Page 34 of In Hiding

“Why?”

The cop blinked, clearly surprised but Jake had no desire to beat around the bush. Wilson opened his mouth to speak, then chuffed and shook his head. “To the point, huh?”

“Did Sarah ask you to check in on me and the kid?”

“No. I’m here by my own doing, Jake, but it genuinely is to see if I can help out. Sarah is a unique woman and life has given her a bum steer. Will, too. The kid doesn’t need any more trauma in his life.”

It sounded like Wilson knew more than he let on. Had he done his homework, or had Sarah confided in him about her ex? Either explanation was plausible, but Jake suspected the first. If he’d learned anything about Sarah so far, it was that she guarded her secrets like she protected her son. Fiercely. Proudly. Like a lioness. As far as any of them knew, Jake didn’t know her past and for now, he wanted to keep it that way.

Gulping the last of his cooled coffee, he nodded at Wilson. “Something you want to tell me, Sergeant?”

Watching the man retreat was oddly fascinating. “Nothing more than already said.”

“Well, you’ve warned me against making trouble in your town, and if I hear you right, you’re now warning me against causing trouble for Sarah and Will. Sounds like you don’t trust me.”

Wilson sighed and shook his head. “You’re just like the rest of them, aren’t you?”

He didn’t understand. “Them?”

“The Shadow Soldiers,” he explained. “Ex-Army. Full of pride and courage, willing to do whatever it takes and if that means breaking the law, then to hell with it, right?”

The exasperation in Wilson’s voice almost made him chuckle. Jake moved to stand beside the cop at the edge of the veranda, noting the weeds in the garden bed below. “Which one of them broke the law?”

Wilson smiled. “Take your pick.”

After what Magnus had told him about the years following East Timor, it made sense they were hellbent on righting injustices. The difference was Jake had only ever acted for himself, never for others. If he was honest, now was no different. Finding Sarah was all about keeping himself in good stead with her brother. He was only out to protect himself, primarily because of the Great Dane.

“Mate, did you forget I did my time in prison?”

“Jake, no one offers themselves up to be put in jail. That takes courage, and you got a raw deal for it. Maximum security isn’t populated by men who made mistakes.”

While that was mostly true, it wasn’t devoid of men without morals, either. “Sarge, I didn’t make mistakes to get myself thrown in the slammer. I broke the law on purpose, many times.”

The cop conceded the point with a tilt of his head. “Maybe, but from what I saw in your record, you didn’t deserve maximum security.”

“My former employer may have had something to do with that.”

“On that, we agree.”

Jake shook his head, not wanting the cop to let him off the hook. “You’re right to be suspicious of me. Sarah, too. I’m not an honorable soldier suffering PTSD. I’m not a Shadow Soldier.”

Wilson’s blond eyebrows shot up on his forehead. “No? Then why haven’t you gone back to your old life of crime?”

He had him there.

A sly smile curved Wilson’s mouth. “I thought so. Whether you want to admit it or not, you are a changed man, but something tells me that happened before jail. Your time there only reinforced it, whether you know it or not.”

He studied the cop. They were almost the same age though the gulf of difference between them was deep and wide. “You can rest assured, I’m not here to hurt Sarah or her son. I was merely looking for a job.”

“If you say so.” He threw his hands up in self-defense. “Just saying I think there’s more to your story than you’re letting on, is all. I want to believe you’ll do the right thing, though. Is that too much to ask?”

Jake wanted to believe it, too, but what was the right thing? Could anyone tell him that? He smiled to hide his confusion and patted Wilson on the shoulder.

“I’ll see you in a couple of days, Sergeant.”

~

Climbing back into the Ranger, Neville eyed Jake Langley one last time. The former biker wanted him to believe he’d landed in Wills Crossing purely by accident, but Neville didn’t believe it for one minute. Something else had brought Langley to the Crossing. Whether it was the ever-interfering Damien McCafferty or some other ulterior motive, he determined to figure it out.

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