Page 22 of Danger Close

He looked over at the farmhouse for a long moment. I wondered why he wasn’t joining everyone else at the large dining table. “Mamma Mack” was cooking enough to feed a small army.

“We have nothing fancy around here, but the food isn’t bad at the bar. Care to join me?”

I almost scoffed in surprise.

“I don’t know if, or when, I could repay you—”

“No need.” He waved me off. He dug into his pocket and fished out enormous keys, a Swiss Army knife dangling from the end of it. “I’ll be glad for the company.”

What a curious young man.

I found that I liked him a great deal. I wondered, maybe ridiculously, why my daughter wasn’t marrying this one. He was certainly just as handsome, and seemed to be gentler than thatKaiGriffith…Not that I spent enough time in his presence to form any real impression.

Maybe I was being naïve again. Fifty years old, and I still hadn’t learned to see past a pretty face that gave me a kind word.

I hadn’t had much in the way of kindness lately. Maybe I was due?

Chapter 10

He’s Trouble

Cobra

“Where the fuck did she go?” Panic rose up my throat when I opened the door to find no one outside.

The moon rose high, fully illuminating the ground in a silver shine. Either she was hiding in the shadows, or she was gone.

“She went with VD.” Griff’s eyes scanned up and down the drive, to the red-painted barn.

Greg Vedder’s beat-up, orange Ford truck had been there when we arrived. Now, it was gone. Fury burned its way through me. She’d left with someone else? Without even talking to me?

“He’s back to his old ways, huh?” That sounded ominous.

“What the hell does that mean, son?”

“Vedder’s trouble, is all,” Griff grumbled, as his eyes cut to my daughter.

Trinity avoided his gaze.Curious…

My daughter turned to go back inside, and Griff lunged for her. He pulled her back to his front, putting his chin on the top of her head. She struggled against him, rolling her eyes before he whispered something in her ear.

She blushed but settled down.

I did the Simone Biles-level mental gymnastics necessary to believe that my daughter’s future husband hadn’t just said something dirty to her. I didn’t feel like puking at that moment, and I definitely didn’t have time to be nauseous while my wife— fuck! I meant, myex-wife—was missing.

“There’s only one place they could have gone, and it’s to the bar in town,” Griff said.

“What’s the bar’s name?” I pulled out my smart phone from my back pocket, so I could look it up. I never made calls on this thing, opting for the burner in my other pocket. But since old-school Garmins and GPS were obsolete, I needed it to get around.

“The Bar,” everyone on the porch said in unison.

Trinity squirmed out of Griff’s tight hold, as she grumbled, “It’s the only one in town, so they didn’t bother to name it.”

She went into the pocket of her leather jacket—similar to the one I’d left on Teri’s shoulders—and pulled out car keys that I assumed went to Griff’s GMC Sierra Denali.

“I’ll go get Mom,” she said in an irritated sigh.

“Nah.” I shook my head. “I’ll get her, kiddo. She’s my problem.”