Page 33 of Silverstorm

“Well, you might just have to do that. Because you’re not taking her.”

Jude was putting himself in harm’s way for her benefit. She couldn’t let him do this. Much as she didn’t want to go with Brady, it’d help no one, especially Jude, if he ended up in jail.

There was no room for her to step between the two men, so she laid a hand on his arm. “Jude, don’t,” she said. “It’s okay, I’ll go with him.”

It took a few seconds, but Jude finally tore his heated gaze from Brady’s face to look at her.

“No, you won’t, this is ridiculous.”

Please don’t, she implored him with her eyes. And please don’t tell them I’m pregnant. She willed him not to let her secret out. Please stop talking. Willed him not to say anything more, so he didn’t give Brady an excuse to arrest him. Or give Brady one more excuse to treat her with disdain. She hoped like hell he kept his mouth shut on both points.

“No, I’m sure Brady’s just doing his job. Just like you should be,” she reminded him. He needed to do his job. And if that job included watching her get arrested, then he’d have to stand back and let it happen. It wasn’t his fault this was happening to her, and she didn’t want to see him put his job in jeopardy just to protect her.

“On what grounds are you arresting her?” Jude growled, but Aria was relieved when he took a step back.

“We found evidence pertaining to the crime,” Brady replied blandly.

“What evidence?” Jude ground out.

“You’ll find out soon enough. She’s going to need a lawyer.” Brady advanced on Aria, motioning her to put her hands behind her back.

“There’s no need to put her in handcuffs. She’s not a flight risk, and she’s not a danger to anyone.” Jude stepped in front of Aria again.

“I second that,” said Sheriff Buchanan, walking into the bedroom and filling it with his presence. “If you handcuff her, I will put in a formal complaint of police brutality.” The sheriff and Brady eyeballed each other for a few seconds until Brady finally scowled, but dropped his arm.

Aria hadn’t really taken to the sheriff on the few times she’d met him. But this morning she could’ve kissed him.

“This way, Miss Cusack,” Brady said stiffly, pointing toward the door.

“I’m going to organize you a lawyer,” Jude said loudly from behind Brady. “Don’t say anything to anyone until that lawyer gets there. Do you understand?”

“Yes.” She craned her neck to look around the bulky form of the detective, catching a last glimpse of Jude’s anxious face.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Everything happened at what felt like warp speed after that. She only had time to grab her jacket from the hook by the door before she was bundled out into the freezing cold and led toward a police cruiser parked at the top of Jude’s driveway. Dawn should be breaking around now, but dark, oppressive clouds covered the sky, and there was no sign of the sunrise. Naomi had mentioned that the first storm of the season was forecast for today. It was earlier than usual and predictions warned it might be a bad one. But Aria had no time to worry about late fall cold snaps as Brady got into the back seat with her and one of the other Missoula police officers drove them silently through the streets. But they didn’t go to the sheriff’s office, as she was expecting.

“Where are we going?” she asked numbly.

“You’re going to be questioned at the Missoula Police Station,” Brady replied, not even turning his head to look at her, and his words hit her like a blow to the chest. He was taking her away from everything she knew. There would be no friendly faces in Missoula. No Susan to save her from the endless interviews, no Sheriff Buchanan to pull on his mustache and keep Brady in line merely with his presence. No Jude to come to her rescue. Just her, in a cold, sterile, antagonistic room with no one who believed in her.

The rest of the forty-five-minute trip was completed in silence beneath the low, sullen clouds.

Once they arrived, she was escorted to a room deep inside the police station with only a metal table and chairs, gray walls with no window, and the red light of a camera mounted high on the wall blinking at her like an eye. Exactly the type of room she’d expected. Here, she was left alone, with no explanation as to how long she’d be here, or what would happen next. They removed her jacket, took away her phone, and checked her pockets. She huddled in the cold chair, arms wrapped around herself, and waited. And waited. What was going on out there?

She began to pace, not able to sit still any longer. Was Brady doing this on purpose? Hoping she’d get so agitated that she’d break and tell him everything in the first five minutes? And was Jude organizing a lawyer like he’d promised? Her mind was a maelstrom of worries and visions. But time and time again, the same image kept settling in her mind. The look on Jude’s face when he’d found out she was pregnant.

It wasn’t quite the same look Beau had given her when she’d told him. Back then, she’d been naïve enough to think that Beau might’ve been pleased with her surprise news. Or at the very least, if not pleased, perhaps stoically accepting. Accepting that he was going to be a father, telling her that he would support her and the baby. Perhaps they’d even get married. Aria hadn’t wanted to get pregnant, it’d been the last thing on her mind, in fact. Nor had she thought much about marriage. Even though she’d been dating Beau for over a year, and they’d been living together for nearly that long, she wasn’t really sure where the relationship was headed. She loved Beau, and she thought he loved her, but they were both caught up with their busy lives. But she’d missed a period, and she was always as regular as clockwork, so she’d taken a test and was flabbergasted to find it positive. It was straight after she’d been laid off from her job, and it felt like the world hated her right then. It’d taken her a few days to work up the courage to tell Beau.

The look on Beau’s face had been hard for Aria to comprehend. So many emotions had flickered across it. He’d just returned home from work and she’d been waiting for him, seated at the kitchen table. She offered him a beer, but when he asked her why she was only drinking water, she’d blurted it all out, then sat nervously waiting for his reply. She’d expected him to have to work through the same emotions she’d had when she first found out: shock, despair, anger, elation, and finally acceptance. And she expected he might need a few days to process.

But Beau’s first and only reaction had been one of anger. How dare she let this happen? He wanted nothing to do with this baby, or her. This was her problem, not his. He probably wasn’t even the father anyway, he’d shouted at her. She needed to get out of his house before he did something he might regret.

She’d been so hurt and surprised; it was like he’d set off a bomb underneath her world. She’d packed her things and jumped into her car and sped away without a single thought as to where she was going or what she would do next. Which was how she’d ended up back in her hometown a month later. Driving aimlessly all over the country wasn’t getting her anywhere, and she’d run out of options.

Jude’s face, however, hadn’t been full of anger. There’d been betrayal, hurt, surprise, disquiet, but also resolve. What did that mean?

She hoped he didn’t think she’d slept with him just to entrap him. Because that’d never been her intention. All she’d wanted was some of the human comfort he was offering. A chance to feel loved and needed, if only for one night. To be close to someone without having them judge her.

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