by Becca Van
She gulped, nodded, and told him the names.
“We don’t have much to go on, and though we’d like to stake out your home to protect you, I don’t think the sheriffs would agree to that. We can organize regular drive-bys, but other than that…” Walt rubbed at the back of his neck as he stood.
Emmet and Giff nodded to her and left the house. Dirk rose and headed toward the door. He glanced back at Jodi over his shoulder. “You’d be safer if you stayed somewhere else for a while.”
Jodi nodded and walked Walt to the door.
“I’ll get your statement typed up and you can sign it tomorrow. Can you come to the office, or do want one of us to drop into your place of work?”
“I can come on my lunch break,” she replied.
“We’ll board up the broken window for you before we leave.” Just as Walt finished speaking he heard hammering. Jodi jumped and he gripped her elbow to steady her. “Easy, you’re safe, Jodi.”
She blushed, nodded, and swallowed again. “Sorry.”
“Hey, don’t apologize. You’ve every reason to be scared. My brothers and I and Giff will pass on your information to the guys on day shift. The sheriff will probably send a couple of men out in the morning to look around again. Hopefully, they’ll be able to see more in the light of day.” He pointed at the door. “Make sure you lock up.”
Jodi nodded and tried to smile, but when her lips trembled she pulled her lips into a tight line.
Walt didn’t want to leave her out here all alone, but he couldn’t stay either.
With a sigh of frustration, he walked around to the side of the house where Emmet and Giff finished securing the board over the broken window. First thing tomorrow when he woke up he was going to organize a glazier to come out and replace Jodi’s kitchen widow. The landlord could reimburse him.
“Do you think she’s going to leave?” Emmet asked as he grabbed the hammer and box of nails then walked back toward the driveway and the patrol cars.
“I doubt it.”
“I don’t like her being out her all alone.” Dirk scrubbed a hand over his face.
“I don’t either, but we can’t force her to leave.” Walt frowned. He’d never seen Jodi before, and while he wished he had, he also wished it was under normal circumstances.
Emmet and Giff waved before getting into their cars and heading out.
After a glance toward the small cottage style home, Walt got into the driver’s seat of the cruiser as Dirk got into the passenger seat. He started the car and slowly drove down the driveway while his brother cleared them with dispatch.
What he wanted to do was park in Jodi’s driveway until his shift was over, but that wasn’t an option. He needed to finish his patrol route and head home for some sleep. That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to spread the word about Jodi being terrorized. He hated that she was scared and he was so damn frustrated that none of the other deputies had spotted a trace of intruders.
His internal alarm was jangling loudly, but since he had no idea what was going on or who to start investigating, there wasn’t much more he could do.
He just hoped that Jodi was smart enough to heed their advice and go somewhere else for a few days. Nonetheless, he had a feeling she wasn’t going anywhere.
She was a gorgeous woman, one that attracted his attention. He had a feeling that Jodi could be the woman he and his brothers had been waiting for, but he was worried that she’d blow him and his brothers off if he asked her out on a date.
Not that he blamed her after being scared out of her wits.
“She was fucking beautiful,” Dirk said. Walt nodded. It didn’t surprise him that his brother’s thoughts had been along the same lines his had been. He had no doubt that Emmet was just as attracted to the gorgeous woman.
“Do you think it was a couple of teenagers playing around?”
“I don’t know, but I sure hope so.”
“Me too, but my gut’s telling me otherwise.”
“Yeah.” Walt nodded in agreement as he drove back to town and the sheriff’s department. He had a file to report, and he was going to make sure every single law officer got the email he sent out.
The men in this town were protective of women, children, and anyone weaker than they were, and while he was on board with that in every aspect, he couldn’t help but think they’d all done a piss poor job where Jodi Regan was concerned.
He intended to find out everything he could about her and hopefully, eventually, get her agree to go out with him and his brothers.
