Page 40

39

“N o.” Renard stood over her, frowning and shaking his head.

“I have to.”

“Not happening.”

“It has to happen at some stage,” she argued.

“Don’t see why,” he said.

“You don’t see why? Renard, I live there! I have to go back there sometime.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Oh yeah? Then where am I going to live? Here?” She kind of regretted the words as soon as they came out of her mouth. What was she doing? Just inviting herself to live with him?

What was wrong with her?

Sure, they’d said they loved each other, but that didn’t mean that he wanted to live with her.

“No.”

Wow. That was a very definite no. And it kind of hurt. She had to fight hard to keep that from showing on her face.

“Because this place ain’t good enough for you. But you’ll stay here with me until we find a place you deserve.”

“A place I deserve?” she asked, her mind reeling.

She couldn’t keep up.

“Gem, this is a place where you stay when you’re in between better places.”

“But you’ve lived here for years.”

His gaze turned intense. “Because before I met you, I was living in the in-between. I was here, but didn’t want to be. I was breathing, but I wasn’t really living. There was a better place I was longing for, but I couldn’t get there because I didn’t think I deserved it.”

“Your cabin?”

“My cabin. You know, I had it all planned out. A small place somewhere quiet and isolated. But not now.”

“Not now?” she asked.

He walked over to where she sat on the sofa and crouched down in front of her. Reaching up, he cupped the side of her face.

“Nope. I want to be wherever you are. My home is with you. Just not here, though, since it’s not good enough for my girl.”

Jesus.

His girl.

He sure knew the way to make her melt.

“We could live in my house,” she suggested.

“Not liking the idea of that either,” he told her.

“Because you think I’m going to freak out?” she asked. “Because of Barney?”

“Do you think you can wake up every morning and walk out your front door and see that house without it shaking you up? Without it making you feel something?”

Her stomach rolled at the idea.

Shit.

He’d stolen her house from her. The bastard.

“Where is Mrs. G?” she asked suddenly, worried about her. Surely, she wasn’t back home?

“Staying with the neighbors two doors down. That house isn’t our cabin, Gem. Our cabin, our forever, it’s somewhere else. Somewhere close to here with quiet for me, but enough people for you to get what you need. Somewhere we can both live in peace.”

Both of them. Together.

“Okay,” she whispered, putting her hand on his cheek.

“Where our nightmares might visit sometimes, but they’re not allowed to stay.”

“Have you had more nightmares lately? Since I was taken?” Had she been so wrapped up in her fears and nightmares that she hadn’t seen his?

What was wrong with her?

“What’s wrong with me?” she repeated out loud. “I didn’t even notice that you?—”

He leaned forward and put his hands on the sofa on either side of her. “Baby, stop.”

“Stop?”

“Yeah, I have nightmares. Yeah, those nightmares have made themselves more known since you were kidnapped. And you haven’t noticed because you’ve been fucking recovering. My nightmares have been there for years. They’ll be there for years to come. But mostly, with you around, they’ve become a whisper rather than a roar. Am I scared I’m gonna lose you like I lost all of my friends? Fuck yes. I am. But all that means is I’m going to work hard to make sure nothing happens to you.”

She sniffled. “Shit. Don’t make me go all teary.”

“No tears,” he warned.

“Then stop being so sweet.”

“Gem, I ain’t never been sweet.”

Uh-huh. Sure he hadn’t.

Her giant marshmallow.

“My nightmares are quieter with you near too,” she said.

“Good, baby.”

She knew he still felt like he’d failed to keep her safe.

And that was because he was an Alpha. A caveman.

A good, decent man.

Who wanted to protect his woman from the world. Even though that wasn’t really possible.

“I still want to go to the house. Not to stay the night,” she added quickly. “I want to get some things, and I just want to go there. Please.”

He eyed her. “I could get your things.”

“Please,” she begged. “I want to check on Mrs. G, too.”

“Fuck. Fine. We’re gonna go there. You have twenty minutes to get the shit you need, then we’ll go see the Grackle. And we tell Alec to sell it.”

“All right,” she said. “Twenty minutes.”

She figured she could get him to stretch that out.

* * *

Okay.

Maybe it wasn’t as easy to be here as she thought it might.

It was getting late in the afternoon and she wondered if she shouldn’t have waited until tomorrow.

Just as Renard had thought. She had no problems with her house, but when she turned to look at the house across the street.

Yeah.

She didn’t like looking there.

Fuck.

What was she thinking? She could have left this a bit longer. Lilac or Ryleigh would have come around to get some of her stuff for her. Renard was right. This didn’t need to be done right now.

Yet she was here.

She might as well keep moving forward.

So she stepped into her house with Renard hovering close to her as though he thought she might collapse at any moment. Everything felt the same, yet different at the same time.

Do something.

Keep your mind off what happened.

Right. She headed to the fridge. “I just need to clean this out.”

