Pass Interference (Fair Catch Series, Book Four)

by Christine Kersey

  “Guess what, girl?” she said with a smile. “You’re coming to the salon today.”

  Autumn grabbed Sasha’s leash and held it up.

  Sasha’s ears perked up, and when Autumn called to her, she jumped off the bed and dashed to Autumn’s side.

  “That’s my sweet girl.” Laughing, Autumn clipped the leash on, grabbed Sasha’s pet bed from the front room and her water bowl from the kitchen, then led her outside.

  Feeling cautious, she walked around her car, making sure all the tires were inflated and that nothing looked out of place. Satisfied, she opened the back door for Sasha, and once she was safely inside, they drove to the salon.

  When Autumn arrived, she could see Haylie’s car in the parking lot. Smiling in anticipation of her friend’s reaction to seeing Sasha, Autumn unlocked the door to the salon and walked inside.

  “Good morning.” The happy tone in Autumn’s voice belied the sorrow that threatened to swamp her.

  “Good morning,” Haylie said, then her gaze fell on Sasha. With a surprised look, she lifted her eyes to Autumn. “Is today bring your pet to work day? I didn’t get the memo.”

  Autumn laughed. “You don’t have a pet.”

  “Oh, come on. You know I have a goldfish.”

  “Well, you can run home and get it if you want.”

  Haylie chuckled as she walked over to Sasha. “No. I think one pet is enough.” Kneeling in front of Sasha, Haylie greeted her and scratched her chin, then she stood and faced Autumn. “She is such a pretty dog. If I were to get a dog—and I’m not going to because I think they’re too much work—I’d get a yellow lab.”

  The panic and worry Autumn had felt the day before when she’d come home and found Sasha missing swept over her and tears filled her eyes. Not wanting Haylie to see her distress, she looked down at Sasha. “She’s a sweetheart. No question.”

  “You’ve never brought her to the salon before. What’s going on?”

  “Hey, girls!” Cassie said as she walked in. “Oh! Why’s Sasha here?”

  “She was just about to tell me,” Haylie said, then she looked at Autumn with expectation.

  Should she tell them her suspicions? Or would they think she was out of her mind too? “I, uh, I just thought it would be nice to have her here today.”

  Haylie narrowed her eyes. “Okaaaay.”

  “She can be our mascot,” Cassie said with a smile.

  Glad they weren’t digging for more, Autumn nodded. “That’s right. I’m going to set her up in the office. She’ll be good.”

  “You’re the boss,” Haylie said with a smirk, then she turned to her workstation.

  That’s right. She was the boss. She could do what she wanted. Carrying the pet bed and water bowl, she led Sasha to the office and set things up. Sasha curled up on the bed, and when Autumn looked at her, safe where she could see her, warmth and calm settled over her. She could relax and work today without worrying about someone—Kelli—doing something to either one of them.

  Wondering what Officer Riley had discovered, Autumn made a mental note to check with him later on and find out. And in the meantime she wouldn’t think about Jax.

  Jax shoveled his lunch into his mouth with the rest of his team. The morning workout had been tough, but working hard always felt great. His complete focus had been on the workout, but now that he had a moment to think, his mind went to Autumn. How was she doing? Had she slept as poorly as he had?

  He’d give her a few days and then maybe he’d call her.

  A roll hit him in the head. He looked up to see Brock Remington grinning at him. Must’ve been too immersed in his thoughts.

  Laughing, Jax tossed it back, then turned his mind back to football.

  At lunchtime, Autumn called Officer Riley. He wasn’t available, so she left a message for him to call her back. Later that afternoon, he returned her call.

  “Did you talk to Kelli?” Autumn asked.

  “Yeah. I spoke to her this morning.”

  “What did she say?”

  “She had a solid alibi for all day yesterday and I verified it with her employer.” He paused. “You might want to consider other reasons for the gate being open.”