Walt needed to know for certain if she fit in with him and his siblings, but he had a feeling his efforts were unnecessary. Deep down in his gut was an assuredness he’d never felt before.
If at all possible, he intended to keep her as close to him as he could. Whoever had scared her was up to no good, and he had every intention of finding the fuckers and arresting their asses.
* * * *
“Morning Jodi,” Talia greeted.
“Morning,” she replied, forcing a smile.
Talia narrowed her eyes at her, and though Jodi had applied concealer and makeup to try and hide how tired she was and the dark crescents beneath her eyes, she could tell her business partner and friend could see through the façade.
“What’s wrong, Jodi?”
“Nothing,” she answered automatically.
“Other people might believe that shit, but I don’t.” Talia frowned with her hands on her hips. “Talk to me, girlfriend.”
Jodi sighed. “Can I get a cup of coffee first?”
“Let me get the coffee. Why don’t you sit down?” Talia pointed a chair by the small table they had set up in the back storage room. Most of the space was used to store cheeses and other produce in the large commercial fridges, but there’d also been room for a table and four chairs. There was a sink and the small counter had a coffee machine sitting on it, also there was a tray with a few clean mugs, too. They had everything they needed for the shop and themselves when they had time to take a break. There were restrooms down a small hallway off the main shop on the far side of the room and another single restroom with a sink off the storage room.
Talia placed a steaming mug of coffee in front of her, then took the seat opposite her. “Are you having man trouble? Is that why you look as if you haven’t slept for months?”
Jodi laughed, but the sound was harsh and not the least bit mirthful, and she quickly cut herself off. “You could say that.”
“Who is he? Or should I say, who are they? Give me some names, girlfriend, and I’ll get my men to go and beat some sense into them,” Talia all but snarled.
She shook her head. “It’s not what you think.”
“Explain,” Talia ordered.
Since she’d probably end up hearing through the rumor mill, Jodi told Talia about everything that had been happening to her for the last few months.
“God, Jodi, why the hell didn’t you say something? I don’t know how the hell you’re still standing. We’ve been so busy with starting up this business and then dealing with the hordes of customers… I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.” Talia frowned. “Why didn’t you?”
“Because there was nothing you or anyone else could do. Even the police haven’t been able to find signs of anyone being at my home. Last night was the first time that the bastards left tracks behind.” Jodi gave an exhausted sigh. “I think the deputies and the sheriffs were beginning to think I was paranoid or delusional.”
“They didn’t catch them?” Talia asked.
“No.”
“Listen, why don’t you take the day off?” she suggested. “I can handle things around here for a day or so. You need to go home and get some sleep.”
“I wouldn’t be able to sleep, Talia. No sooner do I doze off and I’m awake again. Every little creak and noise has me awake and alert in an instant.”
Talia nodded. “Did you see these assholes?”
“Only the outline of their bodies.” Jodi shivered. “Wh
oever they are, they’re big men.”
“You can come and stay with me and my guys at the ranch.” Talia held her hand up when Jodi opened her mouth to reply. “Don’t answer yet. Take some time to think things over. You’re more than welcome to come home with me where you’ll be safe.”
“Thanks,” Jodi said, even if she had no intention of accepting Talia’s offer. Talia and her men hadn’t been together for that long, and Jodi didn’t want to impinge on their privacy or curb their alone time. The only other option she really had was to lease a motel room for a few days, but since she already had a perfectly good home, she didn’t want to waste the money. She was only just now getting her head above water after nearly going bankrupt and only had a couple hundred dollars saved in her bank account. There was no way she was dishing out her hard-earned cash when she already had a roof over her head. She needed a nest egg to fall back on, and she was still paying off her college student loans for her business associates degree.
It was hard to remain optimistic when life had thrown her curve ball after curve ball, but she wasn’t about to let the pessimism battering her win. She’d been on her own for a long, long time with no one but herself to rely on. Though she appreciated Talia’s generous offer and she’d been and still was tempted to accept her friend’s invitation, she’d decided it was better if she didn’t.
