Jay let out a big sigh. “I agree with Aiden on this one, but I don’t think you’re going to listen to us, so if you do decide to start snooping around, you don’t need to do it alone. We don’t know exactly what’s going on here, and there’s no way to know whether it’s bigger than the sergeant’s death. I’m going to head home and leave you two to talk,” he said. “Izzy, you know you can call me at any time.”

“I do know. Thank you, Jay. For everything.” He’d been a source of strength and stability, and she thanked God for bringing him into her life. She stood and gave him a hug. A piece of her wondered if she’d be able to call him Dad one day, but she couldn’t get ahead of herself where Aiden was concerned.

Once Jay had left, she focused on Aiden.

“You know I just don’t want any more harm and pain to come to you, Izzy, but if you’re dead set on conducting your own operation, then you can count me in. Where do you want to start?” Aiden asked her.

“I don’t think there’s a blueprint for this, but as much as I’d like not to, we start with the sergeant. We do a deep dive on social media, background, anything we can find.” The prospect of coming face-to-face with more of the sergeant’s secrets was disturbing but unavoidable. She needed to do this.

“Which means we have to start asking questions,” Aiden said. “That could raise eyebrows. Are you really sure you want to do this?”

She was, because there was no other choice in her mind. “If word hasn’t already gotten out that the detectives talked to me, believe me, it will. I can handle the heat. I came clean with Marco, and he was very supportive, including offering me any time off I needed to deal with this, which I accepted. My head isn’t in the work game at the moment. The truth is the most important thing to me right now, and making sure we’re all in the clear.”

“Sounds like a good plan to me, but are you ready for what you might find?”

“What do you mean?”

“What if the answers out there are difficult to handle?”

“I don’t think we’re going to find evidence of the sergeant’s sterling reputation. In fact, I think it’s going to be just the opposite. He had an obsession with me, but I doubt I’m the first or only woman he fixated on. I bet there’s a long list of women out there.”

And that fact scared her.

“We’ll get through this,” Aiden said. “We’re a team, remember? We made that pact from day one. It’s one of the things that has made our relationship so solid.”