“Yes.” She sat up a little straighter.
“Okay. You said you were picking Sirius up. Want to grab him? It’s just down the street. We can get him on our way to your place.”
“That—do you mind?” Her expression was pained, panicked.
“Darling, your phone’s dead and Arthur will need to get a hold of you. I’m afraid we’re stuck with each other for a while.” Besides, he wasn’t about to leave her alone for a minute.
“Are you sure?”
“Jesse.” He tilted his head. She had to learn to trust him at his word, even just a little.
“Thank you.” She squeezed his hand back. “Paws is—”
“I know where it is. I’ve been there once already.” He chuckled.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Talk to your friend.”
“Okay….”
It took less than five minutes to get to Everly’s rescue. Just seeing that silly tree out front made him laugh, which earned a curious stare from Jesse. Since Elsa was likely to go nuts inside the rescue from all the possible new friends, he waited outside while Jesse picked up Sirius. Hunter let Elsa out onto the small patch of grass under the fateful tree and let her nose around. He took a moment to fire off a text to Drake. They’d had vague plans today, but given the circumstances, he didn’t think his buddy would mind the rain check.
Jesse was out in under five minutes with Sirius in hand.
“Everly wasn’t in.” Jesse scowled at him. “Want to tell me what this was all about?”
“Nope.” Hunter grinned.
They let the two dogs sniff each other, and Elsa immediately flopped over on her back, pawing the air. Just like she did with the ankle biters. So far she hadn’t met a dog she didn’t want to be best buds with on sight. Sirius was a little hesitant, but after the natural friendliness he’d shown last night, it took less than two minutes for the two to make up their minds about liking each other.
Dogs.
Putting smiles on faces since forever.
They clipped the two into the back of the Jeep, then hit the highway headed north then east.
“I…You need to know about my brothers.” Jesse had her hands clasped tightly together again, spine straight.
“Okay.” He glanced at her again.
“Shit.” She rubbed her face. “They’re of the extremely over-protective variety on a normal basis. If they know, I mean. Fuck.”
“If they know we fucked they’ll be pissed?”
“Hunter. No.” Her glare was cute. She was really bothered by the whole fucking barb. It went a long way to easing his mind. So yeah, they’d fucked, but it wasn’t casual fucking. Good to know.
“Spit it out.”
“Okay, so, we all live on the same piece of land, but we all have our own houses. Sort of. Family comes first, then everything else. They aren’t going to hear anything about the keys if they know we were together. I do not bring guys home. Ever. Mostly because my brothers can be dicks. Besides, they’ll just be in the way.”
Ah. This—he got.
“Then we tell them you stayed at Everly’s and I was around when you found out your truck was gone. I’m helping. Will that work?”
“Yes. Thank you. They’re really awesome brothers, just…” She sighed. “They either want me to stay their little sister forever, or they want me to be like how they remember mom. And I will never be her.”
Hunter knew all about family that wanted you to fit in a box.
His mother had never forgiven Hunter for being born a boy. And Dad had never wanted children. Hunter had spent his life as the unwanted child of two people who hated each other. If it hadn’t been for Drake and his family having an open door policy with Hunter, he probably wouldn’t have stuck around for as long as he did. He’d have probably gotten into a lot more trouble, too.
“Take the next exit.” Jesse’s voice brought him back from the depths of his own, sordid history.
He eased the Jeep off the highway and followed her direction onto a main road off into what looked like nothing. Then kept going.
“You know, what if we got the locks changed today on your…locker? Bunker? What is it?” He turned off the main road at her direction.
“That’s what I was thinking, actually. We could drop Sirius, I could get my spare keys, and maybe we can slip out before Justin and James realize we’re here.”
“Justin, James, Jesse?” