Protective Order

by Rita Herron

  Anger at Robert Bouldercrest seized him. “She does resemble Joy,” Griff said. Although Ginny was prettier. Sweeter. More sincere. Joy had cheated on her ex and lied to Griff.

  Ginny had lied to him, but for different reasons. To protect herself.

  If he’d been in her shoes, if someone he knew had killed his brothers, wouldn’t he do anything to make that person pay?

  “I did some checking,” Jade said. “Her story about the cop being bribed to reveal her location is true. The cop who accepted that bribe has been suspended permanently. He cut a deal with the ADA to walk away quietly or face jail time.”

  “He could have gotten Ginny killed,” Griff muttered in disgust.

  Liam drummed his knuckles on the quartz countertop. “I had a feeling that if this man stalked Ginny, he might have done it before,” Liam said. “I did some digging after I talked to Jacob and found another homicide investigation with a similar MO. This one was in Savannah, Georgia.”

  Griff went bone still. “Ginny wasn’t his first victim?”

  Liam shook his head. “I don’t think so. I think we’re dealing with a serial predator. And he’s not going to stop until we catch him.”

  * * *

  GINNY FELT A kinship with Cora that reminded her of her relationship with Tess.

  She described Robert in detail, correcting Cora when she drew the mouth a little too wide and the eyes too slanted. His nose was more narrow, chin had a cleft. Robert hadn’t looked evil in the least. He could have been a model for an entrepreneurial magazine or GQ.

  “Nothing about him stood out as abnormal or dangerous,” she told Cora. “Not until you crossed him.”

  “That’s the worst kind,” Cora said softly. “And the easiest to fall for.”

  “I was such a fool,” Ginny said in a raw whisper.

  Cora squeezed her hand. “This man was a predator, so don’t blame yourself. You were trusting and had no reason to suspect he wasn’t who he pretended to be. That’s the nature of a sociopath. Just look at Charles Manson and all the women he charmed.”

  “But my sister died because I wore blinders,” Ginny said in a raw whisper.

  Cora squeezed her hand in understanding. “I’m sure she wouldn’t blame you, and she wouldn’t want you to blame yourself.”

  Probably true. Tess was selfless, full of life. Optimistic to a fault. And as trusting as Ginny had been.

  She missed her so much her heart gave a pang.

  Cora finished the sketch and turned it to face Ginny. “Is this close?”

  Perspiration beaded on Ginny’s neck at the sheer likeness of the drawing to Robert’s face. “That’s him.”

  Jade joined them and studied the photo. “We’ll pass this to all local law authorities and issue an APB for him.”

  “He probably altered his appearance now. He knows the police are still looking for him in connection to my sister’s murder and is like a chameleon. He fits in wherever he is and goes unnoticed.”

  Jade’s determined expression didn’t waver. “Don’t worry. The Maverick men are smart, thorough and determined. They’ll find him.”

  Cora squeezed Ginny’s hand. “You can trust us. This family takes care of each other.”

  “Liam and Jacob are two of the finest lawmen I’ve ever known,” Jade continued. “And Fletch...” A warm smile flickered in her eyes as she glanced at her husband. “He’s honest and trustworthy and will do everything he can to track down this man.”

  “I...don’t know what to say,” Ginny whispered. “The lawmen I worked with before treated me like what happened was my fault.” If she remembered correctly, they’d treated her mother as a suspect when her father was first murdered, too.

  “I understand how it feels to be looked at with suspicion,” Cora said. “When my daughter was kidnapped, the police acted as if my husband, at the time, and I did something to her. It was a horrible feeling and made me not want to work with the police.”

  Ginny wiped her clammy hands on her slacks. Cora did understand.

  “And I know what it’s like to be a victim,” Jade added. “A few months ago, I was investigating a serial murder case when I was attacked and left for dead in the mountains in the middle of a blizzard. When I came to, I didn’t remember my name or what happened.”

