The rain had stopped, which probably made everyone’s job easier. But the wind was still cold and wet. It blew through the trees and showered droplets of rain on the officers working around the outer edges of the yard. Julie wasn’t certain why a handprint was getting more attention than a series of butchered cats, but she wasn’t going to complain.
“How are you holding up?” Luis appeared at her elbow, two steaming mugs of coffee in hand. He passed one over to her.
She took it and wrapped her chilled fingers around the ceramic. “Honestly? Is it wrong that I want them to leave already?”
Luis shook his head. “No, but let’s hope they find something before they do.”
She couldn’t argue with that. But from the way the officers kept shaking their heads and shrugging their shoulders, she had a feeling no one was finding anything. Her theory was proven correct when the sheriff ambled over to her.
“Well,” he began, “we’ve searched every inch of this yard and we haven’t found anything.”
“So what does this mean now?” Julie wondered.
The sheriff rolled his wide shoulders. “At this point, nothing. But we did get a print off the window. My team is going to run it through the database and see if we can’t find a match.”
Julie sighed. “That’s something.”
The sheriff nodded. “In the meantime, we would appreciate it if you submitted your prints.”
She blinked. “My prints?”
“Well, everyone in the house,” he said. “So we can eliminate you from our list.”
Julie exchanged glances with Luis. “We ... we’re on the list?”
“Everyone’s on the list,” he said. “That way, we work our way down it.” He narrowed his eyes. “Didn’t you say you were studying to be in law enforcement?”
Julie shook her head. “Forensic investigator.”
“Then you know about the list.” It wasn’t a question, but he was right, she did know.
“Yes.”
He nodded like that settled that. “Officer Delanie here will take your prints.”
The officer he waved over was tall and lanky with a friendly enough face and a field kit in his hand. He smiled at them.
“Make sure you get Ryan and Brody as well,” Sheriff Reynolds told him.
Officer Delanie nodded before turning his attention on Julie. “Can we do this inside?”
Seeing no choice, Julie led the way back into the kitchen. Officer Delanie went straight to the table and set his kit down.
“Are the other two here?”
Julie shook her head. “They took the kids for ice cream,” she told him.
“Do you know when they’ll be back?”
Again, she rocked her head from side to side. “No.”
He painted Julie’s palm with black ink. First her right then her left and made her plant them flat on a piece of paper, finger by finger, then her heel and the side. He did Luis next. When he was finished, he stowed the prints away, closed his kit and went in search of the sheriff as Julie and Luis tried to scrub the ink off their hands in the sink.
“When do you expect your friends back, Ms. Brewer?” Sheriff Reynolds stalked into the room with Officer Delanie hot on his heels.
Wiping her hands on a dishrag, Julie shook her head. “I don’t know. They took the kids out for ice cream.”
“Could you please call them and let them know they need to return?” Like everything else, it was said as a question, but the tone behind it was definitely a command.
“I don’t have their numbers,” Julie said honestly.
“I do,” Luis supplied.
He fished into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He dialed and waited.
“Hey!” he said after a few seconds. “Yeah, everything’s okay. Yeah, she’s here.” He glanced at Julie. “No, they’re done. Yeah, they’re leaving, but they want you and Shaun to come back to the house. For printing.”
They exchanged a few more words that were mostly hums from Luis’s end. Finally, he hung up and returned the phone to his pocket.
“They’re on their way back.”
With a nod to him, Sheriff Reynolds placed a hand on Officer Delanie’s shoulder and the two moved away to talk while the other officers packed up and started out.
“Why do I feel like a criminal?” Julie dumped her exhausted frame onto a stool.
Luis placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry about all this.”
She sighed. “I’m so tired and it’s not even suppertime.”
“I can make supper,” Luis offered. “I mean, I can only make like three things, but...”
Julie laughed. “You’re really sweet. But it’s okay. Thanks, Luis.”
He offered her a sheepish smile.
The house was mostly clear by the time Mason strode into the house, a full step behind the kids, who were high on sugar. Officer Delanie had waited for their return and already had his kit open when Mason walked into the room.
“Shaun’s not coming,” he said flat out before anyone could ask.
Julie frowned. “What do you mean he’s not coming?”
He walked around to where Delanie stood and offered his hand. “He says if you want his prints, you need to get a warrant.”
Julie would have facepalmed if it didn’t involve moving.
“Is he aware that his refusal to comply only makes him appear guilty?” Officer Delanie inquired as he coated Mason’s palm in ink.
Mason never batted an eye. “I don’t think he cares.”
Chapter Eleven
“So there was no indication that the person was inside the house?”
Julie mashed the heel of one hand harder against the back of her eyelid while the other cradled the phone to her ear.
“No, the police don’t think anything else is out of the ordinary. They checked the whole property.”
“Then everything’s all right,” Maureen decided simply. “I’m glad to hear they’re taking all of this seriously.”
“Yes, but that doesn’t change the fact that someone had been outside the house,” Julie tried to explain yet again. “This is the second incident in a week, Maureen.”
