Hooked (A Romance on the Edge Novel)

by Tiffinie Helmer

  She nodded and let him escort her outside. She could use some air.

  They walked for a bit in the tall grass behind the cabins, to where the ground leveled onto the flat lying tundra. Yellow buttercups bloomed over the thick, spongy ground, while bees buzzed in a frenzied attempt to gather nectar before the end of the short summer. The breeze blew enough to keep the mosquitoes and gnats from bothering them.

  “Are you all right?” Aidan asked.

  “I will be.” She tried for a reassuring smile, gave up and hugged her arms around her middle instead, ignoring the slight pull of the stitches in her shoulder. “I can’t thank you enough for what you did today, Aidan.”

  “I didn’t do more than what anyone else would have done if they’d been in my position.”

  Sonya disagreed. If it had been someone like Chuck Kendrick there instead of Aidan…

  She was ashamed that she hadn’t acted quicker herself. She’d frozen like ice at seeing her brother fight for his life as the nightmare of the past faded over the present.

  Aidan brushed the side of her uninjured cheek with his fingers, bringing her back from seeing Peter struggling in the cold, deadly water.

  “Hey, it’s okay. Peter’s fine.” When she didn’t move away he slowly wrapped his arms around her. He rubbed her back, being careful not to touch around the healing cut on her shoulder, and spoke soothing words until her breaths grew even.

  It felt good to be back in his arms. Comfortable. She’d missed him, or at least missed what could have been. She let her head rest against the space where his neck met his shoulder, not caring that the action knocked her ball cap to the ground. She breathed in his scent of dark sea breezes and stormy skies. She used to love curling into him and having his strong arms wrap around her, like she was the most cherished thing he’d ever beheld.

  “Sonya,” Aidan said her name on a groan, his lips brushing against the side of her neck.

  Encouraging Aidan was wrong. No matter how good it felt to be held by him again, she had to stop this. She’d thought she’d shut the lid on her feelings for him. She guessed some had slipped out when she hadn’t been looking.

  “Aidan—”

  “Sweetheart, don’t push me away.” Aidan tightened his arms around her, his grasp desperate. “Just let me hold you.”

  “I can’t do this, Aidan.” Her throat thickened with trepidation. Or was it regret? She wasn’t sure. “Please, let me go.”

  Aidan breathed deep, and for a moment, she feared he wouldn’t release her. He stepped back, still grasping her upper arms in his calloused palms, his grip loose, being careful with the still-tender cuts on her arm.

  “I’ve changed, Sonya.” His dark eyes bore into hers, as though pleading with her to believe him. “You don’t have to be afraid of me anymore.”

  She saw remorse, longing, and sincerity. Could he have changed? If so, was she willing to risk it?

  “Heard you had some more trouble.” Garrett’s voice—hard and sharp—cut through her musings.

  Sonya jerked in Aidan’s embrace, seeing Garrett over Aidan’s shoulder. She immediately took in the uniform, the shades hiding his ice-blue eyes, and the gun at his side—his hand resting right next to the butt of the handle. Without a doubt he didn’t like Aidan’s hands on her or the situation he’d come upon.

  She stepped away from Aidan, who’d stiffened when Garrett had interrupted them, his hands falling away from her. Personally, she was glad for the interruption. She felt like fog had rolled in over her brain when Aidan had touched her. She needed time to clear it out and see the lay of the land.

  “Yes, we had some trouble,” Sonya said, keeping her voice calm, feeling like she was caught between two opposing forces. “Peter went for an unscheduled swim.” She moved to stand between the two men. The testosterone thickening the air was enough to send a wandering wolf hightailing it to higher ground.

  “Is he all right?” Garrett asked, not relaxing his stance.

  “He’s fine,” she answered, unsure how to dispel the situation.

  “Do you think it was an accident?” Garrett raised a brow. His questioning brow directed toward Aidan.

  “Hey!” Aidan took a threatening step toward Garrett.

  Sonya pushed her palm against Aidan’s chest. She so did not want to be caught like a bone between these two men. “Garrett, Aidan saved Peter’s life.”