  Ginny gaped at her. “How did you survive?”

  Jade smiled. “Fletch found me and carried me to a shelter to wait out the storm. Slowly my memories started to return. But I had nightmares for weeks afterward.” She gestured toward Jacob and Liam. “Those men saved my life and helped me seek justice.” Sincerity laced her voice. “They’ll help you, too, Ginny. You just have to trust them.”

  A warmth seeped through Ginny, chasing away some of the chill. Both of these women had overcome trauma and seemed stronger for it. Could she do the same?

  Jade reached for the sketch. “Let me give this to Liam so he can log it into the system.”

  Cora handed her the sketch and Jade passed it to the men. Griff scrutinized the sketch, then walked over to her with a grim expression. He probably wondered how she could have been so gullible to have entangled herself with a sadistic psycho like Robert.

  She’d asked herself the same question a thousand times.

  “Let me make some more tea.” Cora excused herself and went to the kitchen.

  Griff slid onto the sofa beside Ginny. “You okay?” he asked softly.

  She nodded, although nothing about this situation was okay. “I can’t believe I allowed this to happen.”

  “Don’t do that,” Griff said firmly. “Stop blaming yourself for being a victim.”

  “That’s hard to do when my sister lost her life because of me.”

  A tense silence lingered for a moment before Griff spoke. “You weren’t the only one who fell for him.”

  Ginny wrinkled her brow. “You mean Joy?”

  Griff shrugged. “No. There was another woman before you. At least Liam found a victim who fit the same profile. She was from Savannah, Georgia.”

  Ginny’s heart stuttered. “She was strangled?”

  “And her house set on fire,” Griff said. “Her name was Ava Frances. She was twenty-five. Her coworkers said she met a man on a dating site. His name was David Lakin. He was an investor.”

  “Just like Robert,” Ginny said in a low voice.

  Griff nodded. “One of her friends apparently became suspicious of his behavior. After they were engaged, Ava pulled away from her friends and family, even left her job to stay home and be the wife he wanted.”

  Goose bumps skated up Ginny’s arms. “What happened?”

  “One of the girlfriends confronted him, and he strangled her and burned down her apartment with her in it.”

  Oh, God. Images of Tess’s dead body taunted Ginny. She thought she was going to be sick.

  “A week later, the fiancée ended up dead, strangled and left in her car which he set on fire.”

  Ginny leaned forward with her elbows on her knees, lowered her head and took several deep breaths to stem the nausea.

  Robert had done the same thing to another woman before her, and he’d killed her friend just like he had Tess. Who knows how many more women’s lives he would destroy if they didn’t stop him now?

  He hadn’t left any of his lovers, witnesses or anyone who’d crossed him alive.

  Which meant he didn’t want her as his wife as he’d said. He wanted to kill her.

  * * *

  NOW THAT GRIFF understood the reason Ginny was running and her distrust of the police, her actions made sense. Hopefully, Cora and Jade had alleviated her anxiety over confiding in him and his brothers.

  “Bouldercrest knows where Ginny’s staying?” Jacob asked.

  Griff nodded. “He’s been in her room at the inn.”

  “Did she report the break-in to the i
nnkeeper?”

  “I don’t think so. After what happened with that dirty cop, I don’t think she’s trusted anyone since.”

  Griff wanted her to trust him almost as much as he wanted to protect her.

  “I can assign a car outside the inn,” Jacob suggested. “If he shows up there, we’ll grab him.”

  “Good. Although I don’t think Ginny should stay at the inn tonight,” Griff said. “It’s too dangerous.”

  Jacob arched a brow. “What do you suggest?”

  “She can stay in my spare room. My security system is state-of-the-art.”

  “True,” Liam said. “Although if this guy saw you with Ginny, it could be dangerous for you.”

  Griff squared his shoulders. “I can handle myself. You forget I face danger every day on the job.”

