“Not a chance.”
Trey stared at me, mouth open like he wanted to press the issue, but I turned away from him. I couldn’t make it make sense. There was no fucking way Addie was involved. Not a goddamn chance she’d discovered what I’d done and was now blackmailing me with it. To what end? What could she possibly have to gain by outing my deepest, darkest secret?
“She’sobsessedwith you, brother. You can’t possibly be delusional enough to think you telling her to back off would be enough.”
“But I haven’t heard from her since.”
“She showed up at the state championship game the next day!” he shouted, pulling on his hair like I was making him insane. “God, Lane. Pull your head out of your ass and look at the big picture here.”
“Addie is not involved,” I said through gritted teeth, punctuating each word by slamming my fist down on the desk in front of us. “Shewouldn’tdo this.” I met my brother’s eyes again, begging him to believe me. “Sheowesme, Trey.”
“Owes you, how?”
“It’s not important. Just trust me when I say it’s not her.”
Was I burying my head in the sand when it came to Addie? Maybe. But I’d worked in law enforcement a long ass time, and I considered myself exceptional at reading people. I knew Addie, knew what she’d gone through, and couldn’t convince myself she’d willingly hurt anyone. Not when she’d endured a world of hurt herself.
Not to mention, she was a cop, and I knew she’d never betray the badge.
And she’d never betrayme. Not after everything I’d done for her.
“I think you’re blinded here.”
“How?”
“You don’t think it’s possible for someone to betray the badge like that. But corrupt cops exist everywhere, Lane. All it takes is the proper motivation to convert them.” Trey looked right at me, and I found myself unable to break eye contact—a creepy, unsettling experience. “Need I remind you, you’re not all that high and mighty yourself.Youbetrayed the badge in the name of love. Maybe Addie’s feelings for you and your subsequent rejection triggered her.”
Fuck. He had a point, but I’d never admit that. He’d nailed me with his ‘betrayed the badge’ comment, like he’d plucked the notion right out of my head.
“At least let me look into it.” He was damn near begging now, and Ialmostcaved. After eight years in the Secret Service, Trey also had a well-honed ability to read people, and he was rarely—if ever—wrong. Seeing him so worked up about this almost gave me pause.
But I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t reconcile the person responsible for all the shit happening around us with the woman who’d suffered such a great loss in her pursuit of protecting and serving. The woman who had then dedicated her life to the job to keep it from happening to anyone else.
Trey didn’t get it, and I doubted I’d ever be able to explain in a way that made sense to anyone but me and Addie.
“It’s not Addie,” I said at last. “Please just let it go.”
My brother raised his hands in surrender.
With a nod, I got up and left, pissed off for numerous reasons. How pointless this trip out here had been, how I was no closer to a lead on who knew my secret, how Trey was trying to vilify a good cop.
I tried to let it go as I drove toward the station, but the possibility that I was wrong haunted me long after that conversation was over.
thirty-one
. . .
SUTTON
“Rausch!”someone called as I walked back into the firehouse after a call, and I spun on my heel to find Crew walking toward me.
“Captain.”
He chuckled, then held his hand out, extending a large manila envelope. “This came for you with the mail.”
I studied the front surface, noting it only contained my name in a large, bold font.
Nothing else. Not even a stamp.