Opening the fridge door, she gaped to see it was mostly empty when Renard had a habit of filling it.

“Lilac,” he said.

“Oh. That was nice. I need to check the laundry.” She thought she’d left a load of laundry going when she’d been taken. When she checked, though, the washer was empty.

“Probably Ryleigh,” he said. “But could have been Mia or Lara or Clem. Actually, likely not Clem. Maybe we better check your booze.”

“I don’t care if Clem drank my booze,” she told him. “Although it does explain the chicken feathers.”

“That damn killer chicken,” Renard muttered.

She giggled. All right. She hadn’t expected to be giggling right now. But it was hard not to smile at Clem’s antics.

When she reached the door to her bedroom, she paused.

Right.

She might have reached her limit. On her bed was the missing laundry, folded neatly.

“Baby? Gem?”

“I still can’t believe he watched me. He came into the house, Renard. Why didn’t I see the broken latch on the window? I thought I was smarter than that. He would come into my room and stand there while I slept. How did I not know?”

It was a wonder she could sleep at all now.

“Fucking creep.” He carefully turned her to face him. “He had everyone fooled. Not just you. His own aunt had no idea what he was up to.”

“Poor Mrs. G,” she said. “Can we go see her after?”

“Yeah. I guess,” he grumbled.

“I might as well get my clothes and?—”

A knock on the door interrupted her and made her jump, then wince.

Shit.

Who the hell would that be?

“Stay here,” Renard said before he whirled around and headed to the front door.

Opal could have stayed where she was.

But she’d never been good at following orders.

And what was he going to do? Spank her?

That wasn’t happening.

Yeah, right.

Although he might make her write lines which she did not want to do. However, she was willing to take that chance.

“What the hell are you all doing here?” Renard demanded. “What do you want?”

“John Renard? I’m FBI Agent Eli Jones and this is my partner FBI Agent Kellan Jones.”

What the heck?

Why were FBI Agents on her doorstep? Wait. Jones. Duncan’s brothers were FBI agents.

But why would they be here?

“Right. What do you want?” Renard asked.

“We’d like to speak to Opal. Is she here with you? We went to your apartment first, then tracked you both down here.”

“Why would you track me down?” Opal asked, moving up behind Renard.

He scowled down at her. “Told you to stay in the bedroom, Gem.”

“They’re here for me. Aren’t you?” she asked them.

Eli nodded, looking firm. But Kellan’s gaze seemed to soften as he took her in. The bruises on her face actually looked worse, even though the swelling had gone down.

“Could we come inside?” Eli asked.

“No.” Renard crossed his arms over his chest. “This isn’t a good time. Opal needs to rest.”

“Is it about Barney?” she asked. “Why would FBI agents be here? Unless . . . did he do this to someone else?”

Had he killed them?

Oh God.

She watched in surprise as two police cars pulled up at her curb. Jake got out of one. Duncan out of the other.

Renard stepped forward, forcing the two agents back, then pushed her behind him. She went up on tiptoes to see around him.

“I thought we agreed to do this tomorrow,” Jake snarled, climbing up the steps onto the front porch to get between Renard and Eli.

What the hell?

What was going on?

“You cannot stand in the way of this investigation, Jake!” Eli Jones snapped. “Or I’ll have your badge.”

“Then you’ll need to have mine too,” Duncan said.

Her gaze met Duncan’s, and he gave her a worried smile.

Uh-oh. She wasn’t liking this.

“What the fuck is going on?” Renard demanded.

“Opal?” Mrs. G called out as she crossed the street and headed toward her house.

“Let me out.” She pushed at Renard.

“No.”

“Renard, it’s Mrs. G!”

“Fuck.” He stepped further forward, then reached back to gently grab her. Keeping himself between her and the agents, as though he fully expected them to make a grab for her, he helped her down off the porch.

Then she moved swiftly to Mrs. G who was halfway across the lawn. Reaching her, she carefully took the older woman into her arms.

“How you doin’, Mrs. G?”

“Good as can be expected, I guess,” the older woman grumbled. “Elvis isn’t much of a cook, but he makes a good cup of coffee.”

Opal glanced over the older woman’s shoulder at Elvis. He had to be close to eighty, was stooped, and moved extremely slow.

And he had the sweetest smile she’d ever seen.

“Elvis, how’s it going?” she asked.

“Can’t complain, Opal,” he replied.

“Thanks for looking after Mrs. G.”

“He doesn’t look after me,” Mrs. G complained. “I look after him.”

Elvis winked at Opal.

“Want to tell us what’s going on? Why are all these people cluttering up our quiet street?” Mrs. G, said. “Don’t you boys know it’s after five? Some of us want to eat our dinner in peace.”

“Sorry, ma’am,” Eli said. “This is FBI business and we need to ask you to move on.”

“FBI business?” Mrs. G asked. “Why would the FBI be here? And the sheriff and a deputy? Wait, I know you. You’re a Jones boy. Both of you.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Eli said. “But perhaps we could ask you to go back home.”

