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Chapter Fourteen

After a night shift that went a little longer than normal, Logan changed out of his uniform and headed upstairs to the detectives’ squad room. He hoped to catch Amelia and see if she’d talked to AJ yet about the text messages. He may be at odds with his wife, but he couldn’t knock the feeling that something terrible was afoot.

And after all, she was still his wife. He couldn’t forgive her, but he still loved her. Always had, always would.

He hit the top stair into the lobby of the police station, and the front door opened. AJ walked in.

The animosity he’d grown accustomed to feeling at the very sight of her was MIA. The lack of that emotion left him not sure how to respond.

She scanned the space and locked eyes with him. She almost seemed to smile.

“Hey.” His voice was raspier than he expected.

She walked toward him. “G’morning. How was your shift?”

He shrugged. “Nothing out of the ordinary.”

“In your line of work, that’s a good thing, I think.” Her soft chuckle tugged on his heart.

“Here to talk to Amelia?”

AJ nodded and glanced toward the squad room before looking back at him with furrowed brows. “You didn’t send me groceries, right?”

“No.” Time for his brows to furrow. “What happened?”

“Mind coming with me, so I can tell you and Amelia at the same time?”

“It’s why I came up. Of course I didn’t know you’d arrive right now.”

A mischievous glint flashed through her eyes. “What? Not keeping tabs on me like my stalker?” But her face fell at that last word. “I have a stalker, don’t I?”

“It’s beginning to sound like it. Let’s go talk to the detectives.” He motioned to the door, yearning to reach out and touch AJ’s back as they walked but equally repulsed by the idea.

He scanned his ID and held the door for her.

Amelia sat at her desk by the window and waved them over. She had only lived in Hazel Hill for three years or so and likely didn’t know their history, probably didn’t even know they were married. She greeted them and told them to sit. Logan let AJ have the chair beside Amelia’s desk and snatched a second one from nearby.

AJ told them about the groceries she’d received that morning and the text that had come shortly after. “They were exactly the groceries I got last week.”

“When you saw Daryl? And me?”

AJ nodded.

“Did you talk to Daryl before you saw him at the register?”

“Yeah, he cornered me in the aisle right after I talked to you.”

Amelia asked, “So he could have seen the items in your cart?”

“I was carrying a basket, and I doubt it. It was all a little haphazard in there.”

Logan chuckled. “She’s not a put-everything-in-neat-rows kind of person.”

“He’s not wrong,” AJ said.

Amelia smiled. “Talk to me about Daryl. You’ve mentioned him a few times. You said he drove by last week. And you had a run-in with him at the grocery store. Tell me how these things are significant.”

Logan swallowed. Maybe he should leave. “Do you want me to go?”

AJ’s head snapped toward him. The pain in her eyes was unmistakable. “No. You can stay. I appreciate having you here.”

He nodded. “Okay.” Not that he was sure he could stomach talking about this again.

Adam Jamison, Amelia’s partner, joined them. Logan stood and shook his hand.

Adam said, “It’s good to see you guys. Are you …?” He pointed back and forth between AJ and Logan.

“No, we’re not back together. I’m here to …” He honestly didn’t know why he was here.

AJ finished the thought. “Because he’s the protective type and doesn’t like that someone is harassing a person he once loved.” She then looked at Amelia. “Logan and I are married, though separated. I had a brief affair five years ago with Daryl.” She sat back with a puff of air.

Logan cringed. As much as he hated hearing the words, he also hated hearing the pain in her voice.

Amelia said, “I’m sorry. Have you had any contact with Daryl in the last five years?”

AJ shook her head. “No. I mean, I see him around on occasion, but I’ve gotten pretty good at avoiding him.”

“I hate that I have to ask some of these questions, but it’ll help. Who broke off the affair?”

“I did. I hated it. I didn’t want it. But I had been stupid and lost myself for a moment. Your next question will probably be about his response. It wasn’t good. When I told him it was over and I wanted to be with my husband, he kind of blew up. Threw a few things—not at me—and called me some nasty things, but that was that. I haven’t really talked to him since. But at both of the recent run-ins he suggested we ‘reconnect.’” She shuddered.

Logan rolled his shoulder. This conversation was terribly uncomfortable. He wanted to find Daryl and put a bullet in him for ever touching his wife, but Logan wouldn’t do that. However, if that man ever did touch her without her wanting him to, Logan might have a change of tune.

Adam sat back in his chair and gave Logan a look like he knew exactly what went through Logan’s mind. Adam shook his head disapprovingly.

Logan shrugged.

Adam sat forward and clasped his hands together. “Sounds like we have a solid suspect. Let’s dig into things a little bit. Amelia filled me in earlier. May I see your phone to try and recover the deleted texts?”

“Sure.” AJ pulled her phone out of her pocket and handed it to Adam.

Amelia took some information from AJ to access her phone records. Adam and Amelia would dig into finding the identity of the texter. If it was Daryl, they would go have a talk with him.

