No One But You (Silver Springs #2)(92)

“What if he pretends to find something that isn’t there?” Sly asked.

“What are you talking about?” Thomas snapped. “Why would he do that?”

“Who knows? Maybe they’re paying him a little extra.” Sly focused on Sadie. “Get rid of the investigator, too, or I’m not making any deals with you.”

Sadie couldn’t go that far. If he set the fire, it wasn’t safe to leave him out on the streets. Even if she could get free of him, what would happen to the next woman who became part of his life? “I’m sorry. It’s too late for that. He’ll be here today—in just another hour.”

“You could meet him at the property and send him away.”

“That’s true.” She adjusted her purse in her lap. “But I won’t. I have to do this for my own peace of mind. You say you didn’t do it. I’d like to believe you. But I can’t take your word for it. I need to see what he has to say.”

He kicked over a can near his feet. “You’re so full of bullshit! You come here with my boss, pretending to offer me an olive branch, but you’re still going after me.”

Thomas lifted one eyebrow. “She’s not going after you. She’s going after the criminal who set fire to her house, right?”

Sly flung out a hand. “You’re taking her side?”

Thomas stared him down. “You know what? You’re really starting to piss me off. She’s offering you a fair deal. I suggest you take it.”

“You couldn’t possibly understand all the nuances between us,” Sly argued.

“I don’t need to,” Thomas said. “You’re essentially divorced. She has the right to move on. And you’re going to let her do it. Furthermore, if you set that fire, you’re going to prison. It’s that simple.”

Although Sadie had always suspected Sly was the culprit, she was never more positive of it than in that moment. Something about his expression gave him away. But when he quickly recovered and shouted, “I had nothing to do with it!” he was so convincing.

Was she wrong?

She wanted to believe she was. She just couldn’t.

“Good. Then you have nothing to worry about,” Thomas said. “So we can leave, knowing that you’re going to leave both Sadie and Dawson alone in the future. Is that true?”

“Of course,” Sly grumbled, now sullen, but Sadie knew then that she’d wasted her time coming here. Regardless of what he told Chief Thomas, Sly wouldn’t back off. Maybe he would’ve appreciated her concessions on the restraining order and the divorce if he didn’t have something much bigger to worry about. But he did. He had the fire. And if the truth came out, he’d lose everything that mattered to him, including his freedom.

As Sadie walked out, she realized there was no telling what he might do. She’d never had more reason to be frightened of him.





24


Dawson heard his name and turned to find a petite woman with a long black braid and skin like burnished copper standing at the edge of the field, trying to get his attention. Aiyana. He’d called her this morning, to thank her for sending Eli and Gavin over to clean, even though he wouldn’t let them, and to tell her how things had gone with the state yesterday—that Ms. Strauss was tentatively in favor of letting Angela come home. But his onetime school administrator had been busy and hadn’t been able to talk more than a few minutes. She’d said she’d call back, that she really needed to have a longer conversation with him.

Evidently, she’d decided to swing by the farm instead.

He didn’t mind. He’d missed her—just didn’t realize how much until he saw her beaming at him. He should’ve reached out to her as soon as he was released from jail. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t.

Stopping his tractor, he wiped the sweat from his face, climbed down and walked over so that she wouldn’t have to come through the loose dirt in order to speak with him. “Hey, look who’s here! Silver Springs royalty,” he said.

“Oh, listen to you,” she responded with a laugh.

He was too dirty, wouldn’t have made physical contact, but she didn’t give him a choice. She grabbed him as soon as she could reach him, dirt, sweat and all.

Clasping her to him, he swung her around. She was the closest thing he had to a mother these days, so he wasn’t in any hurry to break the embrace. He closed his eyes and smiled to himself as she gave him a convincing squeeze, one that felt a lot like “I love you.”

“It’s good to see you, especially looking so fit and handsome,” she said when he put her down.

“Fit? Is that how I look?” he said with a laugh. “I was thinking dirty might be more appropriate.”

“Okay, dirty but strong as an ox.”

He bent to knock some of the dust off the bottom of the long, colorful skirt she wore. “Maybe that hug wasn’t such a good idea.”

She made a sound that signified she wasn’t concerned. “Who cares about a little dirt here and there? I’ve washed these clothes before, I can wash them again.”

“You’ve always been able to focus on what’s important.” Without her perspective, and the fact that she’d entered his life at such a critical juncture, he wasn’t sure what he’d be like today. She was the one who’d helped him make sense of the world, who’d taught him to live a more disciplined life. She’d also facilitated his adoption by the Reeds—had approached them with the idea of taking in one of her “boys” with the promise that she had the “perfect” one in mind.