Duke thanked Halsey, too, hiding his concern at her last revelation.
“Did you catch how easy it was for her to locate us?” he asked Audrey once the teen was out of earshot.
“I know,” Audrey responded. “But that’s not the biggest issue right now.” She pursed her lips together as she retrieved her cell. “We need to meet with Sheriff Ackerman. Ask him to open an investigation and allow me to lead.”
“He would see you as too close to the case,” Duke pointed out.
“Yeah? Well, that’s not okay with me,” she declared. “This is my life, and this investigation affects me.”
“Are you buying the fact the money might have come from drugs?”
Now it was Audrey’s turn to chew on her bottom lip. Her tongue darted across, leaving a silky trail. Duke didn’t want to remember the kiss they’d shared when he needed all his powers of concentration for this case. Because it was more complicated than they first believed. He was certain of it.
Audrey issued a sharp sigh. “I want to believe the drug story. That might be wrong of me, but I’d like it to be that easy.”
Duke knew the reason. If it wasn’t about drugs, then someone might have been paying Jenson to work for them. Folks paid in wads of cash for one reason—to keep their dealings under the radar. In Duke’s experience, ninety-nine percent of those transactions were illegal.
“You should stay here for your grandparents,” Audrey said after a thoughtful pause. “I’m a distraction that you don’t need right now.”
“Until we get to the bottom of this, consider me your shadow,” Duke argued.
“You don’t have to do that, Duke. I know how much you love your grandparents, and the real reason you came home was to be with them, not me.”
“As long as they’re in a coma, there isn’t much I can do to help,” he stated. “Stopping in periodically throughout the day is just as good as sitting here. Actually, better. I feel useful out there.”
“I know, but—”
“If you don’t want my help, that’s another story,” he interrupted. “I won’t push my services on anyone. However, I’d like it very much if you’d allow me to continue to assist you. It gives me something worthwhile to do instead of climbing the walls in this hospital.”
“You know how much I appreciate your help, right?” She set her left fist firmly on her hip. “I can’t imagine doing any of this without you.”
“It’s settled then,” he confirmed.
“But if you have to beg off, I’ll understand.”
“I’m not walking away...”
Audrey shot a defensive look. He didn’t mean it that way.
“This seems like a good time to tell you that once Grandpa Lor...your grandfather and grandmother are out of the woods, I’m moving away from Mesa Point,” she informed him.
“Can I ask why?” There’d been something comforting about knowing she was back in town.
“I’m done here,” she stated. “I came here three years ago looking for something that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.”
“So you found it and then that’s it? You’re bolting again?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head for emphasis. “As a matter of fact, what I was searching for was already gone. Turns out, I’m wasting my time. But I did love being here with your grandparents.”
Was she giving up on them having a full recovery? No one could blame her if she was. Duke, on the other hand, couldn’t afford to think that way. Not with the two of them laid up in the hospital.
It was looking like he needed to call a family meeting to discuss how to care for the ranch moving forward. He had to face a fact he wasn’t willing to consider before even though the ER doctor had laid it out: his grandparents might not be in any condition to keep their business going for a long time, if ever.
Duke couldn’t stand the thought of either one of them waking up to learn the business they’d built together was no longer.
Whether Audrey stuck around or not, it didn’t change the fact his temporary leave was going to have to turn into an indefinite one.
The idea of sticking around town after Audrey was long gone shouldn’t feel like the gut punch it was. Weren’t these the memories he’d been doing his level best to avoid?
“It’s your life, your choice.”
AUDREY SUCKED IN air as though she’d been punched. “I’m sure it’ll make it easier on everyone. Right now, though, I need to call my boss and see what else he knows or if there is information he’s keeping from me.”
With that, she stepped out of the room. Staying would have been a mistake. Tears threatened, and she didn’t want Duke to see her lose control. Besides, stepping away was good when she could feel her blood pressure escalating.
Hands shaking, she managed to tap the screen and get the ball rolling on the phone call. Sheriff Ackerman picked up on the second ring as she trekked to the opposite end of the hallway. A quick glance behind her revealed Duke stayed put. Good. She didn’t need him on her heels anyway.
“What can I do for you, Audrey?” her boss asked.
“I’m curious about what you found on the Napier boy’s body when you searched him,” she said, getting right to the point.
“The best question you can ask yourself right now is how much time you need off to regroup,” Ackerman said, his voice overly kind. Which meant he most likely found something.
“Why is that, boss?”
“Because you’ve been through a traumatic event,” Ackerman said, softening his tone.
She couldn’t argue his point there. Yesterday had been one for the books. “I’m trained to handle these kinds of events,” she countered. “And I think we both know finding out the truth is the best way to put my mind at ease about what happened.”
