Desperate Measures (An Aspen Falls Novel) Page 17

  “I don’t mind.”

  “No.” Her tone was forceful. She swallowed a couple of times. “Look, I just need some time alone for a few minutes. To…to process.”

  “To process what?” he asked. But he had a feeling he knew. To process what had happened between them.

  He hadn’t been able to get a read on her this morning. He’d woken to her hand on his hair, but she’d quickly shifted gears. Was she in self-preservation mode? Maybe he’d misinterpreted her touch. Maybe it hadn’t been tender at all.

  “Just…everything.”

  She was being evasive and they both knew it.

  He wanted to press her, to see if he could glean how she was feeling after the night they’d spent together. Had it affected her the same way it had him?

  Alex hadn’t intended to sleep with her. Despite his attraction to her and the desire building inside of him, he wasn’t going to step over the line he’d established.

  Cam was the one who’d made the first move. And he’d asked her, repeatedly, if that was what she wanted. She’d answered.

  And the ensuing hours had blown his mind.

  Because everything he’d felt for her all those years ago had come rushing back at him tenfold.

  It was a complication he hadn’t expected. It was one he didn’t need.

  But it was definitely one he found himself wanting.

  She grabbed her purse and turned to go.

  “Are you going somewhere else?” he asked, nodding at the bag she’d just slung over her shoulder.

  She busied herself with her purse, digging through it as if she was searching for something.

  “Just need to make sure Grandma doesn’t have any bills that need to be paid. I help with her financial stuff and…and I forgot to ask her about it last night.”

  He noted the air of nervousness around her.

  Something wasn’t right.

  He sat up straighter. “Cam, what’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” This time, she looked him squarely in the eye. “Like I said, I just need a little time to think. And I need to go see Grandma. And I definitely need coffee.”

  He stared at her, still unconvinced.

  “That’s all,” she said. “I swear. I’ll be back in a little bit.”

  “We’ll talk then?” he asked.

  “About what?”

  “About this.” He motioned to the bed he was in. “About us.”

  She swallowed. “Fine. We’ll talk about us.”

  She turned and left, and Alex fell back against the pillows.

  Us.

  It was a foreign word to him.

  One he wasn’t sure he wanted—or deserved.

  Because despite his feelings for Cam, he kept coming back to the one thing central to his current situation.

  There couldn’t be an ‘us.’

  There could only be him.

  31

  Tuesday, September 11th

  8:45 am

  Cam was with Grandma for less than five minutes.

  Just long enough so she could say good morning—and make sure everything she’d just told Alex wasn’t a complete and total lie.

  As soon as she left her grandmother’s apartment, she headed for the double doors that led outside. She hurried to the car, yanking her phone out of her purse as she used the key fob to unlock the door.

  “Blaine.”

  “Cam?” His friendly voice was laced with confusion. “You still sick?”

  “No. I mean, yes.” She jammed the key into the ignition. “I need you to do me a favor.”

  “Uh…okay.”

  She pulled out of the lot and navigated toward the highway. “Can you pull up info on former officers with the Bentley PD?”

  “Bentley?” he repeated.

  “I’m looking for a guy named Travis.”

  “Does this have something to do with the BOLO from this weekend?”

  Blaine was a good cop; she’d give him that. But she wasn’t giving him answers.

  “Just let me know what you find. I need a last name and an address, if you can find it. Thanks.” She ended the call before he could ask more questions.

  She set the phone in the cup holder and accelerated through the green light and onto the ramp that led to the highway.

  Her plan was simple. Find Travis.

  Because if there was someone who might be able to provide answers—and who wasn’t currently connected to anything with Alex—it was him.

  She’d made the decision to try and find the former officer as soon as Alex had told her about him. The night she’d spent with Alex hadn’t impacted her decision in any way.

  That wasn’t completely true, she realized. It had actually solidified her decision to track this guy down. This Travis guy was the only person she could think of to talk to who might be able to provide a clearer picture of the Bentley police department, and who would perhaps know how to get in touch with other individuals who could provide even more information.

  Her phone buzzed and she glanced at the caller ID before she picked up. She’d only been gone from her grandmother’s building for less than ten minutes, but she knew her cover wouldn’t last long. Eventually, Alex would wonder where she was. She didn’t know how he’d gotten her cell number—she’d forgotten to ask—but the fact that he had it meant she would probably be receiving a call from him soon.

  She wasn’t looking forward to it.

  This time, though, it was the outgoing number from the station.

  “You have it for me?” she asked.

  Blaine’s voice didn’t respond.

  “What are you doing?” It was Nate.

  She muttered an expletive. Why the hell couldn’t Blaine have done what she asked him to do without getting Nate involved?

  “I need to talk to Blaine,” she said curtly.

  “Yeah, well, he’s not available.” Cam could picture the steely look in Nate’s eye, the firm set of his jaw as he held the phone against his ear. She could tell from the sound of his voice that he wasn’t happy.

  “He was getting me info on someone,” she said.

  “I know.” Nate sighed. “Tell me what you’re doing, Cam.”