  “Convenient.” Garrett had yet to move. He stood there like a damn predator waiting for an excuse to attack.

  Aidan pushed against Sonya’s restraining hand. “Why you—”

  “Enough!” Sonya yelled. “This isn’t about Peter. Neither of you have a claim on me. So knock it off.” She dropped her hand from Aidan’s chest. “You want to go all caveman? Fine, but I’m not sticking around to watch.” With that she stomped around Garrett with the intention of leaving both men standing there on the tundra.

  “Sonya,” Garrett’s low, warning voice brought her to a quick stop.

  She turned back and faced him. “What?”

  “I want to know exactly what happened today.”

  The way Garrett said “exactly” told her there was no way she’d be stomping off. Garrett looked at Aidan. “Keep yourself available. When I’m done speaking to Sonya, I want to talk to you.”

  “What?” Aidan scoffed. “Like don’t leave town?”

  “If you want to look at it that way.”

  “Garrett, this is ridiculous,” Sonya said, surprised that she was coming to Aidan’s defense again. First the gunshots when he’d shot at the Albatross and now this, what was with her? Aidan had saved Peter’s life when she hadn’t been able to move. She owed Aidan more than she could ever repay. “Aidan is a hero.”

  “Then why the delay in telling me what happened out there today?” Garrett raised that damn eyebrow again. She wished she could see his eyes, instead of her reflection in his mirrored sunglasses. It was like talking to a machine.

  “Fine.” She gestured wide with her arms. “Where do you want to do this? Here? Or down at the station?” Was there even a police station located in South Naknek?

  “Here’s fine. Unless you’d prefer—”

  “No.” She sighed. “Let’s get it over with.” She glanced at Aidan. “Give us a minute, will you?”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah.”

  Aidan looked as though he was ready to wrestle the big, bad fish cop for her if she asked. Aidan rescued her fallen hat and dusted it off before handing it to her. The thought warmed and made her uncomfortable as Garrett watched their interaction.

  “Thanks, Aidan.” Sonya didn’t glance at Garrett as she slipped on her ball cap.

  “I’ll be in the cabin.” Aidan said. “You need anything I’m just a holler away.” He sent a warning look toward Garrett that bounced off his State Trooper getup.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Just as he was making headway with Sonya, the damn fish cop had to go and show up.

  Aidan plodded his way to the cabin. Leaving Sonya in the company of the trooper itched like dried fish scales on his skin. When he’d first seen Garrett Hunt, he’d known the man was trouble.

  Sonya practically smoldered with sexual curiosity whenever she looked at Hunt. That sexual energy was supposed to be directed at him.

  She was his.

  He understood that he had things working against him. He didn’t come from a settled, loving family like she did. That didn’t mean he couldn’t provide for her. He made a decent living. His graphic novels had garnered a lot of attention lately. He knew things were financially tough for Sonya. Raising Peter on her own couldn’t have been a picnic. She’d have more help from her grandparents, if she asked for it. His Sonya wasn’t the type of woman to ask for anything, which was a large part of her appeal. She didn’t appear to need anyone. He wanted to change that. If given the right circumstances, Sonya would need him. Today he’d made progress in helping her realizing it.

  That was until Hunt had shown up wit
h his accusations. If that trooper had her doubting him, he’d—

  Aidan stopped in his tracks. What was he doing? This wasn’t who he was. These thoughts weren’t his. Sonya wouldn’t respond positively to his manhandling her again.

  If he laid a hand on Hunt, Sonya’s sympathies would be with Hunt. The trooper was right now, talking trash about him. Trying to place the blame on him for what happened with Peter today.

  Good luck with that. He smirked. Sonya had seen Peter get hit with the brailer. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. It had been an accident. Pure and simple. It wasn’t an accident that he’d been close, though. He’d been staying “close” for days. It was a good thing he had. Close enough to step in when he’d seen what had happened.

