Page 22 of Stay With Me (Griffin’s Den #2)
TWENTY-TWO
Noah
“She seems to really like school. Don’t you think?” Luna asks me.
“Yeah, and Cassidy is enjoying teaching her this summer. She’s smart and is catching on fast.” I reach across the console to grab her hand, bringing it to my mouth to kiss the back of it.
Lacing our fingers together, she smiles and looks at our joined hands as I lower them to the center console.
“As I help her with some of her homework, I’ve wondered how I would have done in school.”
I squeeze her hand. “You would have been just as smart. The older I get, the more I realize that you only learn so much in school, and most of it doesn’t prepare you for the real world.
While I think school is important, a lot of the skills you and Jess have put you leagues above the rest of us.
I mean, you guys made butter the other day from scratch, and it’s the best tasting butter I’ve ever had. ”
“I still can’t believe you’ve never had real butter before, and you thought the store-bought stuff tasted good,” she mumbles.
I just laugh before shifting the topic. “I’m going to reach out to the FBI agent today when I get back in. Are you okay with me setting up a time for you to chat with them?” I ask cautiously, knowing how nervous she is to bring them in.
“You think it’s a good idea?” she asks softly.
“I do. They have resources I don’t have, and if you talk to them, between what you know and what they know, we can better gauge the level of danger you may be in.”
She clears her throat. “Do you think they’ll throw Jess and me in jail?”
I glance over at her and see her knee bouncing. “No, neither of you has done anything wrong.”
She takes a deep breath. “Okay. If you think it’s a good idea, I’ll talk to them.”
“Just think, once we get that settled, we’ll get you a birth certificate and your other identification needed, then we’ll get you your GED. And if you want to go to college, we’ll enroll you in some classes,” I tell her as I pull into the bed-and-breakfast.
“I never really thought about actually going to school. What if I take some web design classes and don’t like them?” she says as I park the truck.
“You don’t have to choose right away. Hell, some people change their mind several times before they finish school.”
She nods and goes to unbuckle her seat belt. I pull my hand from hers to remove mine and go to open her door.
As she slides out of the truck, I admire how beautiful she is in a simple T-shirt with the bed-and-breakfast logo on it, black leggings, and a pair of tennis shoes.
She looks at me, and her green eyes sparkle, a smile taking over her face.
I brush a stray piece of blond hair out of her face that never seems to stay in the braid she always wears.
“You have to go to work and keep the town of Griffin’s Den safe,” she tells me.
“I know, and you have to keep the guests of Griffin Farm’s Bed-and-Breakfast comfy and fed.” I squeeze her shoulders.
She rolls her eyes. “My job isn’t as important as yours.”
“I beg to differ. If the guests aren’t happy here, they might be inclined to do illegal things, and then I’d have to work a million hours with stacks of paperwork and court dates. You’re the real hero here.”
I tilt her head up to give her a goodbye kiss, and she meets me halfway. I fight the urge to deepen the kiss as her lips touch mine even though she tries.
Pulling away, I kiss her forehead. “Have a good day at work, my Lunabella.”
“Stay safe, Noah. Have a good day.”
She walks toward the front door, and I shove my hands in my pockets, watching her.
With her hand on the doorknob, she turns and looks at me. “Can you let me know when you’re off the phone with the guy you’re calling? I want to know how it goes before Jess is around.”
“Of course. I’ll call you soon. It’ll be okay, I promise,” I say, knowing I’ll do everything I can to keep that promise.
Once she’s inside, I walk around to the driver’s side of the truck and hop in to head to work.
I walk back to my office with a cup of coffee and sit at my desk, thinking about last night. That was the best date I’ve ever had, and I know it was the last first date I’ll ever go on.
I need to remember to call my mom after calling Elijah. I want to touch base since I haven’t talked to her about Jess and Luna moving in. I make a note to check my calendar to see if she’s in port.
After setting my phone on the desk, I dial Elijah’s number and turn on the speakerphone. It takes two rings before he answers.
“Hunt.”
