by Jen Talty
“If I let you out off your leash, you have to take it slow and be careful not to knock down the pretty lady, got it?” As if Coop understood all those words.
Damn dog just sat there.
Patiently.
Waiting.
Coop was a good dog, but he had no clue how big he was. He had a lot of energy and needed to run. When the cottage hadn’t been rented, he always let the dog race around the yards and through the brush in the back.
“Don’t disappointment me.” Mason opened the door, and Coop bolted toward the backyard, barking like a wild animal.
He raced to the brush, his tail wagging while he dashed around the trees, doing a figure eight by the back fence.
“Good morning.” Mason eased across the yards, carrying his mug of coffee, keeping an eye on the crazy dog still running as if he were being chased by a herd of hungry elephants.
Destiny glanced over her shoulder. Her forehead crinkled with deep lines.
“What’s wrong?” he asked just as the damage to her newly started garden landed in his line of vision. Not to mention the spray paint on the side of the house.
His house.
The siren from the fire station rang out.
“I came out here about ten minutes ago and found this,” she said.
“You called 9-1-1? Before calling me?” Mason scratched the back of his head and glanced toward Coop. Mason had gotten into a bad habit of letting the dog sleep in his bed. He’d started because it was the only way he could get Coop to sleep all night, which meant Mason got to sleep through the night.
The negative of doing that was his bedroom was on the other side of the house, so it was likely he never heard a thing.
“I didn’t call anyone. I was just about to go bang on your door.”
“Is that a logo or something?” He pointed to the paint that looked like a diamond with mini circles at each corner.
“I have no idea,” she said with a shaky voice.
He snapped a picture of it with his cell phone.
“Is that boy—Jake—out of county lock up or whatever you call it?”
“He is. The Lawsons have a lot of money, and their attorney pleaded a good case to release the boy. He’s on house arrest though, with an ankle monitor. I got an email late last night that he took the plea, so for the next ninety days, he can’t leave home. After that, he’s got a hundred hours of community service and mandatory counseling. If he breaks any of the rules set forth, the deal is off, and he’ll go to jail.”
“Then it has to be his uncle,” she said with a huff. Her arms folded tightly across her chest. Negative energy flowed from her body to his. “And look.” She pointed to some plastic on the ground. “They left behind a couple of Ho Ho wrappers. I found a couple last night as well right before they showed up here. Do you think he was watching me?”
Mason took a step back. “Dean graduated from high school with my boss. I graduated with his brother. I’ve known their family since I was born. Dean wouldn’t do this. He’d do exactly what he did last night. Confront you face-to-face. He might be angry and acting a bit irrationally, but he’s not a criminal or an asshole. Jake, on the other hand, I can see him doing something like this.”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better.”
“It wasn’t meant to. Let me call my boss and find out if there has been any movement with Jake outside of the house, and then I’ll have a word with Dean and Angie myself.”
“I’d rather do it,” Destiny said behind a tight jaw. “No need to involve you in this.”
“It’s my cottage, and I am a cop, so you stay put. I’ll be back shortly.” He whistled. “Would you mind watching Coop for a little while? He needs to run, or he’ll destroy my sofa. I’ll leave you a key so you can put him in the house if I’m not back quickly.”
“I don’t want to put you out. Really. I can handle—”
“Please. Just sit tight. I’m going to be on duty soon anyway, and it’s best if I go talk to them because you are too upset, and I sense behind that sweet exterior, you’re a bit of a hothead.”
She nodded. “All right.”
He rested his hand on her shoulder, careful not to make it sexual in any way. All he wanted was to reassure her that he’d take care of this matter. “I do have one question. It’s a cop question. And I have to ask it.”
“Okay.” She lowered her chin and glared.
“Is there anyone that’s got it out for you? Anyone from where you used to live? Old boss? Boyfriend?”
“No one.”
“Where are you from again?” His mind snapped into view the documents she’d sent regarding her past employment along with her credit and background check. Her last employer had been a communications company who gave her a fantastic recommendation. The company had been located not far from Scarsdale, Arizona. Her ex-employer had said they tried everything to get her to stay.
“Are you really asking me that question?”
“Look. I intend on finding out who did this, but I need details about you. That’s how it works,” he said, keeping his frustration in check.
“I had no enemies, that I know of, in Arizona. Or anywhere for that matter. If I think of something, I will let you know.”
Her curtness wasn’t lost on him, but he didn’t think he deserved it. He was just doing his job as both landlord and officer of the law.
“I appreciate that. I should be back in about an hour or less. Thanks for watching Coop.” He hit speed dial one for Blaine as he marched toward his pickup.
“Hey, what’s up?” Blaine asked.
“I’m headed over to the Lawsons’. Dean and Angie showed up at my tenant’s house last night, and this morning she woke up to spray paint on the side of the house and her garden was all dug up.”
“I’m already there.”
Mason paused mid-step. “Why?”
“Jake’s gone.”
He glanced over his shoulder, contemplating if he should say something to Destiny or not. “Since when?” he asked.