  Having Lana with him had been a godsend. Peter couldn’t keep his eyes off her. His cousin was worth her weight in distraction. She didn’t even know the blessing she’d added to Aidan’s cause. Hunt could try his best to pin this latest accident of Sonya’s on him. Aidan hoped he made a good case, because Sonya would surely side with him.

  At present, he was her hero, and he was going to stay there.

  The feel of her back in his arms was like a soothing ointment. He wanted her back. Wanted the feel of her sweet body next to his. Wanted to lose himself inside her again, and experience that feeling of utter peace and contentment she’d brought him.

  The second they were alone, Garrett advanced. Sonya stood her ground, though she could swear it shook under her feet. It wasn’t fear that had her quaking in her shoes. Hell, she didn’t know what it was, but it made her blood pump faster in her veins. She couldn’t call the sensation all that unpleasant. Though feeling anything for the man after he’d basically told her she was too much trouble for him, grated on her nerves. Much the way an out of tune instrument always caused her to flinch.

  “Are you sleeping with him?” Garrett asked, his tone low, menacing.

  “What?” His question knocked her off balance. “What does that have to do with what happened today?”

  “Answer the question.”

  What right did he have to ask? He must have read something in her expression for he growled her name in warning.

  “Not anymore,” she bit out.

  “When? When did you stop sleeping with him?”

  Now he was getting plain nosey. “Not that it’s any of your business, but last summer.”

  “You’re fooling yourself if you think it isn’t any of my business.”

  “Excuse me?” she huffed. “You can’t just…just—”

  “Tell me what happened today.”

  She took off her ball cap and slapped it against her thigh as she arranged her answers. He had her so off balance she didn’t know where to begin. “It really was an accident. The brailer bag swung wide and Peter was in its path.” She smoothed her hand over her ponytail and donned her cap, careful of the bandage at her hairline, and pulled the ponytail through the opening in the back. As though in slow motion, she relived the terrifying scene in her head.

  “Don’t get caught up in what could have happened, Sonya. Just tell me what did happen.”

  “The tender pulled up the brailer, and it hit Peter, knocking him overboard.” Her voice broke, but Garrett continued to regard her silently until she pulled it together. She quickly bypassed the fear of praying for Peter to surface and rejoined the facts as they happened. “Aidan pulled him out of the water and brought him back to camp while I finished tendering the fish.”

  “Where did Aidan come from?”

  “Aidan didn’t have any part in this, Garrett. He saved Peter’s life.”

  “I don’t believe in coincidences, Sonya. Where did he come from?”

  “We’re both fisherman, Garrett. He must have been in line to tender his fish too.”

  “Were there fish in his boat?”

  “Well…no. I don’t think so.” Sonya scratched at a mosquito bite on her arm. “He must have just finished tendering before I started to.”

  “Did you see him in line?”

  Sonya thought about the long wait, bobbing on the waves, as fishermen tendered in front of her. “Uh…I’m not sure.”

  “Okay, that’s enough for now.”

  Sonya laid her hand on his arm. “Garrett, Aidan didn’t have anything to do with Peter falling overboard. It was an accident. They happen.”

  “I don’t like the feel of this.” Garrett whipped off his sunglasses and wedged them in the opening of his shirt. “My gut’s telling me that you’re in serious trouble.” He wrapped his hand over hers where it rested on his arm. “You’ve had too many ‘accidents.’ Peter could have died today. You need to watch out for Aidan.”

  “I have no delusions where Aidan is concerned. He helped us today, and I’m grateful, but that doesn’t mean all is forgotten.”

  His eyes bored into hers. “What do you mean by that?”

  “Nothing. Now, is there anything else I can do for you, officer?” His hand tightened over hers as she tried to yank it free.

  “I’m not the kind of man who falls for the brush off. What’s between you and Aidan?”

  “Nothing,” she repeated. “We’ve already been over this.”

  “Fine.” His expression hardened. “What was between you?”

  The man wasn’t going to let it go and in order to end this conversation and send him on his way, she would have to give a little. “Aidan’s always been sweet on me. Last summer we fell together.”

  “Fell together?”

