Page 73 of The Outpost (Jamison Valley 4)
“She’s fine. Well, she’s not fine. She’s stressed about the wedding, but other than that, she’s all good.” His face softened as he talked about his fiancée.
“Then what’s going on?” Beau asked.
Silas shook his head and frowned. “We had a visitor in town today.”
“Oh, no,” I said at the same time Beau cursed. “Was it Ivan?”
“No. It was a guy from the FBI. He showed at the sheriff’s station and spent the better part of the morning talking to Jess. He suspects you’re either in Montana, or were. He said he got a letter from you a while back postmarked from Wyoming. Sounds like he’s trying to trace your footsteps and guessed you’d come here.”
I nodded. “It must be Henry Dalton. We got word to him months ago that I was alive. He’s the FBI agent I sent all of my evidence against the Federovs to before my flight from Seattle.”
“Well, he’s been fairly insistent he talk to Felicity but Jess is stalling him. We could all lie, play it off and tell him you were here but left. Or we could arrange for you to meet him in a safe spot. It’s your call.”
It wasn’t all that surprising that Henry had tracked me down. We’d been friends in Seattle and he knew how close I was to Felicity. It made sense he’d come looking in her hometown. What concerned me most was why he’d come calling now. I’d disappeared months ago.
“Why is he here now? Do you think something happened with the case?” I looked between Silas and Beau for an answer.
“I didn’t talk to him,” Silas said. “All I know is that Jess spent the better part of his day checking this guy out and then keeping him occupied at the station so I could come up here and talk to you.”
Without any information as to why Hen
ry was here, I didn’t have much of a choice. Something had to be wrong if Henry had come looking for me now and I had to know why he was in Montana.
“How would this meeting work?” I asked.
“We’ll pick a spot in the country,” Silas said. “Jess will bring Henry and I’ll bring you.”
“Okay.” My fingers found a lock of my hair. “Let’s arrange the meeting.”
“I’m coming.” Beau’s tone was final.
Silas nodded. “I didn’t expect you’d sit this one out.”
A nervous knot settled in my stomach, making it hard for me to take a full breath.
“All right,” Silas said. “Let’s go. Once we hit cell service, I’ll call Jess and tell him where to meet us.”
We wasted no time getting in Silas’s truck and driving down the road. I was grateful for Boone being in the back seat with me so I could keep my hands busy by petting his head.
Beau turned around from the front, reaching over the console to set his hand on my knee. “It’s going to be fine.”
I nodded. “I just want to find out why he’s here. Do you think he’s here to tell me I can come home?”
“I don’t know, Shortcake.” His thumb drew gentle circles on my skin even as he turned back to the front.
We rode in silence for most of the trip, bumping along the slow track. My mind was spinning, and no matter how many deep, calming breaths I inhaled, nothing was easing the nervous sickness in my stomach. Finally, I’d had enough of the quiet and started peppering Silas with questions about the wedding.
“Did the seamstress finish Felicity’s dress?” I asked. “Her last letter said she was worried it might not be ready in time.”
Silas nodded. “Yeah. She got it yesterday.”
Silas and Felicity were getting married in less than two weeks. Felicity had been keeping me apprised of the wedding details with letters she sent with Beau each week, so even though I couldn’t be there in person, I was still a part of planning her special day.
“Good. And Rowen is all set to be the flower girl?”
He chuckled. “She’s ready. Gigi’s brought her over twice now because Roe insisted on practicing with Felicity. I guess having Jess pretend to be the bride and practicing at the farmhouse wasn’t good enough.”
I smiled, wishing I could have seen that. I’d never met Jess’s wife, Gigi, or their daughter, Rowen, but from everything Felicity had told me about her niece, nothing about Silas’s story surprised me.
