Page 64 of In the Arms of a Hero

“I’ll sleep wherever you want me.”

“Then slide over here, Aaron.”

He did exactly that. He rolled over to the middle and then turned to face her as she lay on her back. He leaned over and kissed her lips. “Sleep tight.”

With the sliver of light coming from the bathroom night-light Bess had so thoughtfully provided, he could see her lips curve.

“You, too.”

Just as he thought she was about to fall asleep, she whispered, “I’m not happy for the reason I’m here, but I’m happy to be here now.”

He waited until her breathing evened and her body grew heavy with sleep. Finally, with the scent of her in his bedroom and her warm body next to his, he joined her in slumber.

31

The man stared down at the laptop, frustration moving through him. Some programs had passwords he had no ability to unlock. Cursing under his breath, he finally figured out where the files of photographs were stored, grateful they weren’t password protected. Scanning through them, he continued to curse as he scrolled through what seemed like a million photographs.

Heavy footsteps walked from another room and stopped just behind him. He tried to ignore the person staring over his shoulder but finally twisted his neck and growled, “Do you mind backing the fuck up?”

“So this was your next brilliant plan? Break into her apartment to steal her laptop? You didn’t think that someone would notice? That someone would call the police?”

He bolted to his feet, nearly knocking his chair over. “At least I’m trying to fix what you fucked up. You know, if you hadn’t been so pissed, this would have never happened. The man would still be alive, and you would never have called me to come here and take care of things. Why don’t you go back and just stay out of my way? I’m not going down because of you!”

Once again, they stared at each other before the other man turned and stomped away. Swallowing deeply, he let out abreath and sat down. As soon as he found the photographs he was looking for, he deleted all of them. Hoping this was the only place they were stored, he breathed a sigh of relief.

He looked at the time and scrubbed his hand over his face. As far as he was concerned, he was ready to get the hell out of the area, back to civilization and a place where he was appreciated for what he could do.

32

Aaron looked up from the papers scattered all over his desk, and glanced at Sam’s desk that appeared to be just as covered as he is.

“I’ve gone through all of Harry’s emails and phone records for the past several months and have only found a few to or from William Gaston.”

Sam nodded. “I’ve gone through all of Ruthanne’s. She had one email to him about changing the date of their quarterly appointment in Richmond because she wanted to coordinate with Harry’s birthday so she could surprise Harry with a trip to one of his favorite restaurants.”

Aaron’s brow lifted. “That’s it?”

“Honest to God, the woman only emails, calls, or texts her kids, grandkids, a few friends, and her hairdresser. It looks like she had nothing to do with William Gaston.”

“Her reaction to his death seemed strong.”

Sam held his gaze and said, “What if Harry just thought there was something? Some emotion that he thought was between Ruthanne and William? Harry has a temper—we’ve seen it.”

“Yes, but would he kill?”

Sam blew out his breath. “Okay, who else do we have? William had a set appointment with a client in Maryland. What do we know about him?”

Aaron looked back at his research. “That client is ninety-two years old and lives in a nursing home in southern Maryland. He is wealthy but has no kids or grandkids. He has a will, leaving his money to a variety of charities, none of them local, so William would have no one else there to see.”

“What if William wasn’t here to meet anybody? What if he was just traveling through on his way back to mainland Virginia over the CBBT,” Sam brainstormed.

“And what? Stopped somewhere to get gas or something to eat and ran into trouble? We haven’t had anyone come forward saying they saw him, and I’ve had deputies out questioning the restaurants and gas stations along Route 13. So far, no one claims to have seen him.”

“I’ve been in contact with a Richmond police detective and let him know that we’re running into dead ends here and that it may be time to look to see if William had any enemies in his hometown.”

Nodding, Aaron agreed. “Just because his body was found here doesn’t mean he was killed here. We don’t have his vehicle.” He looked over to the other side of the room, where Hunter, Brad, and Deputy Mark Robbins were staring at the screens and clicking through photos from Belinda’s camera. Mark was hoping to become a detective, and Colt allowed him duties that would assist the current cases.

“I know you’d rather be over there,” Sam said, inclining his head.

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