Audrey
After Trevor dropped that bomb on me, he turned and went to his office, leaving me alone with my brother to pick up the pieces. It officially made sense why he’d asked me to hold off on this conversation until today.
Ryder pulled me into his arms, resting his chin on top of my head. “This is ...”
“A lot,” I whispered, cheek against his chest, his jacket still on but open. I could hear his heart thrashing loud, pulsing in my ear.
“Maybe he’s wrong.”
“Trevor’s never wrong. It’s an annoying trait of his. Always being right.” Well, when it came to these kinds of things, at least. “Is he suggesting, though, that someone came to my house in search of something of Mitch’s? They broke in for that reason? Why now?” I had a million other questions, but from the sounds of it, only one man currently had the answers.
This was becoming as messy as it was complicated.
Ryder backed up and let me go, searching for my gaze. “You’re not crying. Are you in shock?”
I frowned. “Shock? Um, I mean, of course. Mostly yes.”A little bit of no.
His forehead tightened as if preparing for something he didn’t want to hear. “What is it?”
“Hey,” Reed called out, saving me from spilling my guts. “You two good? Ready?”
Ryder and I looked over at him, and I started his way without another word. I wasn’t ready to open up yet—not right now. Not after what Trevor had shared. I needed time to process.
Once we were all gathered in the office, the first person to grab my attention was Alex. He had his back to the room, arms folded, eyes out the window and on the mountain view.
As if sensing I was there, he slowly turned, arms falling to his sides in the process. There was a pained look in his eyes, which had me believing Trevor had quickly shared the Mitch news in my absence. I wasn’t clocking sympathy from him, though. Nor pity. More like understanding.
“Ready?” Beau, in classic Beau fashion, stepped into the middle of the room while removing his hat, signaling that it was time to get the show on the road.
The door softly clicked shut behind me as Ryder remained at my side.
“Start from the beginning, please.” My voice came out like a strangled whisper as I went over to the armchair by the closest wall of books and took a seat, deciding that’d be the best course of action for Trevor’s revelations.
Alex remained a quiet and now unreadable statue by the window, and Reed joined him, leaving only my brother and ex-husband in my direct view.
“Talk,” Ryder prompted while taking off his jacket and tossing it on the second armchair next to me.
Trevor went over to his desk and picked up a folder. “After Mitch died, something didn’t sit right with me. There were red flags. Whispers of shit on base. I poked around and wound up poking the wrong bear. Pissed off some people.”
Typical of you. Not surprised there. I gripped the chair’s armrests, bracing myself.
“What didn’t sit well with you?” Ryder asked him.
Trevor glanced at my brother, then over at Beau as the sheriff put his hat back in place. “Two months before Mitch died, his close friend Arlo turned up dead deep in enemy territory.”
“He was captured?” Reed asked in a terse voice.
Trevor shook his head. “No, if Arlo was over there, he went willingly. Well, at first, at least. Clearly something went wrong. The rumors ... it was rough on his family. He was labeled a traitor. Not publicly, but in our circles he was seen as a disgrace to the uniform. To our flag.”
He gave us all a second to digest that before continuing.
“I believe the same people who took out Arlo were responsible for killing Mitch, because I think Mitch may have been double-crossing our country, too.” Trevor lowered the file to his side, resting it against his jeaned thigh. “For some reason, the government didn’t want anyone to know about it. Maybe they were worried about the fallout if another decorated pilot went rogue like Arlo, so they covered it up.”
“What evidence do you have to substantiate any of this, or is this all speculation?” Ryder was probably hoping to defend my deceased husband’s honor on my behalf, thinking I’d want him to.
“It’s a working theory, but I’m doing my best to confirm it as soon as possible. I’m still running leads.” Trevor held up the file folder. “There was just no way I could stay in the navy and worry half a world away that one day something Mitch had been into might come back and hurt you or my son. So I hired someone to—”
“Wait.” I bolted up and approached him, not letting him continue. “You were having us followed after he died, weren’t you? I felt like I was being watched back in Virginia. I even told you about it. You made me think I was paranoid and losing my mind.”