“But I told you to expect such things,” Maureen said. “So some kid thinks he’s braver than the rest and tried his luck a second time. Now that the police have gotten involved and have fingerprints, this will stop.”
Julie gritted her teeth as her anger threatened to claim her. “The handprint was blood, Maureen.”
“Oh I’m not worried about that,” the other woman insisted. “It was a scare tactic. I’m sure of it. Probably used animal blood, or paint.”
Julie’s temples were throbbing and it was taking all her willpower not to simply hang up.
“I think I should bring the kids back.”
“Back?” Maureen laughed tightly. “Back to what? There’s nothing here for them. Their friends have all gone away and they’ll just be cooped up in the house. Besides, I already paid you to watch them, Julie. Have you forgotten that? I don’t think you want me to ask for that ten thousand back.”
No, she didn’t, especially not when she had already spent such a large portion of it.
“Just ignore it,” Maureen went on. “They will stop. I promise.”
There was nothing remotely reassuring about the flippant response. If anything, it only fueled the fire crackling inside her until she wanted to lash out, to scream and shout at Maureen that it wasn’t safe. But the older woman was right about one thing - if they returned, Julie would be forced to return the money given to her to babysit the children for a month. She really couldn’t do that.
“Jewels?” Mason stood darkening her doorway. One hand was braced against the frame. The other hung loosely at his side. “What is it?”
Tossing the phone down on her bedspread, Julie rose with a weak scoff that was supposed to have been a laugh. “I’m a bad person,” she decided.
Mason frowned. He moved over the threshold and started de
eper into the room. “What are you talking about?”
Grinding the grit and unshed tears from her eyes with the heels of her hands, Julie sniffled. “I just got off the phone with Maureen.” She let her hands drop, only to lift one up to fork back through her hair. “She’s telling me not to bring the kids back, or, if I do, to fork over the money she gave me to babysit them in the first place, which, of course, she has every right to, but...”
“What?” he prompted when she trailed off.
“I can’t!” she blurted. “Not that I don’t want to, but I honestly can’t. I mean, I can, but not the whole thing.” She shook her head. “I’m the worst person in the world.”
“How’s that?” He was standing right in front of her now.
“What do you think?” she shot back. “I’m actually considering staying here, keeping those kids here, because of money.”
“That doesn’t make you a bad person,” he justified.
Julie frowned at him. “Then what does it make me?”
His response was to move a step closer and tuck a coil of hair behind her ear.
“You need to stop beating yourself up, Jewels,” he murmured after a moment. “It’s going to be fine.”
“You can’t possibly know—”
“I do,” he interrupted evenly. “They got a fingerprint off the glass. It’s only a matter of time before they find the person responsible and it will end for the rest of the summer as it always does.”
Her frown deepened. “Have they caught the person in the past?”
Mason shook his head. “No, but I haven’t been here for five years.”
“Why didn’t Shaun give his handprint?”
As though the words had been lodged like a fist between her ribs, they blurted out of her, coming out almost accusing.
“He had his reasons,” Mason stated simply.
Julie couldn’t help frowning. “Like what?” she pressed. “Doesn’t he realize this makes him sound guilty?
His shoulders lifted and fell with his inhale and then exhale. “It wasn’t Shaun.”
The absolute faith Mason seemed to have in the guy bothered her. Granted, she would never just throw her best friend under a bus either, but then she liked to think any friend of hers wouldn’t be a horse’s ass like Shaun.
“Shaun has a problem with authority,” Mason explained. “It has nothing to do with him being guilty, just stubborn.”
Julie just shook her head. “I need to start on supper,” she muttered. “Then I need to decide on what to do.”
He didn’t stop her right away. She walked past him to the door and her hand touched the doorknob before he spoke.
“Jewels?”
Unwillingly, she turned to him.
His gaze was level, calm, and collected. “I know you don’t believe me, but Shaun would never hurt anyone.”
Julie narrowed her eyes at him. “Maybe that’s true in your rose colored world, but in the real world where I live, trust me, Shaun Ryan isn’t a humanitarian.”
He lowered his head as though praying and said nothing for a moment. When he finally fixed his attention on her once more, his expression was reluctant.
“Do you want help making supper?”
He followed her to the kitchen and joined her, even when she told him she had it covered. Together, it took them no time at all to make spaghetti. Shaun appeared halfway through ladling the meal onto plates and made himself at home at the table without a word to anyone about his disappearing act. It took all of Julie’s restraint, plus some pleading glances from Mason, to keep quiet.
Dinner was a somber affair, followed by everyone packing it in early, even the kids. Their acceptance worried her. She wondered if the whole event had forever scarred them. It only infuriated her further towards Maureen.
“What are you going to do now?” Mason asked once they had washed and put the dishes away.
Julie shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe go upstairs and read.”
“Come watch TV with us,” he requested.
She shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said. “I don’t think Shaun will appreciate my company. Besides, you guys watch really boring stuff.”
Mason gasped in feigned horror. “Take that back.”
Chuckling, she slipped around him and started for the door. “Goodnight.”
She made it all the way to the bottom of the stairs before she was caught by the wrist and tugged back into Mason’s chest.
