CHAPTER 2
Aiden stayed to help the sheriff secure the broken front door with a few scraps of plywood they’d scrounged from a back room. It should be good enough to hold until morning when Lily would be able to call for a repairman.
Lily left shortly afterward, and though Aiden was a willing escort, she insisted on driving herself home. Brave woman and goddamn resourceful. He admired her but still cringed when he thought of what his man, Chrome, had had to endure that evening. Poor bastard, done in by a pot of decaf. Aiden would probably have to pay him extra—danger pay. He laughed at the thought. It really was kinda funny. Lily was more than he’d bargained for—a hellcat of a redhead—and probably would have been able to handle Chrome without his help.
Now that Lily was out of earshot, Wilkins fixed Aiden with a death stare. “What the hell are you up to, Aiden?”
Aiden looked around and tapped his cell. “Give me a minute to get to my car.”
He slid behind the wheel of his truck in the parking lot of the Higgstown Diner and fished his already ringing phone from his pocket.
“OK, so what the hell did you do?” came the voice on the other end.
Aiden smirked. “My job.”
The sheriff wasted no time getting to the point. “Your guy spilled. Told us about your arrangement. That’s not what we’d planned.” Agitation colored Wilkins’s voice.
“I couldn’t explain with Lily right there, and it was a brilliant way to meet the lovely and charming Ms. Valier in person, don’t you think? Bet I’ve made quite the impression.”
“You were supposed to lie low for a few days before making contact,” the sheriff chided. “Makes me doubt my decision to bring you in on this. Tell me you’re not a loose cannon, Aiden.”
Aiden smiled. He wanted to laugh but had no intention of digging himself in deeper. He was the man police departments around the country hired when their investigations hit a brick wall. Especially ones like this—small-town sheriff and only one deputy with homicide experience.
“Lily’s quite a looker, sheriff.” Of course, he’d seen pictures in her file before he’d actually met her, but they hadn’t done her justice. Yet it was more than Lily’s beauty that caught Aiden’s attention back there in the diner. It was how she carried herself. So feminine and seductive without even trying—the way her hands, with their long, tapered fingers, moved so elegantly.
The sheriff was quick to respond, “Don’t go fallin’ for that woman. Ya hear me? Keep it official. Just get the proof we need to put her away.”
“I know why I’m here.”
“You met Lily and now she thinks you’re a hero, but what the hell am I supposed to do with that guy you hired? What’s his name?”
Aiden laughed. “Street name’s Chrome, but his real name’s Dave. Can you house him in your jail for a night? I’ll stop by to pay him and then he can get outta town tomorrow.” Aiden didn’t wait for a reply. “Anyway, thanks for your help with this. I’d better get back to the cabin. That is if I can find the damn thing in the dark. Could you have found me anything more secluded? I feel like a freaking mountain man in that place.”
“Shit,” was all the sheriff said before hanging up.
Aiden gave his phone a wry smile then tucked it back into his jeans. Guess he’d be a city boy masquerading as a country bumpkin for a while, but he was glad for the challenge.
He took another glance at the Higgstown Diner before driving away.
* * *
Aiden’s new home was an authentic log cabin. How long he’d be in town he didn’t know, but what did it matter? There was no one back home in Chicago waiting for him, not even a pet. He was accountable to no one and liked it that way.
Aiden got to work building a fire in the huge stone fireplace and soon had a roaring blaze. He found a coffee maker in a cupboard, brewed a cup of java, grabbed hold of his beaten-up leather travel bag, and settled onto the couch to enjoy his handiwork. A niggling voice reminded him just how nice it would be to share this moment with someone special. “Aw, shut up,” he said aloud and stuffed the thought away.
He unzipped the bag and pulled out his files. It took a moment to find the one he wanted—an old case involving a woman who’d skipped town with her eight-year-old daughter, dropping everything to get away from her abusive husband. Her name was Connie. Aiden had been hired by Connie’s mother to find her before her shithead of a husband, or the cops, did.
His heart tore in two every time he thought of the case. It was the only one he’d failed at. The only one where the bad guy beat him. Looking now at the picture of a smiling Connie and her little girl, he felt the warmth of tears begin to form in his eyes and pinched them away. Never, he vowed, never would he screw up a case again.
Morning came too quickly, and Aiden awoke bundled up on the couch. He hadn’t bothered to go up to the bedroom loft, just pulled the throw from the back of the couch over himself and nodded off. He’d slept in his clothes and was grateful he’d had the presence of mind to toe off his boots first.
An uncomfortable gurgling in his stomach sent him to the kitchen in search of food, but he’d only bought a few things at the corner store when he hit town. He thought of Lily and the diner. Should he go back so soon? He was torn between duty and a niggling desire to see Lily again. He should do some surveillance first—watch her a bit, but then again, having a little chat with Miss Valier may prove valuable too.
After a little freshening up, he pulled into a parking space in front of the diner. A pudgy, middle-aged man in an untucked flannel shirt and dirty jeans was hard at work replacing the broken glass of the front door.
Aiden entered. Even the chill of the October air sweeping in through the empty doorway hadn’t kept customers away. Probably die-hard regulars. A smile unfurled across his face as the smells of frying bacon and fresh coffee swept past him, making his stomach gurgle and rumble. Customers, perched at the counter and in booths, were bundled in their coats, shoveling eggs, toast, and crispy bacon into their mouths.
After finding a spot at the counter, he looked around for Lily but saw only a harried, middle-aged waitress making her rounds with a coffee pot in each hand, one orange-rimmed, the other brown. Bangs, just a little too long, bounced up and down with her eyelids, which were covered thickly with glittery silver-and-purple eye shadow.
“Mornin’,” she said as she made her way to the business side of the counter. “What can I getcha?”
“Coffee, please.” Aiden read her nametag. “You the only one working today, Annie?”
She turned over the cup resting in a saucer in front of him. “Nah, Lily’s here. She’s just in back. Can I getcha anything else?”
Aiden pulled a sticky, plastic-covered menu from its place between the ketchup and saltshaker. It took only a second to find what he wanted. “I’ll have the lumberjack special.” He pointed at the accompanying picture of three pancakes, four eggs, a mountain of home fries, and five strips of bacon.
“Sure thing,” Annie said with a lingering gaze, her eyes narrowing just a bit. “You’re new around here, aren’t ya?” She waited a moment before turning toward the grill to start his order.
“Yeah,” Aiden answered, then swiveled around looking for Lily. Just as he did, she stepped from the back, arms filled with what looked like bags of frozen home fries. Aiden jumped to his feet and ran to help, taking them from her.
“Oh, hi,” Lily said with a startled smile. Her green eyes were even more beautiful in the light of day.
“Where do you want these?”
“Counter’s fine.”
Aiden walked back to where he’d been sitting and placed the surprisingly heavy, and very cold, bags of potatoes on the counter.
“Thanks.” Lily touched his shoulder as she passed.
Though he couldn’t feel the heat of her touch through his jacket, his skin tingled anyway. He had to remind himself to stay focused on the business at hand.
Lily began helping Annie at the grill, plucking small order sheets from the overhead carousel.
“So, looks like business is still booming,” Aiden said.
Lily turned to face him and offered a warm smile. “You’re right about that.” She took a quick glimpse at the black plastic clock over the door. “If you stick around for about half an hour, things should slow down. Then we can talk, that is, if you’d like.” She suddenly seemed shy.
Aiden nodded and raised his cup in a salute. “I’d like that very much.” He wouldn’t have been able to put away his smile if he wanted to.