Page 26 of Protecting Silver
“Wow, so you know how to ride a horse?”
“I do. Do you?”
“Yeah,” Patch said, then he sat back as their entrees were delivered. Once they were alone again, he grinned at her. “When I served in the Marines, a bunch of us guys went to a rodeo where we were stationed. After a few beers, we decided to give riding a try.” He held up his hand at her expression. “Not the rodeo horses. One of the guys in our unit grew up on a ranch down in Wyoming and he talked to some people, and we were told to sober up and meet out at some place the next day.” Patch sat up straighter with a wide grin. “I only fell off once, until I got the hang of it.”
Silver covered her mouth as she giggled. “And now? Do you ride now?”
“Sometimes I go out to Finn’s, and we go for a ride to clear our heads. While I lived over in Helena, there wasn’t time, but now that I’m here in Elk Junction, I’ve found that I’m able to get out to his farm at least once a month.”
“Sounds like fun.”
“It is, maybe the next time I go, I’ll take you with me.”
“I don’t want to impose.”
“You won’t be if we’re on a date. Now, what else did you decide to do during your recovery, because I have to admit, that I’m liking this 2.0 version of you. In the past when I tried to talk to you, you were all shy and barely lifted your head to talk to me.”
“I know.” Silver sighed. She stalled as she took a bite of her lasagna, then a sip of her wine. “I want to say that he didn’t affect my way of life after I left him, but that would be a lie. Before him, I was a very friendly, outgoing person. I was always there to lend a helping hand to my friends, and though we didn’t go out drinking a lot, we did spend time with each other. There were five of us women in the group. But, when I was with him, it seemed like I had my girls one day, then the next, my world had narrowed down to just him. I realize now that it’s the classic moves of an abuser, and though he’d only hit me once, the day I left, there was a lot of mental and verbal abuse.”
“So, you left when the physical abuse started?”
“I did. That monthly settlement I was receiving, I’d talked to Mom and Dad and asked how I could turn it into one lump sum. After getting their advice, I did everything, but had my office phone and address as correspondence. I’d stashed some cash for a rainy day, and he found it and took it. Two days before I left him, I’d received the check. After I left him, I drove until my gas tank was almost empty, got a hotel room for the night, waited a couple of days, then drove back and talked to my boss. She understood, and let me go, then I went to the bank to cash that check and close out my account. Once that was done, I went to Mom and Dad’s and told them everything. After hanging out there for a week, I decided to head south. I couldn’t seem to find a place that I fit in until I stopped here in Elk Junction for the night. I loved it, the place talked to me. Two weeks after arriving here, I got the job at Larson’s. The rest is history.”
“Wow, so you were new to the area when you helped Lorna with the aquarium fundraiser?”
“Yep.” Silver grinned as she took another bite of her meal. They continued to eat in silence, or made small talk. Just before they finished, Silver looked at Patch, and asked, “So, what about you? Tell me about your past.”
“It’s complicated.” Patch sighed as he looked at his plate. Because his head was down, he didn’t see Silver’s expression, but he must have heard something in her voice, because as soon as she began to speak, his head whipped up and he stared at her in shock.
“I don’t do complicated. I did it before, and look where it got me. If that’s all you’re going to say, then this is our last date together.”
Chapter 14
Agents Tamara Babcockand Jackie Mann stepped onto the elevator, and once they reached the back of the car, they sighed heavily and leaned against the back wall, while rubbing their temples.
They whipped their heads up, when someone spoke, “Agents,” SSA Atwater said to them.
“Sir,” they stood tall, then Tamara looked at Jackie, who only shrugged at her partner.
“Sir,” Tamara repeated. “If you have a few minutes this afternoon, Agent Mann and I would like to have a word with you.”
Supervisory Special Agent Daniel Atwater looked at the two women before him with a frown. Something about their stance, as well as their facial expressions told him that he needed to listen to them. He looked at his watch, then did a mental rundown of his calendar.
“How does one o’clock sound? That’s the time I normally go to lunch, but I’d be willing to give you time then. Will you need the entire hour?”
“I believe we will. Would you like us to order you something from the corner deli? We can talk and have lunch together.”
“Bold, but sure, I’ll have a roast beef on rye with the works,” he said, then stepped off the elevator at his floor. That was when Tamara and Jackie realized that they had missed their own floor. Pressing the button for it, Jackie turned to Tamara.
“What the ever-loving fuck did you just do?”
“We need help, Jackie. If we go to SSA Atwater with what we have, he’ll be able to call in reinforcements. At this point, I don’t know what else to do. It’s going to be better to ask for forgiveness than permission for what we did weeks ago. Anita needs our help, and we can’t give it to her, unless we clue SSA Atwater into what we’ve been doing for the last few weeks. I think we have enough information to go to him for help.”
Jackie studied her partner, then sighed heavily. “Fine, but you’re doing the talking.”
Tamara knew she had Jackie’s approval when she said that, because the other woman hated talking to the boss. “I will.” They stepped off the elevator and realized it was still at least an hour before their co-workers arrived, so they commandeered the small conference room, made a pot of coffee, and began to assemble their files. By the time it was time to go to their meeting with the boss, they both felt confident that they had their i’s dotted and t’s crossed.
“You order lunch?” Tamara asked Jackie as they left the room, and headed toward the elevator.
