Page 91 of Control Freak

“I know that,” Holden said tightly.

“Well, it’s not his fault it’s not what you want to hear!”

“All right, settle down, brat,” Gray said. “No one’s mad at Flynn. This is just a stressful situation.”

I turned to Axel. “Would Dalton have a way of checking up on him?”

“I don’t know.” He pulled out his cell phone. “We can find out, though.”

He tapped a couple of buttons, connecting the call and putting it on speaker. We all listened as the line rang once, twice, three times. Just as I was sure Dalton would be too busy to answer, his smooth baritone came over the line.

“Hey, darlin’, I know you miss me, but I really can’t come by for a quickie today.”

“That’s not the only reason I call,” Axel protested as Gray and Bailey laughed.

“You got an audience over there? I told you I’m not into that sort of kink.”

“Ha-ha. Yes. My brothers are here, and Shiloh has an important question for you. Legal stuff. So stop being a smart-ass.”

Dalton’s tone changed from warm and playful to authoritative. “All right, tell me what’s going on.”

I took a step closer so the phone would pick up my voice.

“Hi, Dalton. Sorry to bother you.”

“That’s okay, Shy. Just tell me how I can help.”

“My, um, ex is in prison. I don’t know if you knew that?”

“Okay.”

“I got some messages today about how he might be in danger, and I wasn’t sure what to do.”

“I see. Well, do you want to file a report about the threats?”

“Can you do anything about them?” Holden asked.

“Not much,” Dalton said. “We could file a report so it’s on record if something else happens, but not much more.”

“I just didn’t know if there was a way to report the threat to Jimmie? Or to check up on him or…something…” I trailed off, feeling silly. “Never mind. This isn’t your job.”

“I don’t mind, Shy. But my reach doesn’t extend that far. I can call someone in the St. Louis police department and see if they can reach out to the prison? I can’t promise anything.”

“Okay, anything you can do is helpful. Thanks.”

Axel switched the call off speaker and lifted the phone to his ear. “Hey, Sheriff, come home early, and you can frisk me.” He laughed. “Yep. My brothers all know I’m a horny bastard. Okay… Love ya. Bye.”

I appreciated that Dalton would put out some feelers for me, but I couldn’t help but fear it would be too late if something really was going to happen. Brick and Curtis were probably bluffing, but if they weren’t…

Jimmie’s blood will be on your hands.

“Can we call the prison ourselves?” Holden asked. “Or maybe there’s a way to email Jimmie?” He flicked a glance at Flynn. “Some prisoners have those kinds of privileges, right?”

Flynn nodded. “Yeah. As long as he’s in good standing at the prison.”

“Oh! We did message. In the beginning…” I looked at Holden. “You wouldn’t mind me reaching out to him?”

“Not if it makes you feel better. Whatever happens, Jimmie put himself in this situation. You didn’t. I don’t want you feeling responsible for him, but you’re a caring person. If you ignored it, you wouldn’t be you.”