Page 23 of Serve and Protect

Chris drops his head into his hand. “How could I have been so blind?”

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Chris.” My voice is shaking. I can handle my own insecurities and recriminations, but not his. He’s never done anything wrong.

He lifts his face so he can look me in the eye. “I need you to tell me what he did to you.”

I shake my head. “It’s old history. I don’t want to rehash it.”

“You may not have a choice, Jennie. He’s back in town. Who knows for how long or what he intends to do.”

“Hopefully, he’ll get tired of pestering me and leave me alone.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

“Then I’ll get another restraining order.”

“Another one?” Chris shoots to his feet and starts pacing. “You had to get a fucking restraining order against him?”

I wince. “Yes.”

He carefully pushes his chair up to the table. We’re both trying to be quiet so we don’t wake Granny. Even after all this time, he remembers the little things like that.

“Will you be okay here alone?” he asks, abruptly changing the subject.

“Of course.”

“I need to go to the station. I want to review the police records pertaining to yourex-husband.” That last word has a bite to it. “I’ll stop by later to make sure you’re okay.”

“Chris, please, don’t go digging into the past. It was nearly ten years ago. It’s water under the bridge.”

“Is it really? I haven’t seen Dave Braggart step one foot into Bryce since I’ve been back here—that’s six years. So, why’s he here now? And why did he show up in your diner?”

I don’t have an answer to that, so I don’t even try to guess. “Please, Chris, leave it alone.”

He shakes his head. “I’m sorry, Jennie. I can’t.”

And then he surprises the daylights out of me by leaning in and kissing my cheek. It’s a chaste kiss, similar to the dozens of kisses he’s given me over the years. Brotherly kisses. Friendly kisses. But this time, my cheek feels warm where his lips touched my skin.

As he lets himself out the side door, he says, “Be sure to lock up after me.”

I get up to lock the door and find myself touching my face. I can still feel his lips on my cheek.

Chapter 9 – Chris

After leaving Jennie’s place, I head straight to the station to see what I can dig up on Dave Braggart. When I walk in, I check the roster to see who’s working today. I’m hoping there might be someone on duty who worked the year Jennie and Dave were married.

I figure one of them is Nigel Henderson. He’s a detective now, but ten years ago, he was a beat cop. Fortunately, he’s in the office. I pop my head through his open doorway. “Nigel, you got a minute?”

He glances up from a report he’s writing on his laptop. “Sure, Chris. Come on in and have a seat. What can I help you with?”

I take a seat in the chair facing his desk. “I’m looking into a past case, and I wondered if you had any knowledge of it. Do you remember some trouble with Dave Braggart back in the day? It would have been right after he graduated from high school.”

Nigel scowls. “Yeah. He’d be hard to forget.”

“He showed up back in town today, at the diner.”

Nigel leans back in his creaky office chair and purses his lips. “Really?”

“He caused quite a scene in Jennie’s office.”