  “It’s complicated.”

  “I bet it isn’t,” he countered. “This has something to do with the Castillo guy. You’re digging.”

  “Those were hypotheticals,” she reminded him.

  “Oh, cut the bullshit,” he growled. “Tell me what’s going on.”

  Cam hesitated. She wasn’t sure how much she wanted to share with Nate. She’d given him a general overview when they’d had coffee at Lulu’s, but she’d gone light on the details. And she hadn’t said a word about Alex being with her or the guys showing up at her house.

  “Fine,” she said with a sigh. “Alex told me about a guy he used to work with. Travis something. I figured he might be a good guy to touch base with, see if I can get any details out of him.”

  “What kind of details?”

  Cam had all sorts of plans. She wanted to know if the official story of Travis’s resignation was the real one. She wanted to ask him about the sergeant in charge of the gang unit. And she wanted to ask him if he had more info on Necco. Because she knew that the kid was the key.

  “Just stuff about the department,” she said. “I want to see if there’s any validity to the version I’ve heard.”

  “Which is…?”

  “I told you.”

  “No, you gave me hypotheticals,” Nate reminded her. “I want details.”

  She made a face. “I’ll give them to you. Later. Right now, I need to talk to Blaine.”

  “Blaine gave me the info,” Nate said.

  Hope sparked inside of her. “What do you have? Last name and address?”

  “Details.”

  “Dammit, Nate, I don’t have time to wax poetic on what I’m doing,” she snapped. “I have a finite period of time to get up there. If he’s even in Bentley anymore. We can talk later. I swear, I’ll fill
you in on every last detail.”

  The line buzzed.

  “You’re lucky I have a dentist appointment,” he finally said.

  “What?”

  “A dentist appointment,” he repeated. “I’m leaving now for it.”

  She would have clapped her hands with glee if one wasn’t firmly attached to the steering wheel. She was off the hook with him. For now.

  “I’ll tell you everything later,” she promised. “I’ll…I’ll buy you a beer. You and Sally.”

  He grunted. “Bingman.”

  “What?”

  “He’s your guy. Travis Bingman.”

  She committed the last name to memory. “And an address? Is he in Bentley?”

  “Close enough. Rosedale. It’s a hamlet just outside the city limits.” He rattled off an address.

  “Can you text it to me?” she asked.

  “You’re driving there now, aren’t you?”

  She thought about lying.

  “Yes,” she finally admitted.

  He sighed. “You know Kellan is gonna freak when he finds out you’re out digging around on an investigation he knows nothing about, right?”

  She swallowed. “I’m not on the clock.”

  It was a weak defense and they both knew it.

  “Still. You’re doing police work. Outside your jurisdiction and without approval from your superior.”

  “It’s unofficial,” she said weakly.

  “Yeah, and hypothetical.” The sarcasm was heavy in his voice.

  “All I’m looking for is information,” she said. “I’m not going to do anything with it today.”

  “Well, I would hope not. From what you told me, this Castillo guy has multiple people interested in tracking him down. People who might not take too kindly to anyone nosing around and asking questions.”

  Cam’s throat was tight. She wished she’d grabbed the cup of coffee she’d told Alex she was getting. “I know,” she said. “I’m just going to see Bingman. That’s it. If I get anywhere with him, I’ll come up with a plan.”

  “And where is Castillo right now?” Nate asked. There was an edge to his voice. “I assume he’s not with you.”

  “No. He’s safe.” She purposely didn’t elaborate.

  “I don’t give a rat’s ass if he’s safe,” Nate gritted out. “The person I care about is you.”

  Her gut tightened.

  “Don’t do anything stupid, Cam,” he warned. “Go see this guy, since you’re so hell-bent on doing that, and then get out. We can come up with a plan after you talk to him. Me and you and Kellan. And whoever else it makes sense to involve.”

  He ended the call, but Cam kept the phone clutched tightly in her hand. Nate’s words had had an effect on her. Yes, he’d been a hardass, but the true tone of his words wasn’t lost on her.

  He was worried about her.

  Her phone vibrated in her hand, startling her. It was a text from Nate. The address.

  She clicked on the hyperlink and it opened in her maps app. It was forty minutes away.

  She leaned back in the driver’s seat and eased her foot harder on the gas.

  All thoughts of Nate and his words of warning dissipated.

  Her primary focus became finding Travis Bingman.

  And getting answers.

  32

  Tuesday, September 11th

  9:15 am

  Alex was dressed.

  Waiting.

  For coffee.

  And for Cam.

  He glanced impatiently at the clock on the wall. She’d been gone a good twenty minutes.

  His instinct was to panic. How long did it take to pop in, say good morning to her grandmother, and then bring back coffee? Not twenty fucking minutes.

  He expelled a breath. He knew he was being unreasonable. Cam had gone down to see her grandma. She’d taken her purse because she thought there might be some bills that needed paying. And she was going to bring them back coffee.

  She was probably taking her time for another reason, too. She’d told him as much. She needed time to think.

