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CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

J acob didn’t care how much it hurt. He needed coffee.

That didn’t mean he planned to stand for much longer than it took to walk from the bedroom Addie had used as a kid to the kitchen.

If he pulled up a chair to the counter, he’d have to stretch. That wouldn’t be a good idea unless it was a stool.

This was far too much thinking.

One hand braced on the hallway wall, Jacob shuffled old man steps to the kitchen. The coffee pot light was on, and the pot was half full. He felt the hot burn of tears behind his eyes and told himself it was only about needing another dose of meds soon.

Jacob leaned his side against the counter. He braced his weight with one hand as though the granite was a crutch. He got a mug, and slammed it down too hard on the counter. Pushed out a breath.

“Sit.” Russ’s gruff voice echoed across the kitchen. “Let me do that.”

Jacob wasn’t sure he could make it to the chair. Thankfully, Russ caught his elbows and helped him lower his behind into a chair. Jacob hissed out a breath.

“There you go. Milk?”

“Black.” Jacob cleared his throat.

“Sugar?”

“Half, please.”

“Coming right up.”

Jacob sniffed again. This was ridiculous. He felt like a baby. “Thanks, Russ. For this and letting me stay here.”

The older man turned and set the mug down. “Seriously?”

“I appreciate it.”

Russ pulled out a chair and sat with a mug of his own. “The kind of man who wouldn’t invite you into my home like this, or at any other time? That’s not the man I want to be.”

Jacob nodded. He started drinking the coffee and wound up gulping half of it in one go even though it was hot. He looked at the clock.

“Said she’ll be back soon.”

Jake didn’t bother acknowledging that. “So, what’s new?”

“You really want to talk about me?”

“I want to talk about anything that doesn’t have to do with murder or attacks.”

“Fair enough.” Russ swigged from his own mug. “I’m working with a couple of friends. More like acquaintances, since they were referred to me by…” He trailed off and cleared his throat. “That’s not important. They’re looking for somewhere to house people who need a safe place to hide.”

“Like federal witnesses?” The guy had been a US marshal before he retired. Maybe this had to do with that.

“Not exactly.” Russ tipped his head to the side. “It will be to keep them safe because they’re in danger. We’ll be giving them a chance to live their lives.”

“How many?”

Russ blinked. “Why?”

Jacob shifted enough he could get his phone from his pocket. Thankfully he wore sweatpants, so he didn’t have to lean too far. Leaning hurt. Then again, basically everything hurt so what difference did it make?

He thumbed through to the file in his emails and set the phone on the table between them.

Jacob flicked through the images. “This is the artist’s rendition of what the fourth floor of my building will look like when renovations are complete.”

“The fourth floor?”

“Russ, you know I own the whole building.”

The older man shook his head. “That’s not why I told you this. You asked what’s new with me, and…”

He hesitated long enough Jacob could jump in. “I don’t think you’re trying to get something from me. I’m saying we didn’t open for applications yet.”

“How many units?”

“Fifteen.”

Russ blew out a long breath. “I’ll pass that to my contacts.” He nodded. “Thanks, Jacob.”

“Whatever you need.” Because what Jacob wanted right now was to talk about anything but murder and blood. This was a great diversion. Helping people and making a difference in their lives? He’d take that any day. “No one anticipated when I did that first book, the one with my grandfather and his people, that it would hit as big as it did. I gave a lot to the tribe, scholarship funds, and medical programs. Then I built myself the haven I needed.”

Except it had been trashed, and the privacy he’d had was gone now even if he put it all to rights.

Jacob swallowed. “Being able to do that for other people would be another gift I can give.”

“They’ll pay rent.” Russ lifted both hands. “This isn’t about freebies.”

“Sure.” Jacob rotated the cup. “I’ll charge them fair prices.”

Except rent in this zip code was nuts, so he’d lower the prices however far he wanted. At least enough to cover taxes and utility bills. After all, he owned the property outright.

The front door opened, and he heard it close. “Russ?” It was Addie.

“Kitchen!”

Jacob started in the middle of twisting around to look for her. To get a glimpse. Which would’ve been fine if his abdomen hadn’t been an angry mess of stitches.

“Sorry.”

Jacob shook his head. “Don’t worry about it.”

He swallowed some coffee to keep from hurling while Addie rounded the table and crouched in front of him.

“Hey.” She set her hand on his knee.

Jacob put the coffee down. “Hey.”

Russ’s chair scraped across the floor. He was halfway to the door when Addie said, “Hey.” Russ turned back.

“Austin…”

“What?”

Addie shook her head.

“I’ll tell Mona.”

Addie bit her lip. Russ left the room. He didn’t want to get into inane small talk. But as with Russ, the last thing he wanted to talk about were her case details. They had to, though. “What happened?”

Addie tugged a chair over.

“There’s coffee.”

She nodded but didn’t move for it. “I’m not going to sleep anyway. I’ll get some in a sec.”

“What happened since…all of it, I guess.”

She squeezed his hand. Jacob didn’t let go.

“Well, I found Mona’s boyfriend, the kid who is obsessed with us. He’s dead, but I have no idea yet if it’s the same killer.”

“I wasn’t sure this could get more complicated, but apparently, it has.”