  “This is different,” Jacob said. “You aren’t just dealing with an arsonist. This is a cold-blooded psychopath.”

  “All the more reason we make sure he doesn’t get to Ginny,” Griff said.

  His brothers reluctantly agreed, and Jacob phoned his deputy about standing guard at the inn in case Bouldercrest showed. Liam scanned the sketch Cora had drawn of the man and entered it into the system to alert law-enforcement agencies to be on the lookout for him. Fletch took a copy to pass to the rangers on the AT and to use as a reference himself.

  “Anything more on the teens and the wildfire arsons?” he asked Jacob.

  “I don’t think those boys are the perps. My guess is the arsonist saw where the boys had been partying in the woods and started the fires close by, assuming we’d instantly accuse the teens.”

  “Which we did,” Griff muttered. “What if Bouldercrest set the fires to distract us from Joy’s murder and from Ginny?”

  “That’s possible,” Liam agreed.

  Jacob patted Griff’s back. “Don’t let down your guard, man. Bouldercrest has gotten away with four murders so far that we know of, and an attempt on Ginny’s life. He’s smart and methodical.”

  * * *

  GRIFF PROMISED TO be careful and call Jacob if he noticed any sign Robert was following him. Cora and Jade gave Ginny a hug of encouragement before they left, and Griff’s heart squeezed with affection for his sisters-in-law. His family had always come together in a crisis and were doing so now. He was a lucky man to have them.

  Ginny was alone and had nobody. He couldn’t let her down.

  “We’re going to find him and bring him to justice,” Griff assured her as he drove to his cabin.

  Ginny stared out the truck window. “I hope so. He’s destroyed enough lives already.”

  He didn’t know how to respond. She was right. It was her reality. But he had the sudden urge to pull her in his arms and assure her that no one would ever hurt her again.

  She’d balked at the idea of staying at his place, but he insisted. “We should stop at the inn and let me pack a bag.”

  He shook his head. “Not tonight. He might be watching, and I don’t want him to follow us to my place. I’ll drive you back in the morning.”

  A sliver of fear flashed in her eyes. Was she afraid to spend the night at his cabin?

  “Ginny, I swear you’ll have your own room and privacy at my house. I have a state-of-the-art security system so no one can get in. And I won’t bother you.”

  “Robert had a security system, too. He used it to keep me locked inside.”

  Griff inhaled a sharp breath. “I’m not him,” he said, anger toward the monster who’d abused her throbbing inside him. “I just want you to be safe for the night. Jacob is stationing his deputy outside the inn, so if Robert shows up there tonight, we might catch him and this nightmare will be over.”

  She shivered and dug herself deeper inside her jacket as if the thin coat could hold the demons at bay.

  He hoped she didn’t see him as one of them.

  Chapter Fifteen

  In spite of Griff’s reassurances, Ginny insisted he stop by and let her pick up her car. Call it a safety net, but it was important that she be able to come and go of her own free will. She would never let another man dictate her life or trap her again.

  Griff didn’t like the idea of going anywhere near the inn, but he agreed to a compromise and asked Jacob to have one of the deputies drop her car at his house. She’d been alone so long now that she’d forgotten what it was like not to be alone.

  To have a family, people who came together and supported you when you needed it. People who’d literally do anything for you. Griff had that with his brothers. They obviously shared affection for each other and worked together.

  What would it be like to have a family like that?

  You had it with Tess. Except you let Robert alienate you from her.

  Her lungs squeezed with her need for air. Griff parked in front of his log cabin, and she realized how much he must love these mountains and the town to have stayed after his father’s death. She and Tess sold their family home after they lost their mother. It had been too painful to go inside the rooms where they’d grown up. Every place she’d turned she’d seen her parents, childhood memories, the love. The emptiness. That void had been overpowering.

  “You must be tired,” Griff said as they battled the wind up to his front porch. “How’s your head?”