“Sometime in the middle of the night,” Blaine said. “His mom woke up, and he was gone, so they called me.”
“Where’s his tracking device?”
“In his room. No idea how he got it off because it wasn’t tampered with at all.”
“What does Dean say?” Mason asked.
“That’s the next problem.”
Mason ground his heel into the grass and turned, stomping across the yard. Coop raced to greet him. “Is he missing too?” Mason knelt on the grass, giving Coop a good ear scratching, trying not to glance up and catch Destiny’s scrutinizing gaze.
“Not missing. He’s being transported to the hospital.”
“I heard the siren go off fifteen minutes ago. What happened?”
“Looks like he was beaten up pretty badly. Angie found him in the backyard when she was looking for Jake.”
“Did Jake do that?” Had he not seen Jake take a knife to a woman who used to babysit for him, he would have thought that question to be the most ludicrous thing he’d ever let tumble out of his mouth.
“Anything is possible, but we won’t know until we can talk to Dean, and that could be a while. Dean’s pupils were nonresponsive, and his vitals were way out of whack.”
“Jesus,” Mason muttered. “I need to shower and take a statement from Destiny, but I’ll be over right after that.”
“Not necessary. Bowen is with me, and he’ll finish up here, but if you don’t mind, I’d like to have a word with your tenant.”
“I don’t mind at all.”
“I’ll see you there,” Blaine said.
Mason tucked his phone into his back pocket.
“What’s going on?” Destiny asked.
He stared at her bare feet. Her toenails sported a light-blue nail polish with sparkles that caught the sun. “Why don’t we go sit down.”
Destiny’s heart raced as though she’d been free-falling and just realized she hadn’t a parachute to ease her
to earth. Perspiration beaded on the back of her neck. She didn’t know what was worse, wondering if the drug cartel Lucas worked for had found out the name of the person who ratted Lucas out.
Or being worried about a teenage kid on the run from the police who potentially had it in for her.
“I replaced all the locks, just in case.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it.” In any other situation, this would be the right time to tell the cop/landlord that she was the key witness in the Lucas Montana federal court case. However, Agent Sterling warned her that she was to tell no one, or he couldn’t guarantee her protection.
“Blaine is on his way to take an official report, and I’ve got to jump in the shower and put my uniform on.”
She leaned back in the rocker, her feet safely tucked under Coop’s warm body. He whined a little, glancing up at her as if he understood her concern. The warm morning sun beat down on her face. A vision of snowflakes dancing in the sky on a cold winter morning filled her brain. She could see Coop bouncing up and down in the powdery, white stuff. Part of her knew she could get used to this place.
The other part itched for the city lights. The loud noises that you never really heard. Trains roaring off in the distance. Horns honking. The constant chatter of people. Not like the cricket’s song that kept her up half the night because it was the only sound humming in her ears.
“Mind leaving Coop here?”
Mason laughed. “I couldn’t bribe that dog with a fresh, bloody steak to come with me right now.”
Coop whined, his tail thumping on the wood planks, but he didn’t even lift his head off the floor.
Mason rested his hand on her shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “I’m going to get to the bottom of this.”
“Thanks.”
She watched the sexy cop swagger back to his place. He waved once right before he closed the door.
Another time and another place, she’d be following him across the yard and up to his bedroom for a little morning sunshine of another kind.
She held her phone up in the air. The screen read: Uncle Richard.
Closing her eyes, she sucked in a deep breath and counted to ten before letting it out slowly. She blinked, her finger hovering over the green call button. If she called, she could be yanked away immediately. If she didn’t call, and it wasn’t this Jake kid who vandalized her cottage and garden, then she could be dead by the end of the week.
She swiped the screen, deciding that to call the FBI would be overreacting. A teenage boy had it out for her, and soon enough, the good cop that lived next door would have him in custody. There was no reason for her to be concerned. Not one.
Coop yelped, popping up to all fours.
A police car rolled to a stop in front of her house.
She grabbed hold of Coop’s collar. “Sit.”
The dog did as instructed while his tail wagged so hard it slammed into her chair, rattling the entire porch.
“You can let Coop go. We’re old friends,” the man said. “I take it Mason said I’d be stopping by?”
“He did.” She stood, stretching out her hand. Coop danced wildly at Blaine’s feet. Destiny tucked her hair behind her ears. “I wish I had something concrete to tell you about what happened here, only I’ve got nothing.”
“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about your interaction with Dean and Angie Lawson last night.”
“What about it?” She stiffened her spine. Being around police, especially being questioned by one, made her jittery.
And with good reason.
“Besides being upset, what can you tell me about their behavior?”
She swallowed. Having her name associated with anything criminal could trigger a chain reaction that she wasn’t prepared to deal with. The cell in her back pocket burned a hole in her jeans. She might have to make that phone call. “I don’t know them at all, so I have no idea if that’s how they normally behave or not. Dean did seem more hostile than Angie. Should I be concerned?”
