by Dale Mayer
She turned to stare up at him. “Why would he even offer?”
Logan laughed. “He is a very generous soul. You’re also friends with Katina. And obviously you have some kind of an oddball relationship with Flynn. Love and murder, perhaps?” His tone was teasing, yet with the threat of darkness and all that had already happened …
She winced. “The murder, yes, but the love … I don’t think so.”
“Hey, how do you know? Give it—me—a chance,” Flynn said, his wicked grin flashing.
She shot him a look and laughed. “Flynn, you’ve probably left a wrecking-ball-size pathway of broken hearts in your life. I have no intention of becoming part of that.”
Logan laughed. “Flynn’s all talk but very little action.”
“Hey, that’s not true. All the girls love a hero.”
At that Logan really laughed. “Don’t let Levi hear you say that. He’s got this thing about that term.”
Flynn frowned at him. “What? Hero?”
“Yeah, that one. Ice made a joke about Heroes for Hire being the company name. And the subsequent women who have joined us at the compound have come up with versions of their own to go along with it—much to Levi’s disgust.”
Flynn laughed. “Oh, my gosh, that’s rich. And it’s actually a very good name.”
“Levi doesn’t think so.”
Flynn grinned. “No, Legendary Security is way better than that. But as a nickname, it’s perfect.”
“That would make you a hero,” Anna said.
“We tried that once, remember? Didn’t work out so well. And you don’t have the money to hire anybody, so there is no Hero for Hire here.”
She got up and walked to the teakettle, filled it and put it on to heat. Inside, her mind was churning options.
The last thing she wanted to do was go to the compound. But there would be a hot meal and place to sleep overnight. She just loathed the thought of leaving the animals behind. She stared out at the dog runs. “I can’t leave the animals alone. What if somebody comes back to kill them?”
“Didn’t the police say they would be here overnight?”
She shook her head. “I don’t believe that’s what they meant. I think they just wanted to have access overnight, not that they’d be here or have guards on duty, keeping an eye on the place. I doubt they have money for that. Nor do I have it to hire somebody to look after the animals or stay in a hotel.”
“You won’t be. You’ll be staying with us,” Flynn said.
“And if I don’t want to?”
“Then it would mean the two of us having a very uncomfortable night here.”
“You’d stay with me?”
“Yes, but I can tell you that because it’s a murder scene, the police will be back and forth searching the entire house looking for fingerprints, so the animals will be safe tonight.”
She hated to be persuaded, but also knew she needed sleep. “Can I come back early in the morning?”
“Yes.”
She checked her watch. It was already after seven. “It’ll take me at least an hour to finish with the animals tonight.”
“We can help too,” Flynn said. “I’d like to be on the road in an hour.”
She blew the hair out of her face. “Well, we’d better get busy then.”
She started with the dogs, the two men beside her. They walked all of them at the same time for a good half hour. That cut the time way down for her. She struggled to take that many dogs at once, particularly when Jimbo, the big Lab, was rambunctious and tended to tie up all the leashes. Flynn took Jimbo on his own; she took the little ones, and Logan took the pit bull, Duggy.
Thirty minutes later they came back, putting the dogs into their cages for the night. With help, she fed and watered them, gave each a good cuddle, and then turned to the cats. She studied them inside the playhouse and said, “I can leave them all in here. We’ll move the litter boxes, food, and water in there too, and they’ll be fine.”
They did everything needed for the cats, then she turned her attention to the outside pens with the hamster, rabbit, and snake. The hamster needed clean bedding, fresh water, and food, as did the bunny. The snake, well hidden in his habitat, always scared her when he revealed himself. She tossed some live crickets into his terrarium and slammed the lid shut.
By the time they were done, the police were still all over the place, now under outside lights. It gave an eerie look to everything.
She walked back to the officer she’d spoken to earlier. “We’ll be leaving now. Please keep an eye on the animals for us.”
He nodded. “They’ll be fine. We still have hours ahead of us here. It’s doubtful anybody else will come back tonight. If they do, they’ll get a bit of a surprise.”
“Let’s hope they do, and you guys catch them. I won’t sleep well knowing somebody put a dead man in my shed. Or killed an owl as a twisted message.”
“Where exactly was the owl?”
She pointed to the back step. “It was dismembered and left on the step.”
“What dogs are here now?”
“The two big guys are in the back. Normally the two little ones are in the front, but I have them closer to the bigger dogs now. Although in the front they’d notice everything from birds to intruders.” She winced. “So maybe it’s safer for them to be in the front.”
“They’ll be fine. See you in the morning then.”
With the two men at her side, she was persuaded to head back to the vehicles. She was taking her car; she wanted full autonomy to leave in the morning. Otherwise there was a good chance Flynn would stop her.
She got into the driver’s side, and as she put the keys in the ignition, Flynn slipped into the passenger seat beside her. “You can ride with Logan, you know? I’m perfectly safe.”
“But I want to ride with you,” he said. “Besides, I need to explain something.”
