Page 5

“Why did you drive by?” she asked sleepily.
At that same moment, his phone began to ring. “Just a second,” he said. Once on the call, he was all business. “Location? How many? Wait for my signal.”
Sutton tensed beside me, and I automatically pulled her closer to my side. I knew she was brimming with questions. Hell, so was I, but I also knew Brian was good at his job. When he was able to brief us on the situation, he would. For now, the best thing we could do was wait.
He drove down one of the back roads until he could swing past Farmer Johnson’s pasture and head back toward town.
“Candice will meet us at the police station,” Brian began. “Wait there until we have a better grasp of what’s going on at your place.”
“Is someone in the house?” Sutton asked in a scared voice.
I hated that I couldn’t take all of this away from her. She had been through so much already. It seemed every moment of our lives was fraught with danger.
“No, nobody is in your home. However, someone was snooping around. I told Natalie to stay back until I could take a better look at who we were dealing with. There isn’t any way they will be able to get into the house. Your security system is top of the line. I have a feeling that they are waiting for you.”
“If that’s the case and you show up in our car, something could happen to you?” I reasoned. “I don’t like that.”
Sutton tightened her grasp on my hand. “I don’t like it, either.”
Brian pulled into the station and turned to us just as Candice opened the door. “Let me do my job. You know as well as I do these motherfuckers won’t know what hit them.”
My brother was one scary son of a bitch, and once he was in protection mode, I did not doubt he could take care of himself. However, I had spent a lot of years without him in my life. I didn’t want to be the reason he left this world. Before I could spew something utterly cheesy, Sutton spoke.
“Please be careful. I know you’re like a better-looking Rambo, but please.”
I grunted at that. “Seriously? I’m right here.”
Candice and Brian laughed while Sutton looked immediately contrite. “I didn’t mean…”
I kissed her temple. “I’m just kidding.”
“Come on then,” Candice encouraged. “We need to get you off the street.”
Sutton and I left the car and watched as Brian drove off. Once inside the police station, I could see how completely exhausted she really was.
It was another forty minutes of mindless chit-chat between Sutton and Candice before Brian called my cell.
“It’s clear, you can head back,” he said and then hung up.
Brian wasn’t the best at telephone conversations. Nor did he mince words.
I tucked my phone away and then turned to see the worried expression on Sutton and Candice’s faces. “It’s okay,” I assured them. “Let’s go home.”
“I heard gunshots,”Natalie was saying just as we walked into the house.
“Gunshots?” Sutton repeated as she stopped abruptly. “Is everyone okay?”
Natalie and Brian turned to face us. A red stain was blooming underneath one of Sutton’s white kitchen towels. I heard her gasp, but it seemed as if it came from far away.
“Woah!” Natalie called out, but her voice sounded muffled as well.
I felt someone tugging on my arms. When had I decided to sit on the floor? Glancing up, I saw clear concern on Sutton’s face, along with the amusement on Brian’s.
“I didn’t realize you cared so much,” Brian teased.
Sutton touched my forehead. “Did you hurt yourself?”
Fucking hell.