Page 20

Chapter Twenty

T eaching someone how to clean up a yard after winter wasn't hard, but he fought with his instinct to take it easy on Casper. Part of it had to do with his size. He was so small and seemed fragile. But Skippy realized his fragility was all emotional and his size didn't matter at all.

Skippy started at Yael's house. Not that Yael asked for Skippy's services. But Yael wouldn't do any of it himself. He had little time and what time he had, he wouldn’t spend it in his neglected yard. Skippy took it upon himself to start the spring cleaning.

Picking up fallen branches from Yael's tree seemed like an easy thing to do, and it was most of the time. Occasionally, a branch was heavier than most. Yael had a sugar maple tree that was so old some of the branches hadn't made it through the winter winds and bitter cold, so there were quite a few heavy ones.

Without complaint, Casper dragged them to the side of the road. Skippy would bring the wood chipper around tomorrow. Between Yael's house and all his other client's properties, they'd have a whole day of feeding the chipper.

Casper wore the gloves Skippy had provided, but he wiped his hands on his jeans all the time and couldn't keep his hands off his face.

He was kind of cute, with dirt smudges on his cheek and forehead.

When they picked the last branches up, Casper turned to Skippy. "What next?"

"Now we take a break." Skippy grabbed two bottles of water from the cooler and sat at the end of the trailer. He patted the seat next to him. When Casper sat, Skippy handed him a bottle of water.

Casper took it, thanking him. "I didn't expect manual labor to be fun, but it kind of is."

"I like it." Skippy liked moving his body. The physical part of landscaping was the best part. "I'm glad you like it too."

"What are we going to do next?" Casper seemed to want to ask something else, but Skippy's phone rang.

When Skippy answered, he put it on the speaker. He normally wouldn't have. Not with Daruss calling, but no one was around but him and Casper.

"Have you watched the news at all today?" It was an odd question for Daruss to ask.

"I never watch the news, Daruss." Skippy rolled his eyes.

"You might want to start."

"Why is that?" Even as Skippy asked, he knew it had something to do with whatever Yael was hiding.

Casper's eyes widened, but he didn't say anything. As the bartender of the club, he'd heard and seen a lot. He never talked about it. He was good at keeping things to himself. That was part of the reason Skippy put the phone on speaker. It was clear he knew something. Unlike Skippy, maybe he had watched the news.

"Do you remember hearing about that dragon shifter who killed a bunch of women? It's been about eleven or so years ago now. His name was Andre Joseph." As soon as Daruss said the guy’s name, Skippy put the pieces together.

"Yeah."

"Well, he escaped from prison three days ago. He escaped with another fugitive. That guy turned up dead in Utah. But Joseph is still on the loose. He broke into a house and killed the occupant near the Utah and Wyoming border."

Skippy stiffened. He wasn’t sure how Yael was related to Andre Joseph, but he knew he was. It all added up. Yael's shift in behavior and being so protective of Eryn. "Where was he incarcerated?"

“California, somewhere.”

“He’s moving this way.” But he might have been on foot. Either that or something else was slowing him down, because he wasn’t moving fast enough to be in a car. So the question was, when would he steal a car, if he hadn’t already.

"That's why I'm calling. I figure we have twenty-four hours at best to come up with a plan. First things first, take your boy and his brother to your house. Keep him there." Daruss thought it through already, which was good. Because all Skippy thought about was protecting Yael and Eryn. While protection was part of it, there were other things Skippy needed to think about. Like the best way to catch a killer.

Skippy met Casper's gaze. Their workday would be cut short, but they'd been at it for most of the day and he could set Casper up at Seryn's house, cleaning up the flower beds. That would take him the rest of the afternoon. "I'll meet you at the club in an hour."

Skippy hung up shortly after. He'd have to wait for Yael and Eryn to get home. He'd make sure they were secure before heading to the club. And he'd make sure one of the guys stood guard while he was gone.

"We're calling it a day a bit early. You'll still get paid for the whole day if you want to clean out Seryn's flower beds. It shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours. Just do the same thing you did here."

"Can I do it later? I'd rather help Yael and Eryn." Casper bit his lip. "Yael was really nice to me."

“As long as you get to Seryn’s gardens sometime this week, I don’t care when you do them. Just clock your hours so I can pay you properly.”

"You can hang out with them at my house, if you want. One of the guys will be there for bodyguard duty while I'm at the club. You know how to clean out flower beds now. Do what I taught you at Seryn's house. Keep track of your hours. But you can do it whenever you want."

"I feel like I've learned a lot already." Casper bumped his shoulders with Skippy's and smiled. "Thanks."

"Don't thank me. You've worked hard." He was also a fast learner and exactly what Skippy needed to keep his business growing.

"I can't wait to learn about some of the plants." That was another thing. Casper seemed to genuinely like the work.

"I have a couple of books you can borrow if you want to read up on some of the plant life we'll be dealing with." It was how Skippy had learned. And he'd asked questions of the right people who knew a lot about plants and landscaping. Skippy wasn't normally a reader, but if it had something to do with getting his hands dirty or physical labor, then he'd read about it ahead of getting out and doing the job.

"I'd love that. Thanks."

Their conversation was cut short when Yael pulled into his driveway. His eyes were wide as he took in the work Skippy and Casper had gotten done in the yard. But it wasn't his surprise that drew Skippy's attention. It was the fluffy face in his backseat and the little fluff in Eryn's arms.