“Hey, Special Agent Hunt. It’s Deputy Noah Andrews calling you back from Griffin’s Den. How’s it going?”
“It’s going. I was wondering if you were going to call me back, or if I was going to have to call you.”
“I had to talk to my girl. It’s her story to tell, and I wasn’t going to make it happen until she was ready.”
“And you’re sure she said she came from The Family?”
“Yeah, her and her sister.”
“Do you know any more than what you told me before?”
“All I’m willing to say is that Luna moved to town just about a year ago. She works here in town with a local family. When we were celebrating her birthday at the local bar, I got a call that a young girl was at the police station asking for Luna.”
“I take it Luna was surprised when she found out.”
“Honestly, I thought we’d have to take her to hospital because of shock.
Of course, because a child was involved, we had to call CPS, and some of the story came out when it came to the fingerprinting and background check.
Luna admitted she didn’t have identification.
It was my turn to be shocked, but once I saw how scared she was of being separated from her sister, I stepped in as the emergency foster until we could get her identification sorted.
We agree that it’s time she meets with you, but it’ll only be Luna first. We’ll decide after if you need to talk to Jess. ”
“She’s really brave. Leaving couldn’t have been easy, and for Jess, it had to be even harder. Have you gotten either of them set up with a therapist?”
My respect for the man just went up tenfold. I haven’t worked with the feds often, but you hear about both good and bad experiences. He could have demanded more information, only interested in closing a huge case. Instead, he asks if they’re seeing a therapist.
“Yeah, Jess recently started, and Luna is waiting for a spot to open up with a therapist.”
“Good, it’ll help them.” He blows out a breath. “So I have both good and bad news. Which one do you want first?”
Suddenly, extremely nervous about what he’s going to say, I answer, “Good.”
“My team and I can be down there in two or three weeks. Maybe sooner, but let’s plan for that.”
“Okay, I’ll make sure we’re prepared.”
“Now, the bad news. The Family is in the wind. I’ve never seen them leave the area like this, and I don’t believe they plan on coming back because they burned the whole camp to the ground.”
I shoot up in my chair, and my heart rate picks up. “How long have they been gone?”
“We got the tip yesterday from the fire department after an investigation showed that it wasn’t a natural wildfire.
The fire itself happened several weeks ago.
I have my profiler working on it. My best guess is they aren’t happy a second person has run away, and they’re moving to try and keep themselves safe if Jess talks to the cops.
Or worst case, they’re coming looking for her. ”
“A bonus of living in a small town is that the second someone steps out of line who isn’t from here, we’re notified. I’ll make sure my sheriff knows.”
“Small towns are good at getting fast information in most cases, but the lack of food options leaves much to be desired.” He laughs.
“I used to feel the same about the food options. I had a hard time adjusting after coming back from college.”
“Yeah, I imagine that would take some getting used to. Anyway. I’m going to brief my team and get the travel plans ready. I’ll text you once it’s set. In the meantime, we’ll touch base if we hear anything strange.”
“Sounds like a plan. I look forward to meeting you, Special Agent Hunt.”
“Just Elijah. Talk soon,” he says and ends the call.
Taking a deep breath, I process what he told me.
Is there a possibility The Family is heading this way? If so, how will I keep my girls safe?
He could be right about them moving so Jess couldn’t disclose where they were and have the cops investigate.
Luna’s going to be upset when she hears this. So I choose to give her a basic update until we get home.
Opening our text thread, I think about what I want to say for a moment before deciding.
Me: Hey, baby. Just got off the phone with Special Agent Hunt
Lunabella: How did it go?
Me: We had a good chat. But would rather talk about it later in person because I have to head out for my round of patrols. Okay?
Lunabella: Is it bad? I’m nervous now?.?.?. But if you would rather talk about it in person, I’ll trust you. Be safe and text me later.
Me: It could have gone worse. And I’m always safe.Talk soon
I stand and go to Mike’s office to give him a brief rundown of my conversation and work on plans A, B, and C before I head out on my patrol route.