Her Wilde Bodyguards (Wilde, Nevada 5)

He smiled. “Good to see you, too.”

Bane came up beside them, smiling broadly. “How long has it been, Aaron?”

“At my mother’s funeral. You two got leave, as I recall.” Something about seeing his old friends spoke to him in a good way, but it also reminded him of the loss that had driven him away from Wilde. He still missed his parents, but especially his mother.

“Too damn long, that’s for sure,” Adam said. “But we all look pretty damn good for the wear, don’t you think?”

“Sure as hell do. I heard from Maude you two are back for good.”

“Yes we are,” the two Marines said in unison.

“Working for the FBI?”

“Yep,” again in unison.

“And I heard you are engaged to Norma’s daughter, Emma.”

“That’s true, too.”

“Though you haven’t been back since you graduated from high school, it sure seems like you have kept up on everything happening in Wilde through my Aunt Maude.” Austin Wilde extended his hand to Aaron.

He shook his hand. “Maude Strong has always been good to me and Kyle.”

“I’ve learned how good a woman Maude is since I moved here.” The sheriff sported gray hair and looked to be in his sixties. Not a native of Wilde, but from Elko, which was the closest town. “All the women in town are the best of the best, that’s for sure.”

They all nodded in agreement.

“Maude told me how hard it was on you and your brother losing your mother at such a young age.” The sheriff motioned for everyone to have a seat. “I’m Wayne Champion.”

“Pleased to meet you, Sheriff.” He sat down. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“And I have hea

rd a lot about you, too. Quite the resume you have. Your company is one of the best.” Sheriff Champion handed the folder over that he and Austin had just been looking at. “After your man Sam called me, the four of us did some digging into this Vincent Scarpelli character.”

Aaron looked over the file, which was full of data of Scarpelli. “How did you get this much information on him?”

“I have this amazing contact in Destiny, Colorado. Jena McCabe-Dixon is a miracle worker when it comes to data mining.”

“Apparently so. There’s government records in here that should be sealed.”

“They are sealed for most, but Jena is with the CIA. She’s a good friend.”

Aaron read one of the records from the United States Treasury Department that stumped him. “This says Scarpelli hasn’t left Chicago in several weeks. He’s under constant surveillance.”

“We contacted the team lead on the task. He assured us that the report is accurate. They haven’t been able to collect enough evidence on Scarpelli for money laundering, but they are certain he is involved in a national operation working with several crime organizations.”

“That means Scarpelli couldn’t have been in Dallas when my client was shot at.” Then who is Gya’s stalker? “And he couldn’t have been in Malibu when her house burned.”

“Vincent Scarpelli doesn’t have to be on location when something goes down, Aaron,” Austin stated. “He’s got reach far beyond Chicago.”

“Good point.” He’d always respected Austin, but now even more so.

“In fact, we believe he might have connections with a drug lord we’ve been searching for. We think Scarpelli is laundering for him.”

“Ricardo Delgado. Yes. Maude gave me an update the other day. The guy still has a hard-on for Wilde?”

“We’ve been a bit of a thorn in his side for quite a while.”