She had no idea who was targeting her or why, and she didn’t want her business partner and friend ending up in the line of fire with her. Talia’s men would never forgive her if anything happened to her because of Jodi, and she wouldn’t be able to forgive herself, either.
No, it was best to just ride things out and hope that the police found the bastards and arrested them.
Chapter Two
“You four.” Sheriff Luke Sun-Walker pointed at Dirk, Walt, Emmet, and Giff as soon as they entered the sheriff’s department to start their stint on afternoon shift.
Dirk shrugged when they all gazed at each other, then took the lead down the hallway to the first open doorway on the left. He nodded at Sheriff Damon Osborn and took a seat. The two sheriffs shared the large office and there were more than enough chairs for everyone to sit.
“Bring me up to speed on the Jodi Regan case,” Luke demanded.
“There isn’t much to tell,” Dirk said.
Walt spoke up and told their two bosses what had gone down the previous evening and what she’d been dealing with.
“And no one who was sent out to her place ever found anything?” Damon asked incredulously.
“That’s what it looks like,” Emmet replied angrily. When Luke pinned Dirk’s youngest brother with a hard stare, Emmet apologized. “Sorry.”
Luke waved his apology away. “I get why you’re frustrated. I am, too, after hearing all of this shit.” He turned to gaze at Damon. “Who’s off on an RDO?”
“Let me check.” Damon turned to his computer and started tapping on the keyboard. “The Sheffield brothers have the day off.”
“Were any of them called out to Ms. Regan’s house?”
Again Damon worked at the keyboard for a few minutes. “No. Jalen, Dante, and Mica Donnybrook went out twice. Brax, Ajay, and Cael Rhodes attended twice.” He met each of their gazes and frowned. “You said she called five times?”
“That’s what Jodi told us,” Walt answered.
“There’s no record of a fifth call,” Damon said.
“Ms. Regan may have been confused about the number of calls she made.” Luke crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s not such a surprise since the woman has to be scared shitless. Make sure you go back over the emergency log calls to make sure.” Luke turned to Giff and pointed. “That’s your first job of the day.”
Giff nodded.
“I’ll help,” Emmet said.
Dirk wasn’t sure that Jodi would have mixed up how many times she’d called for help. If she’d been terrified enough to call 9-1-1, surely she’d recall how many times she’d called for the police, but since there were no records as of yet to verify her statement from last night, he let it go. For now. Hopefully, Giff and Emmet would find a copy of those calls being made.
“Call the Rhodes brothers and the Donnybrook men back to the office. I need them here to question them,” Luke stated.
Damon nodded, stood, and hurried out of the office. Dirk hoped that he, his brothers, and Giff could hang around and hear the outcome of the other deputies’ visits to Jodi’s house, but he had a feeling that nothing was going to change.
The other six men were all trained retired Marines. If there’d been any trace of someone trespassing on her property those men would have found it. He hated that Jodi was scared and didn’t think he’d ever forget the look of fear in her eyes or the tear tracks on her face, but he was also proud of her. She’d held it together and hadn’t broken down into hysterics.
He wished he could find out where she worked and go and visit her just to make sure she was okay, but he had no idea where that was and he wasn’t about to use the police computers to do a search on her. Of course, he could ask his bosses, because they were sure to know, or some of the other deputies, but he wasn’t sure what the sheriffs’ rules were on dating someone they’d been called out to protect.
While he didn’t think Luke and Damon would think anything of him and his brothers dating Jodi—that was if they ever had the chance to ask her out and she accepted—he wasn’t about to rock the boat just yet. He and his siblings hadn’t worked a full twelve months as deputies yet.
Nevertheless, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t ask her to go on a date with them if the chance arose. If he had his way, Dirk, Emmet, and Walt would be spending all their free time talking with and courting the stunning, sexy Jodi Regan.