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t troubled by what happened at the diner with you and Jake, and now he’s gone, and his uncle is in the hospital.” Blaine leaned against the railing. He had a serious look about his face, like most cops she’d come across, but he seemed more relaxed than most.
As a matter of fact, so did Mason.
Must be the small-town atmosphere.
“I take it you were home all night. Alone?”
She narrowed her stare. “Are you suggesting I had something to do with Jake taking off or his uncle’s injuries?”
Blaine tossed his hands to the side. “I’m just asking questions. It’s my job.”
“I was home all night.” She folded her arms over her chest. “Do you think Jake hurt his uncle when he escaped?”
“I deal in facts, and right now, I don’t have enough to make an assumption one way or the other.”
“But you have a working theory?”
Blaine raised his right brow. “I don’t have enough evidence, yet.”
“Is that what this is? You, collecting evidence.” Shit, that was about the dumbest thing she’d done. Agent Sterling was right, her sarcasm was going to be her downfall.
“As a matter of fact, it is.” Blaine planted his hands on his hips. “There are some things that don’t add up to Dean helping Jake take off his ankle monitor and then beating up his uncle, and the first one is the fact that Dean used to box, and Jake is still a scrawny kid.”
She swallowed her heartbeat. Lucas had warned her that he’d find a way to get to her, but that had nothing to do with the present situation.
It couldn’t.
“Dean has been a mess since his brother died, and worse since the man who killed him has been released, but Angie said that yesterday he seemed more on edge and that he’d gotten a dozen phone calls, but Angie didn’t know from who, and we can’t find Dean’s phone anywhere.”
No way could this cop be suggesting she was calling Dean. She opened her mouth and then cleared her throat, stopping herself from saying something really stupid.
“Have you had any other interaction with the Lawson family?”
She sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly, controlling her temper. When her mother had committed suicide, one of the detectives had all but accused her of killing her mom. He’d been relentless in his investigation until the medical examiner ruled her mother’s death a suicide. But even then, every once in a while, he’d start poking around, trying to re-open the case.
She shook her head.
“And you can’t think of anyone else who has an axe to grind with you,” he said as a statement rather than a question, which bugged her for some reason.
She’d lived in this town for less than a week, and trouble had already found her.
That phone call to her fake Uncle Richard was looking better and better.
“The only person who has any beef with me would be Jake.” She pointed to the side of her house. “Jake is the most likely culprit, considering he’s missing.”
“I’d have to agree, but I do need to cover all my bases.”
“Look. I relocated partly because a long-term relationship I had ended.” Might as well get all the lies out there. Maybe then she’d be more confident that she actually remembered them.
“How did it end?”
“It wasn’t great, but my ex has moved on, and we have no ill-feeling toward each other.”
“Where does he live?”
“Still in Scarsdale.” Her heart hammered in her chest. “My previous job, I worked mostly by myself, and I honestly had very few friends. I have no family left, other than one uncle, and this town is a place my mom always wanted to come back to. She spent a few years near here, and I thought it would be a nice tribute to my folks.”
Coop jumped to his feet, nearly knocking over the end table as he raced off to meet Mason.
“In the house,” Mason commanded, holding open the door. Once he secured his house, he sauntered towar
d the cottage, his hand resting on the butt of his weapon. He wore that damn uniform like it was his skin. His chest puffed out. “What did I miss?”
“Just me making your new friend defensive.” Blaine stretched out his arm and took Mason’s hand in a funky handshake that shifted grips three times before giving each other a fist bump.
“You’re good at that.” Mason leaned against the railing next to his boss. “I should have warned you he might give you the third degree about things you told me, and I passed on to him.”
That didn’t make her feel any better about this situation.
“According to my wife, I’m also good at scaring the crap out of people, so in line with that, I’m going to suggest you leave your massive watchdog with your tenant while you’re at work, just in case Jake shows up here.”
“I’ve got to be in my office and run some errands,” she said.
“Coop’s a good passenger.” Mason smiled.
“If you need us, here is my direct line.” Blaine handed her a card. “Do you have Mason’s cell phone number?”
Her cheeks flushed. “I do, thanks.”
“I’ll be on my way.” Blaine shook her hand.
“I’ll see you at the office shortly,” Mason said.
A deafening silence hovered over her like a dark cloud. Living in LA, she longed for the quiet only the country could bring. The reality of silence was nothing like she expected.
“I get the impression that something is going on here that I don’t know about,” she said.
“I can’t discuss most of the case, but I will tell you that it makes no sense that Jake could get out of his ankle monitor without help. It’s even more disconcerting that the alarm didn’t go off when it was removed.”
“Sounds like an inside job,” she mumbled.
“Whoever helped him, knew exactly what they were doing. The question is why, and who? That kid hung out with some riffraff. A few kids that we’ve picked up for drinking, smoking weed, even shoplifting, but they weren’t hardened criminals, and whoever pulled this off, had some skills.” Mason scratched the side of his cheek. “Blaine didn’t want me to tell you all that.”
“I don’t want to get you in trouble with your boss.”
