and Christmas cards as well as the new evidence. Pierce had even called Nick for an update from his investigators, who hadn’t found Davey yet.
Those investigators also hadn’t requested my casefile from