Kele Moon - Crossing the line

He would do anything to preserve that innocence in her…even align himself with Nova Moretti.

“Yeah, okay.” Wyatt spoke to Tabitha rather than Nova. “We might as well tell him and hear what he’s got to say.”

Nova’s scowl grew deeper the more Wyatt and Tabitha explained.

Tabitha watched the story turn his handsome face and easy smile into something dark and menacing. It was hard initially to believe the young man who had been so determined at the hospital to make sure his family was well cared for could also be involved in the mafia, but now she saw it.

She thought there was darkness in Wyatt, but it wasn’t born of the same sinister anger like Nova’s. He cursed in Italian when Tabitha told him about Vaughn drugging and raping her, but in the next breath he reached across the table and squeezed Tabitha’s hand.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered as he studied her, his dark gaze swirling with concern. “Is that why you moved to New York?”

“Yes. I didn’t want Wyatt to find out.” Tabitha didn’t break out of his hold, but she did frown at him. “How did you know I was in New York?”

“I read it in your bio.” Nova took a sip of tea, grimacing over it, but that was all they had to offer him. “You don’t have any coffee?”

“No, sorry.” Tabitha shook her head. “I threw it away.”

“Oh Jesus,” Wyatt said with a snort of laughter.

“I don’t have a detailed bio, Nova.” Tabitha continued to study him. There was just something about his face that she liked, even with the dangerous scowl. “I’m a very private author.”

“Did you have any money when you first got there? You said you were twenty-one when you left. That’d be ninety-nine. Your first book didn’t come out until almost three years later. What’d you do for cash back then?” Nova asked, as if it were pertinent to the story.

“I had a job at a bakery on Thirty-Seventh.”

“Rubio’s. I know that bakery.” Nova nodded. “They don’t pay very well. You must have been struggling financially.”

“Did we meet there?” Tabitha asked, because now that he had opened the floodgates about his memory, she could see how easily he could pull up random facts. “You asked me if I remembered you in the hospital.”

“Yeah, Tabitha, we’ve met before.” His smile turned warm once more. “But I can understand why you wouldn’t remember me.”

“Why?”

“I was twelve.”

“Oh, I guess you would’ve been. God, that makes me feel old.” Tabitha winced at Wyatt before she turned back to Nova, now beyond curious. “What happened?”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said with a grin. “Tell me the rest. What happened when you got back?”

They told him the rest of the story. After Wyatt had explained the details of the shooting, Nova just pushed his empty plate aside and dropped his head to the table. He folded his hands together behind his neck as if deep in thought.

“This is a huge friggin’ problem, Conner,” he mumbled against the wood. “There are a lot of loose ends there. If you hadn’t done what you did when you were younger, we could get you off on technicalities, but with that—”

“I know.” Wyatt shook his head. “I’m not just losing my job; I’m to going to jail. Vaughn had every right to fear for his safety. Pulling a gun on me was self-defense. I had very real motivation to kill him.”

“Why the fuck didn’t you shoot him a second time? Just kill him and then make the call to dispatch. It would’ve solved your problem. Dead men don’t tell tales. A sheriff’s word would’ve been more than good enough. Now you got him alive and likely to run his mouth.”

“That’s great advice now. Thanks,” Wyatt said sarcastically. “I know I should’ve killed him. I’ve thought ’bout it myself, but at the time I was in cop mode. Maybe when I was younger, I would’ve done it, but I’ve been sheriff for a long time. It’s sorta ingrained.”

“Friggin’ hick integrity.” Nova was still speaking with his face pressed against the table. “You said there was a witness to the first incident. What’s his name?”

“Jason Wiltkins.”

“And Tabitha’s brother, Brett. He’s the only other person who knows about it?”

“Clay knows. Jules knows.”

“Okay.” Nova lifted his head and rubbed a hand over his face. “I really wish you had coffee. I got a headache.”

“Sorry,” Tabitha whispered, feeling guilty now that she’d thrown it away. She probably should’ve thought to keep some for company.

Nova pushed away from the table and stood. He paced and said something in Italian, as if speaking to himself.

“What’s that?” Wyatt leaned forward with a scowl. “You said Tino’s name in there? Did you tell him I was in trouble?”

“You think the DOJ can walk into the hospital and ask to speak with you, and it wouldn’t set off every paranoid sensor Tino has? He started hounding me for information the second we were alone. He knows you’re in trouble. They all do to an extent.”

“No one’s told Jules, have they?” Wyatt asked in horror.

“No, Jules and Romeo don’t know anything.” Nova shook his head. “They got enough to deal with right now.”

Wyatt sighed, looking appeased. “So that’s it. The loophole man doesn’t have an answer. I might as well just make the call and face the music.”

“I didn’t say that,” Nova argued. “It’s just more complicated than I anticipated.”

“More complicated?” Wyatt repeated in disbelief. “I’m fucked, Moretti. I know that. There’s no solution for this problem. I knew it when I let you sit at this table and start asking questions.”

“There’s always a solution.” Nova arched an eyebrow at him. “It’s just way outside your moral compass. I was hoping to avoid that.”

“No,” Wyatt growled. “No fucking way. I give your brother shit all the time about this mafia crap, and now you think I’m gonna go along with you killing someone in cold blood—”

“He raped your wife, Conner.” Nova’s scowl became dangerous once more. “Get over your ethical bullshit.”

“Get the fuck out of my house.” Wyatt pointed to the door.

“I’m not gonna shoot him,” Nova said rather than leave. “That’s not my style. Very sloppy. We don’t need this prick dead. We just need to make sure he doesn’t talk to the DOJ.”

“So what?” Wyatt let out an incredulous laugh. “You’re gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse?”

Nova quirked an eyebrow, but he didn’t say anything.

“Look, he’s an addict. He’s unstable,” Wyatt went on. “It’s not going to work, and getting yourself involved with this will just make things difficult for you and my sister . I can deal with the consequences of my actions. I want you to forget we had this conversation.”

“Yeah, but see—” Nova held up his hands and gave Wyatt a bitter smile. “I don’t forget things, and right now the only real issue is the statement you’re going to make to the DOJ. You’ve got a fuckload of loose ends, so let’s go over them.”

“Moretti—”

“What do you have to lose by having a foolproof statement? We’ll forget about the rest of it until later. Let’s just worry about your story.” Nova rubbed at the back of his neck again. “You were on the way to your sister’s house. She was in labor. You picked up Clay on the way. You took Harkin road rather than—”

“That’s way out of the way,” Wyatt argued.

“It doesn’t matter. So you went outta the way. You took the time to drive by the bar to make sure there were no drunk assholes out on the road. It was three o’clock. Last call. You were just double-checking to make sure your town was safe.”