“I’ll head to the office shortly and get an early start.” She shrugged. “We’ll figure it out.”

Jacob couldn’t help thinking something was coming. It was like watching a storm gathering on the horizon. “Will you promise me you’ll be careful?”

The last thing he wanted was for her to get caught up in something that was even a flavor of everything they’d been through. Especially alone.

“Maybe I should have become a cop.”

Addie tipped her head to the side. “You think that’s the only way to protect me from the dark?”

Before he could answer she squeezed his hand. “I don’t need a cop, Jacob. There are plenty of those in my life, and it’s nothing like what we have. Right here.”

“I’d kiss you, but I need a shower and I don’t think I’ll be leaning forward for a month.” The words were out before he could call them back.

Instead of getting the brush-off, he watched her cheeks pink. She lifted off her seat. He figured she was going for coffee to break the moment, but she moved to him and leaned a hand on the table.

She smiled a second before she lowered her head. Touched her lips to his.

It was nothing like what they’d had before, but there was a familiarity about it. Like déjà vu in the best way. An old familiar sweater on a cold day.

Then he lost all thought as she shifted, turned her head, and the kiss deepened.

Jacob reached up and touched her cheek. Tasted the promise in her. The hope that existed between them that he’d never found anywhere else.

She leaned back, and he heard her breathy sigh. Jacob opened his eyes, aware of the tug of a smile on his face.

Addie felt the same on hers. “Definitely not a cop.”

Jacob cleared his throat and finished his coffee.

“Need a refill?”

Before he could answer, Mona rushed in with tears rolling down her face. “What happened?”

Addie shook her head. “You don’t want the details. And I can’t give them to you when it’s an open investigation.”

“You have to tell me what happened!”

“I can’t tell you.”

Jacob shifted his lower body around along with his upper body. “You could sit with us and talk it out.”

The teen knew their friend Becca had died in the same incident where they were taken. Hank’s girlfriend had suffered and died at the hands of a demented killer.

Jacob had been pushed to his end and nearly broke. Only the arrival of the police had saved their lives otherwise they would have been buried with Becca.

Would Hank have gone on without them, believing it was his fault they were dead, and he was the only survivor? Maybe he believed exactly that about Becca’s death.

“You know that we know what it feels like to lose someone.” Jacob couldn’t push out those thoughts about Hank.

Where was his friend? He needed to ask Addie.

Hank didn’t cope well when he was pushed to his limit. Jacob had learned that the hard way when he’d tried to get Hank to open up to him about exactly what happened when Becca died.

Jacob couldn’t imagine, but he knew why Hank didn’t want to talk about it, ever.

Mona spun around and walked out. Russ went after her, following a silent but heated conversation between him and Addie. No words spoken out loud—but a lot had been communicated there.

Jacob was in too much pain to decipher it.

When it was just the two of them again, Jacob said, “What was that with Russ?”

She sighed, her hips back against the counter. “He parents differently than I would. But neither of us is her actual parent. Life just sucks sometimes.” She glanced aside. “She needs her mother, her father. And yet, it’s better that neither is here.”

“She has support and love. Why would she need anything else?”

Truth was, Jacob didn’t know anything about raising children. He’d barely managed to keep himself stable over the years. He would much rather be alone than wrapped up in other people’s feelings. When it came down to it, he sucked at relationships.

“I’m sorry.” When her gaze came back to him, Jacob said, “For how I broke things off.”

“We were both in pain, and my mom’s comments certainly didn’t help anything. She threw her weight around, making those snide comments about you and me. Putting us both down. We didn’t know how to deal with any of it.”

Neither of them had mentioned the elephant that’d been in that room before now. The one who looked an awful lot like her mother.

He said, “Ever feel like you still don’t know how to deal?”

Relief washed over her face. “Yes.”

Jacob wouldn’t mind another kiss, but if he stayed out here much longer, he wasn’t going to be able to walk back to the bed. He’d have to sleep out on the kitchen on the floor. Or have Russ drag him down the hall.

He shifted to get up. Addie moved one arm over her shoulders and supported his weight. It hurt, but she wanted to help him, so he figured it wasn’t worse than going by himself and falling.

“Bed?”

Jacob’s gaze met hers.

Her eyes widened. “I didn’t…”

He wanted to laugh, but it would be too painful. “It’s fine. I’m damaged goods now.”

They made their way slowly into the hall.

“That’s not why I reacted.” Addie stilled. “I would never think that about you. It’s just that. This time…”

“You’d want to do things differently.”

“I think that means I need to go to church and figure some things out first.”

Jacob smiled through the pain. “I think that’s a great idea. Especially if I can take you. We can go to lunch after.” No way could it be construed as a date, but he wanted to spend the time with her.

“That sounds good.” She helped him not fall onto the bed.

Jacob gritted his teeth and tried not to let her know how much his stomach hurt.

“Sorry. Sorry.” She fussed with the blanket.

“I feel useless.”

“You need to heal.”

“You just tucked me in.” He frowned.

“Please don’t worry about anything.”

“I’ll call Hank. Find out how I can?—”

Addie stiffened. “Do me a favor, Jacob?” She avoided his gaze. “Let Hank go for right now.”