“Is that how you know Cole?” I asked. “I’m guessing a mobster and someone who works private security are eitherbothin the mob, or you met in the military and decided to put your skills to different uses.”
“Mob life wasn’t for him,” Jude said, his humor beginning to come back.
“So youwerein the Navy together?”
“Just at the end,” Jude said. “Cole’s team—uh—they didn’t make it out. But he and his number two did. The other guy had to medically retire. Cole stayed in and was reassigned to my team. We did a couple deployments together and got out at the same time.”
There was something he wasn’t telling me. Jude rested his ass against the kitchen counter and braced his hands on the edge, but his posture was far from relaxed. It was as if invisible shackles snaked around his wrists, trapping him to the spot.
“Why’d you leave?”
Instead of answering immediately, Jude just looked out the window.
Much to his dismay, I had plenty of time to wait him out.
So I did.
“I went into the military thinking I was doing something good. Protecting my country. Making something of myself.” He dropped his head. “I left because I was just a pawn in some giant war game.”
“What drew you to your current line of work?”
“Pay’s good,” Jude said as he pushed off the couch.
“Where are you from? New Jersey?”
Those midnight eyes studied me again, the way he had when he told me his last name. “Here.”
I lifted my eyebrows. “You grew up here? In the cabin?”
Jude chuckled. “Not quite. Grew up in a little town a few hours away from here. Piss-poor area. No way out.”
“So that’s why you joined the Navy? It was your way out?”
Jude nodded.
“Being here must feel like going home.”
He glanced around the cabin. “Nah. This is better than home.”
I watched as he chewed on his lip and stroked his beard. “Whatever you’re going to say, just say it.”
He looked at my feet, then at me. “Put those sneakers on. I’ll give you the tour.”
I foundmyself reluctantly walking beside Jude, tromping through the leaves as we wound around trees, bushes, and fallen limbs. The little walk was the furthest I had been from the cabin since we had arrived. I hated anything outdoorsy, but I had to admit—it felt good to move and breathe fresh air.
The cabin was surprisingly clean, considering how often it sat unoccupied, but it was musty. The mountain air was cleansing. Birdsong floated on the breeze as we trudged through the ground cover. Jude had his hands shoved so deep into the pockets of his jeans that it seemed more like he was trying to keep his hands to himself than anything else.
“How often do you come back to West Virginia?” I asked. “You know—here or wherever you grew up.”
Rather than watching his steps, Jude was constantly checking our surroundings and looking over his shoulder. “It’s been a few years. I haven’t had much time off.”
“Does your family still live where you grew up?”
He shook his head. “I moved my parents away from here a while ago.”
“Because they wanted to move or because of who you work for?”
Jude tripped. “A little of both.”