  He thought she was imagining things too. Just like Jax did. Frowning, Autumn’s gaze went to Sasha, who was sleeping on her pet bed in the corner of the office. “What about the flat tire and the balloons?”

  “She was adamant that she knew nothing about those,” Riley said.

  “How do you know she’s telling the truth?”

  “Look, without proof I’m not going to accuse her of lying.”

  Rubbing the back of her neck, Autumn asked, “Now what?”

  Riley’s sigh came across the line. “There’s not a whole lot we can do, Ms. Foster. And there’s no evidence that a crime was actually committed.”

  That’s what she was afraid he’d say. Holding back a sigh of her own, she thanked him and hung up. She knew the police had much bigger crimes to worry about than someone letting a person’s dog out of their yard. Probably the only reason he even followed up was because Jax was involved.

  Jax.

  Just thinking about him made her heart hurt. She missed him already. Maybe she should call him and tell him he was right—that the flat tire and the balloons and Sasha getting out were all a coincidence. Maybe they were all a coincidence. Maybe she was making too much out of it. Maybe he was right.

  Sighing, she put her phone away and got back to work.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Tired after a long day, Autumn pulled into her driveway, then she let Sasha out of the car. When they walked into the house, Autumn was on high alert for anything that seemed out of place. Taking a peek into the kitchen and seeing everything just as she’d left it, she went back into the living room and settled onto the couch.

  If she and Jax hadn’t had their disagreement—she couldn’t really call it a fight—he’d most likely be coming over later. Sad that that wouldn’t happen, she decided to take a hot bath before fixing dinner.

  After feeding Sasha, she made her way into her bedroom. She went straight to the bathtub and sat on the edge, turning on the hot water. She let it run until it was hot, then she plugged the drain and turned on the cold water as well. Once the temperature coming out of the faucet was perfect, she stood and faced the mirror.

  A loud gasp nearly choked her as her hand flew to her mouth.

  Written in red lipstick on the glass were the words You don’t deserve him.

  Spinning around, Autumn frantically looked for the intruder.

  “Sasha!” she screamed. “Sasha, come here!”

  A moment later Sasha bounded into the room. Almost fainting with relief that her dog was okay, Autumn fell to her knees and threw her arms around her.

  “I’m so glad I brought you with me,” she murmured into Sasha’s fur. “Oh my goodness. What if I’d left you here?”

  Terror wound its way through her, sending shivers cascading over her.

  Taking several deep breaths, she shut the water off in the bathtub, then she peeked into her closet to make sure no one was hiding inside. Next, she went into her bedroom and picked up her cell phone, dialing Officer Riley’s number. To her relief, he answered right away.

  “This is Autumn Foster.” Her voice was laced with panic.

  “I already told you, Ms. Foster, there’s nothing more I can do.”

  “No, no. I know that. Something else happened.”

  He was silent for a moment. “What happened?”

  “Someone was in my house!”

  Autumn thought she heard a sigh.

  “Why do you say that?”

  Frustrated beyond belief, she closed her eyes a moment to gather herself before speaking. “I just got home from work and I found a…a message…on my bathroom mirror.”

  “A message?”

  “Yes! It’s written in red lipstick.”

  “What does this message say?”

  Suddenly embarrassed t
o tell him, she paused half a beat. “It says…you…you don’t deserve him.”

  “You don’t deserve who?”

  “Jax, obviously. Don’t you see? Kelli came over and did this while I was at work.”

  “Don’t you think your dog would have stopped her?”

  “Sasha wasn’t here. I took her to work with me.”

  Riley was silent a moment. “Was there any sign of a break-in?”

  “I…I don’t know. I don’t think so.”

  “All right. My shift is over, but I’ll stop by on my way home.”

  “Thank you! Thank you so much!”

  Autumn carried her phone into the bathroom and took pictures of the mirror from several angles. Then she clipped on Sasha’s leash and sat on the front porch to wait for Riley to show up.