Logan said, “I still can’t figure out how he knew what groceries to buy. Even if Daryl saw your basket. I saw it, and the items were piled on top of each other. Wait, did you use your store card?”

“I did. I want the sale prices. Thinking maybe he hacked it?”

Logan nodded.

Adam said, “It’s possible. We’ll look into that too.”

Logan and AJ thanked the detectives and left together. He yawned as they walked into the lobby.

“Long night, huh?” AJ asked.

“I didn’t get as good a nap yesterday as I had hoped.”

They stopped walking near the door.

AJ turned to him. She wanted to say something; he could see it in her eyes. So he waited. He needed to stop and listen for once.

“Thanks for being beside me in this. You have no idea how much it means to me.”

He kept his eyes locked on her deep blues.

“Does this mean we’re talking again?”

He looked down at their feet. “For now, I guess.”

“I really am sorry for everything. I hate what I did.”

He met her gaze again. “I know. At least I’m starting to realize that. But I don’t know if I can ever trust you again.”

“I don’t know what I can do to prove myself to you. I’ve changed, Logan.”

“Can people ever really change?”

“By the power of Christ, yes. Added bonus if they have the love and support of family and friends.”

They hadn’t been able to change their behavior before they were married, and as soon as times got tough, she fell into the same old sin. But had she changed?

“Have you been with anyone else?”

“No.” The definitiveness of the word caught him off guard. “I may have messed up with Daryl, but I promise you I will never be with another man except you, if you are ever willing to have me back.”

He just stared at her. She wanted to come back to him? Even after he was so nasty when he kicked her out of the house?

She reached out and gripped his upper arm. “I still love you and always will.” She let her hand drop. Turning, she walked away until she reached the door. Before pushing it open, she looked back at him and smiled.

He stood there like a blubbering fool, watching her walk away. She was an enigma. She’d betrayed him so completely, but somehow he now felt like he was the one who had betrayed her. Had he? Was he just as guilty? Had he driven her into another man’s arms? Was his unforgiveness a betrayal to his vows?

Half an hour after leaving Logan gawking in the lobby, AJ wandered into the fire station. She couldn’t go home; she was restless after a week of sitting around. She needed to do something. She was supposed to be working today, so she might as well come in and putz around some.

“What are you doing here?” Seth’s tone was playful.

“I’m bored.” AJ still wasn’t sure what to think about the new guy. He was young, cocky, and good looking, and he knew it. Eventually, life would catch up with him and cut him down a notch. But as far as she knew, he’d had a very blessed childhood. His dad was pastor of a big church in Winston-Salem, and his parents were the picture of a beautiful marriage.

Seth laughed. “I believe it. I’m sure Ty will let you clean the toilets.”

She shot Seth an annoyed look, which increased his laughter.

She went into the living area and found Ty in his office. “Please give me something productive to do. You know research says getting back to work is important to healing from a concussion.”

Ty looked up from his desk and set his pen down. “I distinctly remember telling you to take two weeks off, and then we would get you back into work.”

“I’m feeling so much better. No headache today, and I can focus on things now. A week was enough.” She didn’t want to tell him being home might make her an easier target for her apparent stalker.

“Fine. Only fifty percent of normal station tasks that don’t involve a ladder or climbing on anything. No calls. Nothing strenuous or taxing.”

“Yes, sir.” She gave him a sloppy salute.

“And no overnight. Daytime hours only. You need rest—solid sleep to heal.”

She nodded. Not that she relished the idea of sleeping in an empty apartment while Zara worked the night shift. The more she thought about it, the more those groceries coming into her house felt like a violation of her space.

After leaving Ty’s office, she went to the checklist they kept on the wall by the kitchen—routine tasks that needed to be done. Seth wasn’t joking about the bathroom. It must have been quiet this morning.

She cleaned the bathroom, then helped with lunch prep. A call came in, so she completed lunch on her own while everyone else went out.

An hour later, the crew came back and collapsed at the table set with lunch.

She sat with them. “Tell me what happened, so I can live vicariously through you all.”

Brennan said, “Another cop’s house got hit with arson.”

“Another? There have been others?”

“Yeah, Caleb said their trash can got lit up last Tuesday. Then Sergeant Fain’s house was hit on Thursday, again started in a trash can, but the side of the house caught because no one was home. It was out before too much damage was caused. Then today’s call was at Officer Wells’ house.”

AJ asked, “Trash can again?”

“Yep, but it was too close to his car, and that lit up.”

“What is going on?” She crossed her arms. Was Logan in danger? Will? Zara?

Don, a firefighter ten years her elder, said, “That’s the question. It’s supposedly a bunch of teens, but why? Amelia caught one of them, but he didn’t talk other than giving up his partner in crime.”

“Has anyone gotten hurt?”

Emily said, “Thankfully, no. But if this continues, someone is going to end up hurt or worse.”

AJ’s stomach flopped. Cops being targeted. The three people in the world she cared about most were officers. Protect them, Lord.