Page 52 of Break My Fall

Gray ignored the remark and turned back to the legal pad. Behind him, he heard the fridge open, the splash of cream, the clink of a spoon, the sip. Another thirty seconds passed as Cal rinsed his spoon, put everything away, and joined Gray at the table.

The only sounds around the table were the scratch of Gray’s pen and Cal’s slurping.

“You’re doing that on purpose.” Gray cut his eyes at Cal.

Cal’s response was another, even louder, gulp.

“I’m going to kick you out if you don’t stop that mess.”

“I’m going to keep doing it until you tell me what’s got you growling at everybody you see.”

Gray set the pen down. “Then I hope you enjoy hanging out in an empty house. I’ll go work at my office.”

He held Cal’s stare, and to his surprise, Cal gave in. He took another sip, this time at a normal volume, and set the coffee on the table. “She hasn’t shared. You won’t share. I think Mo knows more than he’s telling. Landry says I have to stay out of it until you want to talk about it. I’m trying to take her advice. I know there’s something up. I’m guessing it’s bad. I don’t know who’s to blame—”

“Me.” Gray wouldn’t give him details, but he also wouldn’t let Cal think any of this was Meredith’s fault.

Cal gave him a long look. “Okay. Thank you for that. I think.”

“You’re welcome. Just know ... that’s all I’m going to say.”

Cal frowned. “Then know that this is all I’m going to say. You’re my best friend. You saved my life—”

“You saved mine.”

“Yeah. But you don’t seem to think that your life matters or that you deserve anything beautiful in it. I don’t know what happened, and I’m not saying Meredith is the answer. But God might have big plans for you that you can’t even imagine, and you refuse to consider them because you’ve decided your own path. Trust meon this. I wouldn’t have chosen the path I took to be where I am today, and there’s still heartache on the edges of my life that I’ve realized will always be there. But I’ve learned a lot since Landry blew all my ideas out of the water. And the main thing is not to expect God to go along with your plans. He has his own plans. And they’re better.” Cal adjusted his ball cap and grinned. “And that’s all I have to say about that. So, why am I here? You called this meeting.”

For his entire adult life, Gray had done his best to keep his relationships to a minimum. But Cal Shaw had shown up in his life and refused to stay out of it. He knew Cal would keep his word, and unless Gray brought it up, he wouldn’t press for more information.

He also knew that he’d be thinking about Cal’s words for a long time. He’d thought his plans were in line with God’s will for his life. But were they? Or had he made plans and then assumed God was on board? And if the plans were his and not God’s...

He set that aside for later. Right now, he needed Cal’s brain. “What I’m about to tell you can’t leave this room.”

Cal straightened and fired off a crisp salute. Which was ridiculous—they’d been the same rank. But he got the meaning.

“A month after I took this job, I was approached by an FBI agent in Raleigh. Special Agent Faith Powell. She’s part of a task force that is made up of FBI, Secret Service, SBI, ATF, DEA, and pretty much a member of every state and federal alphabet-soup agencies you can imagine, including a few you’ve never heard of.”

Cal whistled. “Big time. What did she want?”

“The task force was created to address police corruption across the state. They have multiple cases they’re working. But the reason she called me is that it’s her job to fix Neeson.”

“What’s her plan?”

“It’s a long game. They don’t want the small fish. They wantthe whale. DEA has a man undercover in Neeson. He’s been there a while, and I have a feeling they want to get this wrapped up.”

“Did our former police chief know about this?” Cal gave him a knowing glance.

“No. The task force deemed him to be too big of a question mark to take him into their confidence. They ran the whole thing without his input, but they brought me on as soon as they could. They’ve kept me in the loop, but most of what I’ve done is provide information when needed and a bolt hole in case their undercover agent needs to run.”

“What changed?”

“Steven Pierce.”

Cal’s knuckles went white. “If you tell me they want to cut a deal—”

“No. Nothing like that.” The entire Quinn clan would lose their collective minds if the man responsible for Cassie’s kidnapping wasn’t punished for his actions. “It’s because of the press. The attention on Gossamer Falls and Neeson didn’t sit well with our drug-running neighbors. They’ve enjoyed years of virtual autonomy. And now there’s a new police chief next door in Gossamer Falls and one of their wealthy and influential clients is arrested for kidnapping and attempted murder. I’m not saying Meredith shouldn’t have helped those women, but the timing stinks. If Steven’s actions kicked the hornet’s nest, Meredith’s may have poured gasoline on it.”

Cal looked at his already empty mug. “I’m going to need more coffee.”

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