  “I thought I could love him, okay.”

  He flexed his jaw. “Thought you could?”

  She yanked her hand free and he let her go. She paced away from him, bent to pick a yellow flower, and raised it to her nose. “We fit, at least initially. We enjoy the same things. Value the same things. But…”

  “But?”

  She turned back to him. “Will you stop that?”

  “Stop what?”

  “That. Repeating what I say, making it a question.” She slapped a mosquito, and then flicked the bug off her arm.

  “Sonya, I’m a cop, which means I’m a detail kind of man. You’re damn good at giving half-truths. You want me to stop. Better start giving me full answers.”

  She stared at him and then gritted out, “Aidan and I just didn’t fit.”

  “What happened, Sonya?”

  She huffed out a breath. “We fought over me wanting to drift. Among other things.”

  “Why?”

  She tossed the flower aside. “That’s just it. I don’t know why. I don’t understand why a fisherman wouldn’t want to catch as much fish as he can. Believe me, I know getting into drifting isn’t for everyone. First, it’s a hell of an investment. I’ve been fishing out here all my life and I wanted more. To me, investing in drifting made good sense.”

  “Aidan didn’t see it that way?”

  “No, he refused to understand that I believe the risk is worth the return. Or will be. He wouldn’t see my side of it. He wasn’t willing to compromise.”

  “Neither were you,” he pointed out.

  “Why should I be the one to compromise? Because I’m a woman?” She threw her hands in the air. “I’ve dreamed of doing this all my life. So did my dad. He’d been geared up to drift when…”

  “When?” he prompted.

  Waves of sorrow swirled in the air around her. Was the past repeating itself?

  “When he was killed.” Sonya shook her head trying to clear it. “My dad’s death has nothing to do with Peter going for an unscheduled swim.”

  “Sonya.” His voice changed, became softer and had the effect of her fearing what he had to say next. “Wes was found unconscious and the Double Dippin’ adrift.”

  “What? Is he—” She couldn’t voice the question, didn’t know if she could handle the answer.

  “He’s going to be fine. Wanda checked him over and released him. He’ll have a hell of a headache, but he’ll be okay.”

  Sonya released a breath, but her hands
shook. “What happened?”

  “The details are sketchy. From witness accounts we’ve been able to put together the following scenario. Someone boarded the Double Dippin’ when she was tied at the cannery’s dock, hit Wes over the head and then cut the boat loose. The boat drifted free until it ran into the Miss Julie II. Treat jumped aboard the Double Dippin’ and found Wes. That’s when we were notified.”

  “Where are Wes and the Double Dippin’ now?”

  “She’s beached about a half mile from the cannery. Wes is back onboard waiting for the incoming tide. I’ve already checked the boat over, but you’ll want to have a double look.” He took a step closer to her. “Kendrick’s slipped from our radar. We’re looking for him right now. In the meantime, who else might have it out for you, Sonya?”

  Her eyes slid to the side and then back to his. “I don’t know who would do something like this.”

  “Yes, you do. Who were you thinking of just now? Harte?”

  “No, absolutely not. Aidan wouldn’t be behind anything like this.”

  “As much as I’d like to question Harte regarding this, he happens to have a damn good alibi.” His lips tightened. “All this went down about the time Peter fell overboard. Unless Aidan had help, like his father or uncle.”

  “While I can’t see Aidan as a party to this, I wouldn’t put it past Cranky or Crafty.”

  “What would they have to gain?”

  “Cranky wouldn’t have to gain anything. He just likes to make life miserable for people. Crafty, on the other hand, would have an agenda. He always has an agenda.”

  “What would his agenda be?”

  “I don’t know. You’d have to ask him. No one understands how that man’s mind works.”

  “What history is there between you and Kendrick?”

  “Kendrick’s a son of bitch. He likes it when bad things happen to good people. He likes it even more if he’s the cause of it.”

  “What would he have against you or your family?”

  “Listen, the only one who has something against Kendrick would be me.”

  “Why you?”

  “Do we have to start in with the questions again?”