“Can’t go home, boy. I was kidnapped and assaulted in my home. Imbecile.” She turned to Opal. “Is this about Barney?”

“They said it’s not. But they haven’t said what it is about,” she said.

“Well, spit it out, boy,” Mrs. G said.

“We cannot speak about this here,” Eli said. “Opal, you’ll have to come with us.”

“She’s not going anywhere with you,” Renard said, stomping over to her side.

“Especially since you won’t say why you are here!” Mrs. G said, just as a series of cars and trucks headed down the street.

Opal watched in shock as a number of people climbed out of the vehicles. All of the Malones were there except for Flick and Scarlett, who she guessed were looking after the kids.

Next, she spotted Laken, Savannah, Max, and Logan as well as Lila and her men.

Then there was Saxon and Remington as well as Devon and a few regulars from Dirty Delights.

What were they all doing here?

“What the fuck is going on?” Renard snarled.

“Look, all of you need to leave.” Eli scowled at everyone. “This is an ongoing investigation that has nothing to do with any of you.”

“What investigation?” she asked.

Eli turned to her, his exasperation clear. “That’s what we need to talk to you about.”

All of the neighbors were coming out of their houses to watch and listen.

“What investigation?” Renard demanded.

“I cannot say here.” Eli glanced around with a sigh. “Opal, you need to come with us.”

“Am I under arrest?” she asked.

There was silence.

“We need to ask you some questions. If you refuse, then . . .” Eli trailed off as Renard moved between them.

“You are not arresting my woman! Jake, what the fuck is this?”

“They really need to talk to you, Opal,” Jake told her gently. “I’ll come too. I’ll be with you the entire time.”

“Jardin is on his way,” Alec said. “He’s a couple of hours late. Say nothing until he gets here.”

Eli seemed to grind his teeth together.

“Jardin?” she asked.

Lilac and Ryleigh moved to flank her. Ryleigh took hold of her hand.

“He’s the best damn lawyer in the state,” Clem said, standing to the side with a chicken in her arms and a pig next to her. A huge fucking pig. How had that thing gotten in and out of her truck? “Course, you wanna make a run for it, Butter Chicken will help. I’d be careful, Mr. FBI agent. This chicken is a real killer.”

Butter Chicken squawked in agreement.

“Dear God,” Eli muttered, tilting his face to the sky. “Why am I back in this crazy fucking town?”

“Would be nice if sometimes you just came to visit family,” Duncan muttered.

Laken went to him and wrapped herself around him. Remington followed her.

“I’m guessing you think Opal did something,” Mrs. G stated. “But she couldn’t have.”

“Why not?” Kellan asked, looking confused.

“Because she was with me that day,” Mrs. G said. “So she couldn’t have done whatever it is you think she did.”

Whoa.

Had Mrs. G really just lied to an FBI agent?

That could get her into big trouble.

And Opal still wanted to know why they wanted to question her.

Eli scowled. “It’s an offense to give a false statement to a member of law enforcement. That can lead to charges.”

Opal sucked in a breath. Was he threatening Mrs. G?

All of a sudden everyone who was crowded around started to speak up.

“She was with me!” Butch Malone cried.

“And I was with him,” Raid added, pointing at Butch. “So, really, she was with both of us.”

“And I saw her that day too,” Mr. Oldsman cried out.

“All of you! Be quiet!” Eli said, holding his hands up.

They all ignored him.

“Pork Chop and I saw her too!” Clem cried. Her pig let out a snort as though in agreement and started to stomp toward Eli.

Eli didn’t falter, to his credit. He just stood there and stared at the pig.

Suddenly, Duncan let out a wolf whistle and everyone fell silent.

“What the fuck do you feed that?” Kellan asked Clem.

“Language, young man,” Mrs. G scolded Kellan.

“Dead people,” Clem answered with a grin. “But don’t worry, they were all mean.”

Opal stared at everyone in amazement. “What are you all doing?”

“We’re defending you, dear,” Elvis said. “Grace told me how you put yourself between her and her awful nephew.”

“You didn’t leave her behind when you could have to escape,” Mr. Oldsman called out.

“And you’re one of us,” Jaret told her.

“Means we come when you need us,” Maddox said with a dark scowl at Eli Jones.

Yikes.

“You’re part of Haven, Opal,” Laken told her. “And you’re our friend.”

“Shit. I don’t wanna cry,” she said.

Renard pulled her against him, and she buried her face into his chest.

“Look. I get you all care about Opal. But we still need to question her and before you all give me false alibis, you should know that the date in question is three years ago. When none of you knew her.”

Three years ago?

She frowned. “What date?”

“August tenth,” Kellan replied, giving her a serious look.

Well.

Fuck.

“What is it?” Renard whispered. “What’s wrong, baby?”

“I think I might be in trouble.”