Page 141 of Ozzie

“I do. With the FBI running this, it will work.”

I guess John’s parents aren’t familiar with laws or really never thought he’d get caught. By bringing me to that house in New Jersey, they crossed me over state lines. Based on that, the FBI took over.

I’m glad Durango’s so confident about this because I’m not.

“Do you really think John will confess that he killed me to the insurance agent? I don’t get what good any of this does.” I’ve thought about it on repeat since getting stuck here without much else to do.

Yes, John will be at the sting today with his parents. The fact that John didn’t stay in jail boggles my mind. He violated the terms of his bail. But the store owner where he shoplifted a candy bar said she wouldn’t pursue him. My gut says his parents paid off the owner somehow.

“I’ll tell you afterward what happened. Just know there is a plan in place. I can’t say much more.”

I nod.

Durango wraps his arm around my shoulder. “I can’t imagine how hard this must be for you. But trust me, I won’t rest until that man and his family are behind bars.”

I hug him back. “Thank you. Now, can we talk about something else to help me take my mind off of this?”

He leans back and smiles at me. “Of course. What do you want to talk about? Baseball? The guys at the office?”

“Willow.”

His smile drops. “Oh. Yeah, Willow.”

“Huh, you don’t look happy when you say her name.”

He leans back and stares at the ceiling. “That’s because she’s mad at me right now, and I’m not sure why.”

“What did you do?”

His head jerks in my direction. “Why do you assume it was me?”

I arch a brow.

“Well, I told you, I don’t know why she’s mad. If I did, I’d fix it.”

I sigh. “Well, tell me about your last interaction? Because while you’re a great guy, sometimes you can miss things.”

He stiffens. “I don’t miss things. Reading people is part of my job.”

I place my hand on his arm. “Before you get all defensive, I know you can read the bad guys. What I’m talking about is women. Willow said she had a crush on you all those years ago and you didn’t know, right?”

He sighs as his shoulders relax. “No, I didn’t have a clue.”

“So, can you admit you might need help when it comes to Willow?”

“Yeah, I need help, and this isn’t something I want to talk to the guys about.”

“Okay, so what happened?”

He covers his eyes with his hand. “This is embarrassing, and you can never bring it up again.” He turns to me, removing his hand. “Understood?”

“Understood.”

“She asked me if I would take her to my gym. I agreed. It was supposed to be a nice, relaxing time.” He sighs and glances over at me. “I did something stupid. And before you judge me, I was trying to impress her.”

I turn sideways to watch him speak. His cheeks are flushed, and whatever is coming is both hard for him to say but also enlightening. He never opens up like this. Not to me anyway.

“I wore tight workout pants. I thought they made me look good, and I was trying to impress her.”

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