  Alex raked a hand through his hair as he paced the small guest apartment. He knew there was no reason to worry about her. They were in as safe a spot as they could be. To the best of their knowledge, no one had followed them from Cam’s house—and he firmly believed that they would know if someone had. Both of them were cops, and both had been trained to identify tails. The only thing they might have missed was if someone had put a physical tracker on Cam’s car, but Alex knew how unlikely that was. The guys who had shown up at her house were gang members, not mafia. They’d come to collect a bounty, pure and simple. They didn’t care who they brought back or killed, so long as they got the money attached to that head.

  She was just chatting with Isabel; that was what was taking so long. He could almost picture the two of them, Isabel in her recliner with her afghan draped over her and Cam tucked into a corner of the love seat. Maybe she was sharing a cup of coffee with her grandma first. Then she would be back.

  Alex nodded to himself.

  Yes.

  That was what she was doing.

  It had to be.

  He didn’t want to think about any other explanation.

  Because every other possibility would mean one thing: she’d lied to him.

  A chill stole over him.

  It would mean something else, too.

  She would be right back where they had been yesterday.

  In danger.

  And Alex wouldn’t have any way to find her.

  To help her.

  To save her.

  33

  Tuesday, September 11th

  10:00 am

  Cam was a few miles from Travis Bingman’s home when she finally picked up her phone. She swiped the screen quickly so she wouldn’t have to see the number of calls she’d missed from Alex’s number.

  He knew she was gone.

  She sighed.

  She’d had no doubt that he would eventually figure that out.

  But she wasn’t about to talk to him and tell him where she was or what she was doing. At least not until she had some answers.

  She went to her contacts and found the name she was looking for. She needed to line up a favor, even though she had no idea if she’d need to cash in on it or not.

  Better safe than sorry, she thought. She wanted all of her ducks in a row, just in case.

  Her brother answered on the second ring. “Don’t tell me you need another prescription.”

  “Hello to you, too,” she said. “And, no, I do not need any more drugs.”

  “Good. I still regret writing that.”

  Guilt rippled through her. “If it makes you feel better, he barely used it.”

  “It doesn’t,” he said bluntly. “It’s the principle of the thing.” He paused. “I assume he’s doing better? If he’s not taking the drugs? Or maybe he’s dead…”

  “Miguel!” She inhaled sharply.

  “Sorry,” he mumbled.

  “Look, I’m not actually calling about Alex,” she said. “I…I have a favor to run by you.”

  “Another one?” he asked. “Didn’t writing an opioid prescription for a patient I never saw count as a favor?”

  He had her there.

  “Yes, but this is something else.” The maps voice directed her to turn at the next street.

  “Are you driving?” Miguel asked.

  “Yes,” she said, distracted. She couldn’t look at her screen to verify the street number—not with Miguel on the phone—but she thought she remembered it. “This is a different favor. And I’m not sure if I’ll need it.”

  “That’s sort of…vague.”

  “I know. Just hear me out, okay?” Cam drew in another lungful of air, then slowly expelled it. “I might need a place for someone to stay, and I’m wondering if you could help me out.”

  “You want me to be Alex Castillo’s roommate?” He barked out a laugh. “No fucking way, Camila.”


  “No, no,” she said. “Not him. A kid. Necco.”

  “Necco?”

  The idea had come to her last night, too. She knew that if she managed to find this Necco kid, he wasn’t going to be safe staying in Bentley. She wanted to make sure she had a way out for him. Her thoughts immediately went to Alex, and how he’d managed to find his way out of the city—and into a better life—with the help of Mrs. K and her brother. Cam didn’t know the first thing about Necco, but she knew what it was like growing up more on the street than in a home. If she could get him out of that environment and provide him with a safe place to stay, to live…well, it just might be the out he was looking for.

  She didn’t know for sure, of course. Necco could turn out to be one of those hardened street kids who had already dedicated their life to the streets and their gang.

  But something told Cam that Necco wasn’t like that. After all, he’d helped Alex escape.

  “Who the hell is Necco?” Miguel asked. “Isn’t that like a wafer or something?”

  Cam almost smiled. Yes, yes it was a candy.

  “He’s a kid who helped Alex out,” she told him. “I think he might have some info that will be…helpful.” She chose her words carefully, remembering that her brother didn’t have all the details regarding why Alex had shown up at her house. She needed to keep it that way. If Miguel found out what was going on—and just how much danger Cam might be in—he’d likely blow a gasket.

  “And he needs a place to stay in Red Lake?” Miguel asked doubtfully. “Does he know where this place is?”

  “He won’t care,” Cam said.

  “Trust me, he’ll care.”

  Cam lifted her foot off the accelerator as she approached the first house on the dusty country road. She read the street number stenciled to the mailbox parked at the end of a long gravel driveway. 412.

  That wasn’t it.

  “I don’t have many details yet,” she said to her brother. “I just wanted to touch base with you to see if it might be a possibility.”

  “I need a hell of a lot more information before I give you an answer.”

  “What if it was life or death?” she said. “Like, if he couldn’t come to you, he might die?”