Page 56 of Dear John

The hesitant smile on her face didn’t make me feel any better. She still didn’t trust me. After everything we’d been through, I was still clawing my way away from the mistakes I had made.

Finally, she placed her hand on my arm and smiled for real. “Then you’d better pack. We leave first thing tomorrow morning.”

Tomorrow morning. There was so much to do. “Right, I just have to run a few errands.”

With a nod, I headed downstairs and rifled through her paperwork until I had all the information I needed. I scribbled it down on a piece of paper and shoved it in my pocket before heading out the door.

It didn’t take long to make the drive to OPS, but getting onto the property was another issue altogether. I texted Eli to meet me outside, hoping I could avoid running into Cash on the way. Luckily, he was waiting for me with Red. I got out and slammed my door, heading over to them.

“Are you here to get your job back?” Red asked hopefully.

I shook my head, handing over the paper. “I need you to run this.”

Eli took it and looked it over. “What is this?”

“A job Isla’s taking. I need you to run a background check on them.”

Eli shook his head, handing it back. “I wish we could, but things have changed. Cash has put a hold on anyone doing anything on their own. We have to run everything past him.”

“Everything? That seems a little drastic. What about Rae?”

“Her hands are tied. Hell, we can’t even approve work orders unless he agrees.”

I shoved my fingers through my hair, pissed even more than I had been the day Cash tossed me out on my ass. “What the fuck is going on with him?”

“Nobody knows. And Eva…apparently, Cash hasn’t been home since the day you left,” Eli sighed. “Things are going to shit really fast around here.”

“How did the interview go with Cap?” Red asked.

I winced, remembering the way he threw me off the property. “Not any better. Fox showed up.”

“Well, shit,” Red muttered. “I wish we could help you, but?—”

“No, I get it. You guys have to stick around. You have families to take care of and someone needs to keep an eye on Cash.”

“You’re being awfully generous to the man who stripped you of everything,” Eli muttered.

I was, but it wasn’t because I was forgiving what he did. I just had this feeling that maybe something more was going on. Or at the very least, maybe he would eventually pull his head out of his ass and wake up to what was going on around him. I didn’t want to work for him, but I didn’t want him to lose his business or for the guys to suffer because they backed me.

“I’ve been keeping an eye on Shawn,” Eli said, changing the subject. “I don’t have all the facts since we’re restricted, but from what I can tell, he’s not a threat right now.”

I hadn’t told them I’d paid him a visit and nearly ended the fucker’s life. Not that they would blame me, but the last thing I wanted was to be like the senator, and killing a man already in the hospital felt like it was hitting a little too close to home.Besides, after what happened, I didn’t put it past Shawn to do something drastic. “Did you check with IKE or Knight?”

Eli stiffened. “You think he’d put a hit on her?”

“I wouldn’t put anything past that asshole. But something else has to be going on. What kind of guy marries a woman he’s in love with and then tries to kill her?”

“Psychopaths,” Red said bluntly.

“But I don’t think he is.” It might be an unpopular opinion, but there it was. “I talked to Isla about it and she said it all started about three years ago when he made detective. That can’t be a coincidence.”

“But what does that have to do with Isla?” Red asked. “Even if the asshole is dirty, why would he go after Isla for it?”

I couldn’t figure it out either, but it was keeping me up at night. “Unless we can dig into him, we may never know. And then Isla will be looking over her shoulder for the rest of her life.”

“You mean you’ll be watching her back,” Eli corrected. “You haven’t told her about your suspicions, have you?”

“What would I tell her? I have nothing to go on but a gut feeling.”

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