The grapevine gotto my family before I could call anybody, and by the time I was released from the hospital, more and more people kept arriving. I let Tessa drive me to Donna’s house where we met my parents, grandparents, and too many aunts and uncles to count. We ate a bunch of pizzas delivered from McQuirk’s, and everyone babied me for more than my share of time. It was awesome.
Donna sat next to me on her sofa, finishing her pizza. “I can’t believe Aiden is with the ATF. I hope he knows what he’s in for with the family now that he’s on the right side of the law.”
I glanced to the side to see Tessa arm wrestling Uncle Sean. “I say we fix Tessa up with Nick. They’re a good pair.”
Donna reached for her wine off the coffee table. “If you’re talking to me about it, you already approached Nonna Albertini. Let her take the reins. Tessa won’t kill her, unlike you.”
That was fair advice. I ate quietly and then approached Uncle Sean after he’d let Tessa beat him, which was an impossible feat considering his muscle. Uncle Sean was tough. He was also a very successful businessperson, and I had a bunch of questions for him. We had a great chat.
My phone buzzed and I looked down to see that Aiden was calling. Trying to be as casual as possible, I slipped outside to Donna’s vacant front porch and sat on the steps. “Hi.”
“Hi. Sorry I couldn’t pick you up at the hospital.” It sounded like there was a lot of wind in the background, which didn’t make any sense.
“No problem. Want to meet at my place?” I asked, wanting to ask him so many questions I couldn’t catalog them all.
The wind grew louder. “I can’t, Angel. I have to head to the Seattle Field Office for a debriefing, and it’ll probably take all weekend. I promise I’ll return Monday night and we can have that talk then.”
That talk? What talk? I was glad I was sitting. “Are you based out of Seattle?”
“No. Los Angeles,” he said, and there was shouting in the background. Not angry shouting but shouting over an engine?
“Where are you?”
“Fairchild Air Force Base,” he said, sounding farther away than that. “I’m catching a ride to Seattle.”
I really didn’t want him to go. It was like if he left, then it was all done. I didn’t want it to be all done. “You’re not going to head undercover again and not say a word, are you?” It was like something out of a movie. One with a crappy ending.
“No.” He chuckled. “I’m just going to Seattle. I’ll call you when I land Monday night. Bye.”
“Bye,” I said softly, turning as Pauley came out to the porch and sat next to me.
He tapped on his pants in his usual rhythm and watched something I couldn’t see. “That was Aiden?”
“Yes. He has to go to Seattle to the field office, whatever that is,” I said, my chest aching just enough to give me pause. “I hope he comes back.”
“Did he say he would come back?” Pauley leaned down to make sure his tennis shoes were double knotted.
I nodded. “Yeah. I should look to see if there are any field offices here.”
“There’s one in Spokane,” Pauley said. “I don’t think it’s full time, though.” He sat perfectly straight and watched a ladybug crawl across the freshly cut grass. “I looked it up when Tessa told me Aiden worked for the ATF SRT.”
“Oh.” It figured Pauley would get to it before I could. “What did you find out?”
He set his hands on his knees. “There are five locations for the SRTs. Los Angeles, Dallas, Miami, DC, and Detroit. At least, that’s what I found on the Internet. My guess is that Aiden is out of Los Angeles?”
“Yeah.” I rubbed my stomach. “There’s no base close to here?”
“No.” Pauley blinked into the sunny day. “I texted Aiden and asked him how he started working for the ATF. I might want to do that someday, but it would be in intelligence and not tactical.”
I leaned back. “You and Aiden text each other?”
“Yes. Sometimes. He started texting me after you and I got kidnapped in June, and I text him back sometimes. We just check in.” Pauley started tapping again. “He was in the marines, was discharged, and went to work for the ATF. I find that impressive. You should not give up on him even if you have to live in different cities.”
“What makes you think I won’t move?” I asked.
Pauley thought about it. “Your family is here.”
Yeah. My family was right here. Aiden was not. I sighed. “Let’s go back inside and see if your dad wants to arm wrestle me this time.”