  Half an hour later, he was there. He checked all the rooms in the house before ending in the bathroom. Half expecting the words to be gone when they reached the bathroom, when Autumn saw them scrawled across the mirror in blood-red lipstick, she was relieved. He couldn’t claim she’d made those up. They were right there for him to see.

  Riley stared at the writing for a full thirty seconds, then without a word, he walked to the back door and examined the lock before doing a thorough examination of the front door. Finally, he faced Autumn, who had followed him from room to room.

  “There’s no sign of a break-in.” Cocking his head, he asked, “Does anyone have a key to your house?”

  “No. But I was thinking. Sasha’s dog door is pretty big. A smaller adult would be able to crawl through.”

  He grunted a reply.

  “Do you…do you think I should stay somewhere else tonight? I mean, do you think I’m…in danger?” The thought terrified her. But someone had been inside her house.

  Riley considered it. “Hard to say.” His tone didn’t show much concern.

  “Are you going to talk to Kelli?”

  A look of irritation washed across his face. “I don’t plan to.”

  “Why not?” The words flew from her mouth. Was he not taking this seriously?

  “Ms. Foster—”

  “Autumn,” she said, cutting him off.

  A soft sigh left his mouth. “Autumn. Don’t take this the wrong way, but is there a chance that you…well, that you wrote that message yourself?”

  Her mouth fell open at the absurd accusation. “No!” A sound of disbelief left her mouth. “Why would I do something like that?”

  He pursed his lips. “To get attention.”

  “To get attention? From who?”

  “From Mr. Cordova.”

  This was getting more bizarre by the second. “Mr. Cordova,” she said, exaggerating his name, “doesn’t know about this. And he probably never will.” The realization of the truth of that statement sent a wave of despair descending upon her.

  That seemed to grab his attention. “Why not?”

  “We’re not…that is…we may not be seeing each other any longer.” Pain, brutal and sharp, pierced her, and she nearly flinched. She’d fallen hard for Jax Cordova and now her heart was breaking.

  “I see.”

  “When you talk to Kelli,” she said, wanting to make it clear that she expected him to. “You can tell her there’s no longer a reason to be jealous. That she can stop tormenting me.”

  With his mouth in a firm line, he nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  Knowing that he was skeptical about her story, when he opened the front door, Autumn didn’t argue with him or try to convince him that she was telling the truth. There was no way to prove it. It was true that she could have easily written that message herself. If she didn’t know the truth, she might doubt her too.

  Without another word, he left, and Autumn sank onto the couch, pulling her legs up and wrapping her arms around them before resting her head on her knees.

  Feeling all alone, after several minutes of wallowing in self-pity, she called Haylie and told her about Sasha being let out and the message she’d found on her mirror and Officer Riley’s ridiculous question.

  “That cop thought you did it?” Haylie’s tone radiated displeasure.

  “I guess so.”

  “You took a picture, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Send it to me.”

  “Okay. Hang on.” Autumn texted one of the pictures to her, then put her phone back to her ear. “Did you get it?”

  “Let me see.” A moment later she heard Haylie gasp. “Holy crap, girl. That’s freaky. Someone was in your house?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You should come here. Spend the night at my place.”

  “No. I’m not gonna let that woman scare me away. Anyway, it doesn’t matter.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Autumn stared at the front door, picturing Jax walking out the night before. “I think Jax and I are…well, I think we might be done.”

  “What? Why? What happened?”

  “He thinks I’m overreacting, that I’m seeing danger where there’s none.”

  “He doesn’t know you, Autumn. You’re the most level-headed person I know.”

  Smiling, Autumn said, “Thanks.”

  “He’s an idiot. A very hot idiot, but an idiot.”

  That got a laugh out of Autumn. “Maybe this stuff will stop now.”

  “Always looking on the bright side. That’s the girl I know.”

  “Thanks, Haylie. I’m gonna fix something to eat. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

  “Okay. Call me if you need anything.”