“Stay for a little bit,” he cajoled. “I promise to stab Shaun in the eye if he so much as glances at you.”
At that, Julie laughed. “I think I might go just to see that.”
Mason smirked. “I thought that might entice you.”
With her hand still clasped securely in his, he led her into the living room and the bright flicker of lights as some action movie unfolded across the screen.
Unlike the comfort of the kitchen, the sitting room wasn’t a place she frequented. It felt more like Shaun’s domain than hers since he spent such a vast majority of his time sprawled across the sofa, taking full command of the remote control. Occasionally, the children were there and Luis. Mason, like her, or maybe because of her, stayed in the kitchen area. So when he dragged her to the loveseat to the right of the sofa, she lowered herself down gingerly on the cushion. Her gaze kept darting to Shaun taking claim to the entire length of one sofa while Luis lay in the other.
The trio of couches sat in a half square around a coffee table, facing a wide TV mounted to the wall above a fireplace. Julie didn’t recognize the movie playing, but then she didn’t have much time for movies.
Mason stayed on his side of the loveseat, but he seemed to take up all the room. His long legs were sprawled beneath the coffee table and he had one arm over the back of the sofa. The other was along the length of the armrest. The hand on the arm along the back played unhurriedly with the hairs bunched together in her ponytail. It took all her restraint not to twist her body around and tuck herself into the curve of his side.
She did relax. She let her bones sink into the velvety fabric of the upholstery. That brought his hand to her shoulder where it resumed its winding of the loose strands of hair by her ear around his finger.
No one spoke as things exploded across the screen and people ran in all directions screaming. A few times, Julie wished she’d gone to bed. At least there, she could have been reading instead of watching people die. In her opinion, it hit too close to home and that made her anxious.
It was twenty minutes in when Julie decided she’d had enough. She started to rise only Shaun beat her to it, lunging to his feet and straining his big body in a stretch that, in the dark, made him appear enormous.
“I’m out,” he grunted as he let his arms drop down to his sides.
“Where are you going?” Mason called after him when Shaun started around the sofa.
“Bed,” Shaun muttered. “Too crowded in here for me.”
Julie felt the jab as surely as though he’d physically stricken her. Warmth seeped up her chest to flood her cheeks.
“Don’t bother,” she muttered, getting to her own feet. “I was just leaving myself.”
“Whoa, wait...” Mason rose quickly and took her by the elbow. “Guys, come on.”
She shook him off. “It’s fine.” But her gaze drilled into Shaun. “I wouldn’t want to deprive Shaun of his couch time.”
That sparked a fresh coat of anger behind Shaun’s gaze. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Julie shoved her way around the coffee table to meet the man’s seven feet head on with her five foot five inches. She had to tip her head back, but she went toe to toe with him anyway.
“It means you’re a bully and I don’t have time for your bullshit.”
Feeling better for having gotten that off her chest, Julie began to turn away only to be grabbed roughly by the arm and wrenched to a stop that nearly dislocated her shoulder.
“Hey!”
Shau
n ignored Mason’s growl and jerked Julie closer to him. “You got something to say, bitch?”
Planting both fists against Shaun’s chest, Julie shoved. It didn’t do more than rock him back an inch.
“Get your hands off me,” she warned through gritted teeth.
His hold only tightened, leaving a bracelet of red, that would probably turn black and blue, circling her bicep.
“No,” he retorted. “Come on. Say what’s really on your mind.”
“Shaun, get your fucking hands off her!” Mason started around the furniture to get to them.
“You want to know what I think, Shaun?”
Without giving him time to think, she grabbed at the elbow holding her with her free hand and gouged her thumb into his pressure point. Shaun yelped. His fingers relinquished their grip on her arm and he tried to dart back.
Julie followed his retreat by stomping on his instep and followed it up with an elbow in the throat when he doubled over.
He hit the ground on both knees wheezing and clutching at his throat. Julie stood over him, trembling with fury and adrenaline. “I think you need to keep your fucking hands to yourself. Also, learn to keep your mouth shut. I’m not fifteen anymore. I will tear your dick off and feed it to you.”
Not waiting for him to catch his breath, Julie marched from the room. At the top, she softened her steps, careful not to wake the children.
In her room, she went straight into the bathroom to brush her teeth and scrub the little makeup she had on off her face. She stripped out of her clothes and yanked on her night shirt and, as an almost afterthought, yanked on a pair of shorts. After combing out her hair and knotting it back up in a thick braid, she climbed into bed, grabbed her book off the nightstand, and settled in despite the angry churning in the pit of her stomach.
But it was no good. She was just severely pissed off and no matter how hard she tried, the characters in her book were unable to save her from her own crowded mind.
Grumbling, she tossed the paperback down on the nightstand and jerked the covers up to her chin. A second later, she pitched them down, flopped onto her stomach. Then onto her back to stare at the ceiling. But no matter which position she took, sleep remained elusive. Her head was just too full of all the things that refused to stay quiet. Yet, just when she had begun to make progress and her eyelids finally started growing heavy, a light knock snapped her back.
Kissing Trouble Page 17
