Page 68 of Legends: Easton
Her grandmother’s assessment brought a faint smile to her lips. “I didn’t even learn all the answers. The only reason I even found Easton was because I’d been there before. I figured you, or Mom and Dad, or Adam would be targets, not Easton. Some detective I am.”
“Good Lord, Bailee Anne! You’re not perfect. No one is. Instead of trying to figure things out on your own, if you would have trusted the ones around you who care for you, you would have found more answers. The boys never stopped trying to find out what was going on. Easton is their family, so they weren’t going to be pushed to the side because you chose not to involve them.”
Bailee sighed. “I didn’t shut them out, Gran. I knew they’d find us and come for us. I counted on it actually.”
Darby Anne frowned. “So why run off? Why make it difficult for them?”
“I had to go in ahead. I had to see this through, but I counted on them figuring out where we were the same way I did. I left my phone behind so they wouldn’t track me, but they could use it tofigure out where I’d gone. I went back to your house for supplies, and I left clues that I’d been there. I bought enough time for me to do what I needed to do and for them to arrive and bring the calvary with them.”
“That was a stupid plan. It was dangerous. I’m going to have the Mayor order that place demolished. It does nothing but attract evil,” Darby Anne fumed.
“You already had it closed down once, Gran. Maybe just let it go this time.”
“You knew about that?” Darby Anne questioned.
“It wasn’t hard to figure out. I had never seen you and Pops so angry. I was certain you would never forgive me.”
Darby Anne scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous. There wasn’t anything to forgive. You going to the billiard room alone to chase some deadbeat boy wasn’t an unforgivable action. It was a mistake. We all make those many times during our lives.”
“What about getting the attention of some scumbag twice my age who almost raped me before you and Pops showed up to the billiard room?”
“No need to rehash it. It’s in the past. Right now is what we have to focus on.”
Bailee’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “Wait. You said the boys found out what was going on. What did you mean?”
“Well, you wondered who was coming after you. You already knew from the text that it was your informant’s mother. You didn’t know what her connection was to that scary guy from the grocery store. Luke found out they met in rehab.”
“I didn’t know Sabra ever went to rehab,” Bailee said thoughtfully.
“Well, it was sometime while she was pregnant. Luke said Melvin was sent there after he was arrested and his lawyer bargained with the court to send him to rehab versus jail. Anyway, she must have reached out to him after Shantayle died and the gang members went to jail. Jackson called your ATF friend, and he found out that Sabra and Melvin were responsible for that gang leader being attacked in prison. He said they were probably planning to go after Jimmy and the rest, but they were placed in protective custody. So they went after you.”
“How did they find me?” The question slipped out though Bailee doubted Darby Anne would have an answer. It was her way to think through the puzzles of a case out loud.
Darby Anne surprised her though. “English got a call from Tater about that. Sabra admitted to bribing one of the detectives you worked with in Louisville, and he snooped through the Chief’s phone and computer until he figured it out. You sure picked one hell of a place to work, Bailee Anne.”
Bailee’s only response to Darby Anne’s observation was a distracted smirk. Her mind was too busy processing the new intel to be entertained by Gran’s odd humor. “So once they found me here, they probably just followed me through town and waited for a chance to make a move. So I guess the only question then is why wait to come after me until I got to Fire Creek. Why not make a move when I visited Mom and Dad in Florida?”
Darby Anne shrugged. “Tater said Sabra was waiting until she met up with Melvin. Apparently, it took a while, and you were already here before they could get their act together. They don’t seem to be the sharpest tools in the box.”
Now that Bailee knew what Sabra and Melvin were capable of, she suspected they were smarter than people gave them credit for. She didn’t bother to correct Gran’s assumption though. Bailee settled back against her pillows with a sigh.
“So that’s it then. All that’s left is for me to testify in court. And get back to work, I suppose.”
“There will be none of that until you rest and heal. Then I think you should consider a job change. I don’t like the idea of you going back to Louisville.”
Bailee stared unseeingly in front of her. “I’m not sure I do either, to be honest.”
Darby Anne was silent for a moment. Then her expression softened. “Well, you don’t have to decide anything about that right now. There are only two things you need to worry about, and the rest will handle itself.”
“What’s that?” Bailee asked.
“Getting well and thanking those boys for what they did for you.”
Bailee nodded as she studied her Gran thoughtfully. Something in her grandmother’s face sparked her curiosity. “You knew all along, didn’t you?”
Darby Anne blinked in surprise. “What?”
“That the boys are more than simple business owners in small town America. You knew there was more to them than that. That’s why you pushed me to be friends with Easton. You were matchmaking, just not in a romantic way. You wanted me to have someone trustworthy watching my back.”