  “I’m fine.” Although she winced at the reminder of her encounter with her attacker. If Robert had jumped her, he would have said something to let her know if it was him, wouldn’t he? Maybe she had angered Thad Rigden.

  But he seemed too sophisticated to assault a woman in an alley.

  “Your house is beautiful,” she said as they entered. “It feels warm and cozy.”

  “Thanks,” Griff said. “After we lost our folks, we decided to sell the old homestead and each of us built a cabin. It was too hard going back to the house.”

  Ginny smiled. “Tess and I sold our parents’ home after my mom passed, too.” Another thing they had in common.

  Griff flipped a switch and the gas logs in the fireplace burst to life. The floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace and rustic features added charm, and the picture window and French doors leading to the massive deck offered a beautiful scenic view. Soft firelight flickered and danced, adding warmth and an ambience that would have been romantic if romance was part of her life.

  “Did you do some of the work yourself?” she asked as she admired the millwork and rustic mantel.

  “Yeah, it’s kind of a hobby. I built the bannister and made my table out of reclaimed wood.” Pride filled his voice. “And the columns were made from heart pine from my parents’ property.”

  Impressive. “It’s lovely that you brought a piece of history with you.”

  “My brothers and I all did.”

  Just like she’d kept the quilt her grandmother had made for her and carried it with her wherever she moved.

  Griff set the alarm system, then offered her a drink. “I have whiskey or wine,” he said.

  “A whiskey would be great.” And alleviate some of her anxiety.

  He poured them both a finger in a highball glass, then handed it to her. She swirled the liquid around in the glass while he began pulling items from the refrigerator.

  “I hope you like omelets,” he said. “My specialty for dinner when I haven’t grocery shopped.”

  “I hadn’t thought about dinner,” she admitted as she crossed the room to stare out the French doors. The trees shivered in the breeze, and stars fought through the storm clouds but failed, pitching the night into almost total darkness.

  Exactly the way she’d felt for three years.

  She glanced back at Griff, and her stomach fluttered. Before she’d been scarred and broken, she would have been attracted to him. Heck, she still was.

  But she didn’t belong here. Not in his home or with his family.

  She didn’t belong anywhere an
ymore.

  * * *

  GRIFF ADDED ONIONS, peppers and mushrooms to the pan, then watched them sizzle in olive oil until they softened before he stirred in the eggs and added cheese. The scent of bacon frying on his griddle made his mouth water.

  He needed to distract himself from thinking about Ginny in his kitchen. As she stood by his window gazing at the inky sky and mountain ranges, she looked tormented. He loved the seclusion of the mountains and wilderness but considering Ginny’s situation, he understood her wariness. Although for a moment, he’d seen longing in her expression, as if she wanted to be part of this beautiful place.

  As if she was all alone.

  He’d never thought about being lonely before himself, because he had his brothers. Although there were all kinds of lonely.

  Two of his brothers had partners now, lovers and wives. He envied them. And tonight, sharing a simple meal with Ginny in his cabin felt intimate.

  A self-deprecating sigh escaped him. He could not entertain fantasies about a relationship with her. For God’s sake, she was a domestic violence victim with a stalker.

  Anger at the situation and the bastard heated his blood and made him renew his vow to protect her.

  He dished up the omelets and bacon, then grabbed toast from the toaster and set strawberry jam on the table. “It’s ready,” he said, wondering what she’d think of his culinary skills.

  She turned and looked so vulnerable that his gut instinct whispered for him to sweep her in his arms and hold her until her fear subsided.

  Don’t do it. The exact worst thing he could do was to touch her.

  “It smells delicious,” she said as she joined him at the breakfast bar.

  “Another whiskey?” he offered.

  She shook her head. “I need to keep my wits about me in case Robert finds us.”

  Dammit, no woman should have to think like that.

  He pushed the whiskey bottle to the back of the bar and filled glasses of water for them. He needed to stay alert himself. If this maniac found her here, he’d tear his damn head off. Then he’d call his brothers.