The momentI walk through the doors of Blade and Arrow, my heart lifts.
My pace quickens from a walk to a jog as I hurry across the communal living room. My duffel bag swings along with my movement, bouncing against my hip. Unlike the other times I’ve come home from a job, when I’d do a quick sweep of the offices to see who was around, my attention is solely on getting back to my apartment.
Not that Noelle’s there, unfortunately. She went back to staying at her place in Williston last week, much to my secret dismay.
“I can’t hog the client apartment,” she explained. “You have other clients. People who need a safe place to stay.”
Technically, Noelle wasn’t really staying in the client apartment by then. Her things were there, but she’d been spending the nights with me since the night Indy found out about the cameras in her old rental in Portland. And after over a week of sleeping next to her—holding her in my arms, soothingher after her nightmares, sharing early morning sex and cooking breakfast together after—I wasn’t thrilled to hear about her plans to leave.
But as I held an inner debate with myself—Is it too soon to ask her to move in? Does it matter?—Noelle effectively put an end to it. “I love being here with you,” she said. “But I think it’ll be good for me to be back at my apartment for a while.”
When I opened my mouth to argue, she stopped me with a kiss. “I’m still planning on spending a lot of time here. We’ve got our weeklyWorld of Warcraftsession with Gage and Knox. Eden and Bea want to start up a regular movie and charcuterie night. Ace said he’s going to grill next weekend if the weather’s nice. Plus—” She smiled sweetly at me. “Your bedispretty comfortable. Much more than mine.”
“So you’re only using me for my bed?” I teased.
Her smile sobered. “Of course not. I love being here with you. But it’s time for me to clear out of the client apartment. And as much as I love having you close, I want to prove to myself that I can be on my own.”
Iwantedto ask her if it would make a difference if she moved in with me.
Iwantedto tell Noelle that I hated the idea of being away from her.
But it wouldn’t have been fair to push for more than she’s ready for.
Although I considered it. The first night Noelle was back in Williston, I couldn’t sleep for the worry. Was she having nightmares, but this time, I wouldn’t be there to comfort her? Was she scared? What if there was something about Ken Donaldson we missed, an accomplice who was determined to pick up where Donaldson left off?
But after combing through hundreds of files, pages of financial records, and phone logs for both Donaldson’s personalphone and the four burners he owned, we found no sign of an accomplice. It was just one perverted man with an obsession with young, beautiful women who he had easy access to thanks to his position.
In the two weeks since the police discovered Donaldson’s body, six women have been informed about the secret recordings. Five of them had no idea it was even going on, but one, like Noelle, caught him in the act. In her case, she was too afraid of his influence to do anything, so instead, she quit her job and moved across the country to work for a community college as an acting instructor.
“I can’t imagine how awful it must be for them,” Noelle told me. “All this time, and they didn’t even know. Maybe it would have been better if they still didn’t.”
Then she went quiet for a while, just thinking. “Actually, no. They deserved to know what was done to them. They deserve to know that he can’t do it again. And even if they didn’t know about the recordings, I bet he did other things. Inappropriate things. Staring. Touching. Making them feel like they had to take it or lose their jobs.”
Honestly, I’m not sure if we made the right decision. But the alternative—covering up Donaldson’s actions—didn’t feel right, either. It’s one thing tampering with evidence when it involves someone I know, and she gave permission to do it. But to make that decision arbitrarily for a group of women I’ve never met?
“We’re not the judge and jury,” Ace reminded me when I brought up my concerns to him. “Yes, we operate in the gray area sometimes when it impacts the safety of our clients and the people we care about. But the other women? It’s not our place to hide it.”
Still. I worry about them. And I know the rest of the team does, too. That’s why we’re keeping an eye on the six womenand setting up an anonymous non-profit to cover any counseling expenses they might need in the future.
As I near the hallway, I mentally reshuffle my thoughts, setting the bad ones to the side and bringing the ones about Noelle to the front. I slide my phone from my pocket to check it again, smiling to myself as I read her last message.
Just heading to work. I can’t wait to see you. It’s only been three days, but it feels like so much longer. Will you be back in town by lunch, do you think? I can save you a table if you’d like to stop by the diner. Doug made his strawberry rhubarb pie, and I can put a piece aside for you.
That was three hours ago, right before she headed to her shift at the diner. I was still in Seattle with Tyler, finishing up a consult with the same CEO I’d met with a couple months before. I didn’twantto go out of town yet, but it hardly seemed fair to put the job on one of my teammates when, really, there was no reason I couldn’t do it.
It gives me a new appreciation for how hard it must be for Rafe and Indy when they’re traveling for a job. But at least they have the reassurance of Eden and Bea living at Blade and Arrow, where they know they’ll be safe. Noelle is ten minutes away in her little apartment, with significantly less security to protect her.
Well. Imayhave upgraded her security again. And asked the guys if they’d drive by to check on her. And I gave her a custom necklace with a GPS tracker inside it, just to be safe.
Yes, I know she thought I was being overprotective when I gave it to her.
But really, can you ever be too protective when it comes to the woman you love?
Hoisting the strap of my duffel over my shoulder, I start down the hallway while typing out a quick text to Noelle.
Just got back to B and A. I’m going to take a quick shower, change, and then I’ll head over to the diner. Should be there in under half an hour. Love you.
Smiling to myself, I slide the phone back into my pocket. Then I unzip my duffel to peek inside, making sure the gift I bought for Noelle didn’t somehow disappear between Seattle and here. But no, the little stuffed newt is still sitting safely inside, the hopefully perfect companion for Bigfoot and Grizzle.
