Page 80 of The Moment They Can Never Forgive
She cut him off. “I could have found this and not told you. But I did. You owe me for that at least.”
He sighed. “I think your dad was some kind of middleman for something. He stored stuff here, then it was moved on, and he was paid for that.”
“What kind of stuff?”
“Not sure about that yet.”
Leah knew he was being deliberately evasive.
She’d watched Dan be a cop a lot over the years. He’d even taken her into the cells once because she’d been too drunk at the Rollaway the week she reached the legal drinking age. She soonrealized there were two sides to him. The side that was funny, loving, and yes, kind with his family. Then there was the no-nonsense cop who could be a hard-ass when he needed to be.
“You know how to crack this?” He tapped the safe with the toe of his boot.
“Hilarious, but it was my father who was the criminal, not me.”
“I never thought you were a criminal, Leah, just in case you believed otherwise.”
“Whatever. What do I do now?”
He straightened and faced her. She’d always braced herself when he looked at her because Dan Duke had been the one person who really saw her. Not the sassy, smart-mouthed girl who’d grown up tough because she’d had to, but the girl who’d craved someone to hold her. To see through her bullshit to what was beneath. He’d been that to her for a short while.
“I’m going to call in my uncle now. He needs to see this place and read these papers. He might see something down here that I missed. We need to take photos and notes. Are you good with that?”
She nodded. Her stomach felt queasy now. What had her father been up to in here?
“I’ll follow you out and wait for him up there. You’ll want to check on Hudson, and then maybe you should sit down because you’re pale,” he said.
“I can look after my nephew,” Leah snapped back. “And my head is fine, so I don’t need you telling me what to do.”
“I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that I’m not your enemy, Leah.”
He was right, and she knew that. “I know, sorry,” she said hating herself for being defensive, but it was how she’d always survived. “It’s just a terrifying thought that my father was up tomore than just what he was arrested for. It worries me what is in that safe.”
“I know, but you’re not alone in this. Now let’s go up, and you can check on Hudson while I wait for my uncle.”
She turned and walked up the stairs before she said anything else to annoy him. She couldn’t behave rationally around Dan Duke, so it was best to just stay silent.
Leah walked out of the barn and knew he was following because she could hear the crunch of his big boots on the path.
“Hey, Uncle Asher. I need you to come out to the Reynolds place. There’s stuff you have to see here in one of the barns.”
Leah kept walking while he talked to Sheriff Dans until she found Hudson, who was still in the chicken coop, talking to the hens and Pickle the rooster. Outside, waiting patiently, was Benny.
“Hey, bud. You all done?”
“Yes. I put the eggs there.” He pointed to a container outside the coop.
“Nice work. We can do some baking later if you want? Get some more practice in.”
She’d baked another batch of chocolate chip cookies and a banana cake since Dan had helped her that day. Her attempt at chicken fried rice had gone down well too. They’d watched a few more tutorials, and Hudson had combed through his nana’s recipe books for things he wanted them to try.
“Lemon cookies,” he said in that gruff little voice of his.
“Shouldn’t you love chocolate chip more?”
He shook his head, that sweet smile playing around his lips that made her chest ache. “Mom made those, and they’re good.”
“Okay, so I need to find a recipe for those, then.”