* * * *
Emmet sighed as he sat back in his seat. He and Giff had been going through the 9-1-1 call logs from yesterday to six months back. Giff had divvied the piles up between them and it had taken them a full eight hours to search through the numbers. It would have been easier to copy and paste everything onto a spread sheet and do a search on one specific number, but Luke had been worried about lines being missed, so they’d searched the old fashioned way. Page after page of telephone numbers had been spewed from the printer.
By the time he’d hit the last page, Emmet felt as if he’d gone cross eyed and his eyes felt sore and gritty, but he didn’t care. He’d do anything he could to help Jodi, even if it meant wading through boxes of files to keep her safe. He’d found records of two of the four 9-1-1 calls Jodi had made. Giff had told him he’d found another two, but the fifth logged call remained elusive. While he didn’t think Jodi would forget how many times she’d called, there was nothing he could do about the missing fifth call. However, his gut was telling him that she hadn’t been lying or that she’d mixed up her call count, but he couldn’t figure out why one of the calls she’d made were missing from the records. Frustration knotted his gut and ate at his insides.
The more he thought about what she’d been through, the angrier he got, but that wasn’t the only emotion he was feeling. All his protective instincts had risen to the fore as soon as he sighted the beautiful Jodi. No matter how hard he tried to get her out of his mind, she wouldn’t budge. Even with the work he’d been concentrating on, she flashed through his memory time and time again. Each time he thought about her, his cock started pulsing. Every time that had happened, he made himself look at the many sheets of calls he’d been going through. It would have been embarrassing if anyone had noticed he had a boner at work.
The other deputies, the Rhodes and Donnybrook brothers, had come back to the office and after being questioned by their bosses had left to get back to work looking frustrated as hell. Obviously, they hadn’t found any trace of intruders whenever they’d been called to Jodi’s place.
Just thinking about the fear she’d been feeling and what had been happening to her had the hair on the back of his neck standing on end.
Whatever was going on out at her proper
ty wasn’t good, and it pissed him off that he and his brothers as well as Giff hadn’t been able to find the motherfuckers who were scaring her.
Emmet began to think that maybe he and his siblings should start staking her house, but with them all currently on the afternoon shift, there was a possibility the bastards could make another move on her while they weren’t there.
For the first time in his life, Emmet felt useless and didn’t know what to do.
* * * *
Jodi glanced at the clock, sighing with relief. She hadn’t taken Talia up on her suggestion to go home and rest, but right now she wished she had. She was so damn tired she felt nauseous. The muscles in her neck and shoulders were aching, as were her feet since she’d been on them all day long, but there was only half an hour left before they could close up the shop and head home.
Although she was happy over how busy they’d been, she was so weary she had no idea how she was still on her feet. A couple of times she’d gotten a little lightheaded but put the wooziness down to lack of sleep. After the excitement of last night, she had been too scared to close her eyes, let alone slumber. She’d sat up in bed with a book in her hand trying to keep her mind off of how frightened she was. She’d also nearly nodded off more than once only to jerk awake when her head had dropped forward or back as her muscles relaxed.
Well, she wasn’t relaxed right now. In fact, she was carrying so much tension, she had a bad headache. As soon as she got home she was going to pop a couple of painkillers, run a bath with some salts in it, and soak.
Just as she finished replenishing the refrigerated display case, the bell over the door tinkled. Talia was wiping down the tables they had set up for customers to enjoy finger food and beverages at, if they so chose. The alternative was to take their purchases with them.
When she turned to the customers entering the store, her cheeks heated and her heart skipped a beat before racing. Three of the four deputies who’d attended her callout last night had just entered the shop. Deputy Walt Kyson appeared to be older than his two brothers, maybe early to mid-thirties. He was also the tallest and brawniest. He had brown hair and brown eyes, wide muscular shoulders, and from what she could see, a ripped body. The sleeves of his deputy uniform were strained over his bulging biceps. She loved the short scruff on his face, because for some reason Jodi thought it made him look more manly.