  “I will.”

  Sighing with disbelief at the twists and turns her life had taken lately, Autumn went into the kitchen and put together a casserole, then she cleaned up the mess she’d made. While the casserole baked, she grabbed a bottle of glass cleaner and a roll of paper towels, ready to scrub off the disturbing message, but before she reached the bathroom, her doorbell rang.

  Freezing in place, she frantically looked around. Should she hide? Was it Kelli? Emboldened by getting away with everything she’d done already, had she come to hurt her? Confident enough to come right to her front door?

  Should she call the police? Would they even come?

  Autumn could hear Sasha whining at the front door. She set the glass cleaner and paper towels on the bathroom counter, then crept toward the front door.

  This time a knock sounded, loud and sure.

  Heart pounding, Autumn tiptoed to the door, then she knelt next to Sasha and wrapped her arms around her. She needed Sasha to be silent. She would keep her sweet dog safe. They would keep each other safe.

  Then, slowly, silently, Autumn got to her feet and pressed her eye to the peephole.

  Chapter Thirty

  Why wasn’t Autumn answering her door? Getting worried, Jax knocked again. He’d heard Sasha whining, but now she wasn’t making any noise. Was Autumn all right?

  The moment he’d gotten the text from Haylie—giving him a piece of her mind and sending him an image of a weird message Autumn had found on her bathroom mirror—he’d driven over as fast as he could. And his Lamborghini went pretty fast.

  “Autumn?” he called out. “It’s me. Jax.”

  Still nothing. Maybe he needed to break the door down.

  Then it opened. And there she stood. Worry was etched on her lovely face, the sparkle gone from her green eyes.

  “What are you doing here?” Her eyes were bracketed with a combination of confusion and fear.

  It was obvious that she had no idea he would be coming over. When he’d gotten the text from Haylie, the thought had crossed his mind that Autumn had asked her to contact him. But no. Unless she was the world’s best actress, his appearance had not been in her plans.

  Sasha pushed through the opening and pressed against his leg. He absently scratched her, his focus on Autumn. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  She stared at him. “Tell you what?”

  Did she not want him to know? “That someone came into your house
.”

  Her eyes widened. “How do you know about that?”

  One side of his mouth quirked up. “Haylie.”

  Her shoulders slumped. “Oh.”

  “Are you gonna invite me in?”

  Still feeling the sting of his disbelief, coupled with the officer flat-out asking her if she’d written the message on the mirror herself, Autumn frowned. “You don’t need to pretend you believe me, Jax. I’m sure I’ll figure this out eventually.”

  Hurt shone in his eyes and Autumn felt a burst of guilt. Then she asked herself why she should feel guilty. She hadn’t done anything wrong and she was the one being tormented.

  “I believe you,” he said. “I really do.”

  She didn’t need the complication of dealing with his doubts. Besides, if Kelli found out he was there, would the incidents continue? Still, this was Jax. The man she’d fallen for. Did she really want to send him away?

  “Why do you believe me now?”

  He frowned. “That message on your mirror.”

  “What about it?”

  “You didn’t want to tell me about it. You probably never would have told me about it. Am I right?”

  Autumn shook her head. Of course she wouldn’t have told him. Why would she? Especially after she’d already told him to leave. There would be no point.

  “Exactly,” he said. “Obviously someone came into your house and wrote that.” His forehead creased. “Did you talk to the police?”

  She opened the door wider and allowed him to enter. “Yes. Riley came by earlier.”

  Jax walked inside, stopping in the middle of the room and turning to face her. “What did he say?”

  Autumn closed the front door. Several feet stood between her and Jax. “He, uh…” Did she want to tell him what Riley had said? Would that cast doubt on the belief he’d so recently attained?

  “What?”

  “He thinks I wrote it.”

  Jax cocked his head. “Really?”

  Nodding, Autumn frowned. “That’s what he believes.”