Page 104 of Crossroads of Love

Gavin walks outside and jogs to my car immediately, grabbing me in a tight hug before I can fully get out. Hank’s car pulls in behind me.

Hank steps out of his car, his FBI badge still in hand. Gavin’s eyes dart between us.

“Come inside,” Gavin directs.

I open my mouth to respond, but the words catch in my throat. I glance at Hank, who steps forward, his expression serious but calm.

Once we’re inside the house, Gavin motions for Hank to sit down. He does and then looks back at the two of us briefly before speaking.

“My real name is David Collins. I work for the FBI. I was sent here to investigate a crime ring based out of the area. Webelieved they had ties to the law enforcement here, and I was sent in undercover to infiltrate.”

“Crime ring? What does that even mean?”

“I don’t want to get fully into it, as I can’t. What I can tell you is that Aaron was involved. We were about to make arrests on him and a few other members of the force when the prisoner shot your husband. I don’t believe it was an isolated event, but that’s for another time.”

“Why do you think they’re coming after Lena?”

“As you may have realized, I was working with Henry to get to the bottom of things. The people Aaron was working with somehow found out that information. They think Henry told Lena what he knew, but only because Sheriff Dejan is so adamant that she has something against him.”

“Is he involved?”

He hesitates and doesn’t answer, giving us a response without verbally doing so.

That makes sense.

“Aaron had everyone believing that Lena and he had the perfect marriage, that they told each other everything. On more than one occasion, he told the people he was working with that if anything ever happened to him, Lena would go to the police.”

“What?” I gasp.

“He had to know they’d come after her, right? He’s not that stupid to believe that threat would keep them from hurting him.” Gavin snaps.

“I don’t think your brother was the upstanding man the town has painted him to be, if that’s what you’re asking,” he answers.

“I’ve detected some elevated activity in town. They’ve been watching the farm, Lena’s house, and your office. They’re watching Jayla.”

“Oh my God, Jayla, she’s…” I say in a panicked voice as I shoot up off the couch.

“She’s fine. I have someone watching her to make sure she’s safe.”

“What made you approach Lena today?”

“I got notified that a PI tied to you was asking about me.” He smiles as he laughs dryly. “I figured I should come forward before y’all blew my cover.”

“That explains why he couldn’t find anything on you.”

“Because I don’t exist.” He grins widely.

“How did Henry find out who you were?” I ask.

“Henry was damn good at his job and one hell of an officer. I never asked what tipped him off, but one day, he told me that I could use the hunting cabin as a place to stay and as a base of operations. I thought my boss had contacted him, but he didn’t.”

“The break-in here, do you think that was the people Aaron used to work with?”

“Yes, it’s why local law enforcement didn’t take it seriously.”

“Shit,” Gavin and I say at the same time.

“I need you both to go back to Lena’s tonight and resume ops normal. They can’t know that anything is going on. I have all the paperwork I need to infiltrate and make arrests. I’m just waiting on the backup to do so. This goes pretty deep.”

---