“Yeah. My plan was to show up, load those boxes into his truck, and then follow him to wherever he was going to actually sell them. I'd planned to call you when I got there as well as record the whole transaction.”
Zander looked up at him. “You know that was kind of a terrible idea, right?”
“You mean because of the fact that it didn't work?”
“Because you have no idea where he was going or who he was meeting,” Zander said with a frown. “What if he'd seen you? What if the guys he was with were more violent and figured out Roger had been followed? What if I couldn't get there in time?”
“I didn't know what else to do. I didn't want him just getting away with it.”
“Why didn't you tell me about meeting him out on Highway Six? I could have gone with you from the start.”
Drew leaned forward on the bench, resting his forearms on his thighs. “I was hoping I could just lead you to him and you could go in without him ever knowing I was there.”
“You didn’t want him to know you’d turned him in.”
“Right. I need him to know that when I say something, I mean it. That means if I say that I'm going to show up to meet him somewhere, I need to show to meet him. But it also means that if I tell him to fuck off, I mean that.”
“Men like this don’t have honor like that.”
“Yeah, guess not.”
“You make this sound like something that might be ongoing between you two.”
Yeah, it was going to be. He was staying. With Rory. And that meant taking on the not-so-great parts of her life too. “Well, I'm not going anywhere and I’m afraid Roger isn’t either.”
“You know, we’re very capable of keeping Rory safe. Not just me, but especially me. It’s kind of my job. If you tell me what's really going on, I'm happy to make sure she's okay when you go back to Iowa.”
“I'm not going back to Iowa. This is where I'm supposed to be.”
“Because you're worried about Rory and her dad?”
“Because I want to be with her. Her dad is an unfortunate detail in her life that I am going to have to put up with to be with her, but I have no problem with that. But, I'd be staying whether Roger was a factor or not.” Then Drew frowned and sat up straight. “Hang on, how did you know that Roger was connected to Rory? I didn't tell you that.”
“Seriously?” Zander leaned in on his desk and gave Drew a look. “I’m offended. I’m very good at my job.”
“What’s that mean?”
“It means I’m a great cop because I’m naturally suspicious. A nice guy comes to town, falls in love, and helps put Santa’s Village together one day and the next he’s out on a dark backroad with a truck full of stolen merch? Come on. Those things had to be connected.”
Zander turned his computer monitor so Drew could see it. Roger’s photo filled half the screen. The other half looked like the first of many pages of information.
Drew sighed. “How’d you know I was in love?”
Zander laughed. “Because I know Rory. She’s very loveable. And you’re a nice guy, Drew, everybody knows that. I have no doubt if they’d asked you to help out at the petting zoo, you would've been happy to pitch in. But there are literally dozens of us. We all know how to hold a paint brush and lay bricks. We could have that place put together in half a day. But not only did you jump in, but you insisted on being the only one to do it.”
“How did you know that?”
“What kind of cop would I be if I don’t at least drive by when there are lights on some place they shouldn’t be late at night? I saw you painting and laying the bricks. You wanted to be her hero. And I get it. It’s cool. But a guy doesn’t go from that to stealing toys from kids.”
Drew shook his head. “Okay, great. But that doesn’t totally explain how you knew that Roger had anything to do with Rory.”
Zander chuckled. “Well, it was all pretty suspicious. But Rory also called me and told me that you were going to meet ‘some guy’. It made sense she was worried, but she was more worked up than she should have been. It was like she knew more about the situation…or the guy you were going to meet…than she was letting on. I decided to see if anything came up if I put “Roger Robins” into the system. And sure enough, there he was.”
Drew shook his head. Wow. “Rory called you?”
Zander nodded. “I showed up to make sure you made it back to town in one piece. And when Roger didn't show up and you were there alone, I kinda had no choice but to bring you in.”
Drew narrowed his eyes. “You're talking like you believe my story though.”
“I have every reason to believe your story,” Zander said.
“Why? You barely know me. You've no reason to trust me.”
Zander looked at him for a long moment. “Well here's the thing. Paige trusts you. Tori trusts you. Josh trusts you. Mitch trusts you. And Rory not only trusts you, but she fell in love with you. And I trust all of them. So that’s enough for me.”
“You trust Rory?”
“’Course.”
“She doesn't know that. She's been trying to earn everyone’s favor and prove that she’s worthy of being a part of your group for three years.”
“Well, we’re gonna have to work on that. Having you around will be a big help.”
Suddenly the door banged open, and Ellie Landry came through carrying a big, covered cooking pot, and a paper bag.
“I hear that you arrested our guest,” she said to Zander.
“Didn't arrest him. Brought him in for a talk.”
“Then why’s he sittin’ in the cell?” She set the pot and bag on Zander’s desk.
“He just walked in there and sat down.”
Drew looked around. He didn’t need to be in the cell? He noticed there were two chairs sitting facing Zander’s desk. So he could have sat over there for their chat? Well…no wonder the cell door was open.
“Are you done with him?” Ellie asked Zander.
A tantalizing aroma filled the room, and Drew felt his stomach growl.
“I think we’ve covered the basics.” Zander shot Drew a glance. “It’d be really helpful if I had a few more details about this guy. Like maybe where he might be going or staying, but we’re good for now.”
Drew honestly didn’t know where Roger was going or where he might be staying. And he was hesitant to send Zander after Rory. She’d already called him and told him as much as she was comfortable with apparently.
He still couldn't believe she’d called Zander. That was skating very close to telling someone some of her secrets.
His heart tripped as he realized what a huge gesture that was. She had been trying so hard to keep Roger completely separate from anything having to do with the Landrys that even giving Zander a hint that she might know about something shady going on was a big deal. She really had been worried about him. That had to mean something.
Like maybe that she'd be happy that he’d decided to stick around in Louisiana.
He'd talk to his brother and cousin tomorrow, but he didn't think that Dallas and Justin would have any trouble with his decision. There would be a transition, of course, and his mother wouldn't be particularly happy, but he'd make it work.