She shot him a shuttered look as she pulled out onto the street. Logan was ahead of them. She planned to follow him right back to the compound. She worried that Levi hadn’t been given an option about her staying there. It may be that Flynn had somehow pressured Levi into letting her come back. She’d made quite a scene this morning. She wasn’t sure she was even welcome.
“Explain what?” The truck ahead of her took several turns and then turned onto the highway. She followed him, and within seconds they were heading down the main road toward the compound. It wasn’t a very long drive, but it was one she didn’t remember well.
“My jacket.”
“Was it?” She looked over at him in surprise. “I thought you were explaining something about the compound.”
“As much as I love being part of that place, it’s impossible to explain,” he said with a laugh. “I’m still figuring out exactly how it all works.”
“You sure I’m welcome?”
“It was Levi’s idea.”
She shrugged. She needed to be happy with that, though she wasn’t. She still felt like he had been pressured into it. “What about your jacket?”
“I left it on purpose.”
“What the hell did you do that for?” She stared at him in shock.
“Two reasons. One, if Jonas came into your house—your bedroom—he would see it and realize you are in a relationship, and maybe leave you alone.”
“Jonas doesn’t go into my bedroom. Never even went into my house.” Then remembering Jonas lay dead in her shed, she added, “And obviously it’s way too late to worry about something like that now.” She still didn’t quite understand Flynn’s meaning. “What do you care if Jonas thought I was in a relationship?”
“Jonas was damn creepy. Any woman should have been terrified of him.”
“Well, now that he’s dead, I don’t think it’s an issue.”
“At the time I didn’t realize his demise would happen quite so fast. And I was more concerned about you.”
“Well, thank you for that, but it was completely unnecessary.”
There
was an odd, uncomfortable silence, and then she remembered he said he had two reasons. “What was the other?”
When he didn’t answer, she studied his profile as he stared out the passenger window. “Well?”
*
Flynn never beat around the bush. He was a straight shooter. He prided himself on that. And when he first opened his mouth, it was with the full intention of telling her more about his jacket. But it just felt odd now. The timing sucked. And he was really big on that too. It seemed like lately everything he did was out of sync with what he should’ve been doing.
The best time of his life was when he had been an active SEAL. But even then, the timing had sucked. He’d been in Afghanistan, and his orders at the time would’ve been completely normal and fine, if he had been in the right place. But he’d lagged behind, and gone into a village to help somebody on their way back when nobody would help them. He’d stayed longer than he should. When he had explained it to his CO, he’d been reprimanded. When the orders came through that they were pulling out, and he needed to leave those children in trouble, it went against his better nature, and in his ire, he disobeyed direct orders.
His famous Irish ire. That damn temper of his got him in more trouble. He ignored the orders to return to camp. Instead he helped set a broken leg and then assisted the injured mother with carrying the children back where they would be safe. By the time he made it to camp again, he was in deep shit.
If there was ever a black day he remembered, it was that, and no one wanted to hear his side. It didn’t matter that he was doing a good thing. He did not follow orders. The other guys didn’t sympathize. In fact, several of them got really angry.
But his CO was an asshole. It didn’t matter how good a job you did sometimes anyway. So Flynn had spent a year traveling, “finding” himself. It didn’t all suck. It was a great year, but the thought that he’d been having a midlife crisis already at thirty wasn’t something he was proud of. But he was lost. Angry, disbelieving the sudden turn of events, and it had taken a long time to get back on his feet.
But now he had a shot with Levi’s company, and didn’t want to lose it. This was what he was geared to do. Born to do. They were all former SEALs. He knew that would change over time. A lot of other really good men were out there who he knew would like a chance to join. But Legendary Security was a fledgling company, and Levi could hire only so many people at one time. Yet his company was growing. Flynn had no doubt in a few years, this would be the company, and he wanted in now.
So when Levi had asked Flynn to look after Anna, the answer had been an instant yes. He’d jumped at the chance and would have done it for nothing, like his official job interview for Levi, so Flynn had been delighted when he was paid.
But nothing had prepared him for meeting Anna. Or for the attraction. It wasn’t all one-sided either. He lived large. And he loved well but was looking for something so much more. In Anna, he’d found it. Only they’d argued—a lot. And he’d loved every minute of it. When he’d been told by Levi it was time to pack it in, Flynn had been disappointed but accepted that the job had come to an end. When it came time to actually go, he’d had a hard time leaving things the way they had. So he had left his jacket behind on purpose.
“Are you going to tell me?” she asked. “Is it some deep dark secret you don’t want anybody to know? What? Have you been holding a candle for me?” She sneered. “I know that’s not true.”
He glanced at her. “I guess I deserved that.”
She frowned and stared at him.
And he knew she didn’t understand. “Because I did leave the jacket behind for a specific reason. It gave me an excuse to come back and see you.” He gave a heavy sigh. “And maybe I was staking a claim. So that if any man went inside, he’d see it and know my clothes were there first.”
Her gaze widened, and she jerked her attention back to the road. She didn’t say anything for a long moment. He slunk back into his seat prepared to sit in silence until they got to the compound.
“And why did you want to come back and see me? All we did was fight.”
“Not quite,” he said quietly. “Or have you forgotten the kiss?”
“I haven’t forgotten anything,” she mumbled.
He grinned at her emphasis on anything. Maybe this wasn’t as much of a lost cause as he was afraid it was. He certainly hadn’t misunderstood her response to their passionate kiss, but it was something they hadn’t gotten a chance to talk about, until now. Leaving the jacket behind was his way of saying, I’m coming back. Apparently, she got the message.
As they entered the compound, she slowed and came to a stop in the middle of the road. She looked over at him and said, “Where should I park?”
He pointed at a spot between two of the company trucks. She pulled up and shut off the engine. “It feels weird to be back so soon.”
“It shouldn’t. It should feel just about right.” He gave her a warm grin and exited the car.
As she got out, she turned and asked, “Do you think it’s related to that night the dogs went crazy?”
He frowned.
“You know that night …”
He realized several of the men in the garage had turned at their arrival. Of course she chose this moment to bring up what should have been a private conversation.
He thought back to the night in question, realizing he didn’t remember much about it, but there had been a ton of barking outside. “You’re thinking there was an intruder then?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. It just was an anomaly, and now something else has happened, so I have to wonder.”
“What was an anomaly?” Levi asked, approaching.
Flynn winced. Great. Now Levi would think Anna was better at this job than he was. But no way in hell was Flynn walking into a new company, a new job, lying about something. “The night before I left her place, we heard something. It wasn’t very much, but it set off the dogs. We didn’t find anything at the time though.” He glanced at Anna and added, “She’s wondering if someone had been checking her place out even then. But what for?”
He motioned her to enter into the garage, and from there he’d take her into the kitchen and find her a spare bedroom. “Now with the killing of the owl, well, that only makes me more concerned. The only reason to do that is to terrorize her.”
Levi nodded. His gaze was assessing as he watched Anna walk into the kitchen, and Alfred took over from there. Flynn and Logan remained in the garage, knowing Levi had more questions.
“Do you think she’s hiding anything?”
His question was directed at both Flynn and Logan. The two men looked at each other.
Flynn said, “I don’t think so. I worked with her for a couple weeks. What you see is what you get. She has a temper, loves to argue. She’s passionate about the animals. But I don’t think she’s deceptive. I never saw any instance where she was lying, and she doesn’t use feminine wiles to get her way—she’s direct.” He shrugged. “I think she’s very honest. And she’s just horribly upset and shocked by what’s happened.”
“And I’d have to agree, from the little bit I’ve seen of her,” Logan said. “She’s had a particularly tough day. The cops are all over the place. The animals are upset. And, of course, she knew the dead person.”
“How well?” Levi turned to face Flynn.
“Not well. They met accidentally the first time, and she was nice to him. He started coming around all the time after that. Being more of a nuisance than anything. She felt sorry for him.” He opened his arms. “You know how that goes. He kept coming around, hoping she’d change her mind.”
“Was he violent?”
Flynn shook his head. “He never laid a hand on her. He seemed to always be high, coming on or going off from his look. He was fixated on her, obsessed, and if he hadn’t died, I’m sure he would have become a much bigger problem. How big of one, I can’t tell you.”
“We’ve already done a search on him. Nothing we found changes
that. He didn’t have a steady job or relationship, but had money. He didn’t own property. The vehicle was in his name, but his mother was paying for the insurance. He’s done time for small crimes, like petty theft, possession charges, and some breaking and entering, but all on a lower scale.”
“So he got himself killed?”
“Or else,” Logan said, “he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Levi pivoted to look at Logan, then said, “And if we look at that hypothesis, why was he there in the first place? Who needed to take him out because of it? What was the killer doing there?”
Flynn shook his head. “I have no idea.”
“How many people knew you were there, Flynn?”
Flynn stopped and looked at the ceiling, contemplating how many actually knew where he had been at that time. “You and your team, Logan’s dad, anybody he might have told, Anna, and me. We didn’t get out much, just staying on her property. I don’t really have friends or family who care. And I wasn’t there long enough to make an issue out of it.”
“Because what we really have to know here is, why you were set up. Was it to throw deflection from the killer? Or were you the target and Jonas incidental?”
Flynn stared at him as he finally understood. “There aren’t too many people who’d go to that kind of effort to set me up.”
“How many?” Stone asked from behind him.
Flynn spun, not having heard the big man creep up. Flynn shook his head. “Damn, you’re silent.”
Stone studied him. “Don’t deflect from the question.”
“It’s just not a pleasant time in my life.”
“All the more reason we need to know about it in case it’s related.”
“Back when I was a SEAL, I went rogue and was booted. I’d do it again in a heartbeat. But at the same time I was kicked out, so was somebody else. He wasn’t with me, but he blamed me. I have no idea what reasoning or evidence the military had for their actions toward him.”
He stood stiff, not knowing if any of them were aware of the circumstances surrounding him leaving the military. If they were, he hoped they’d understand his position.
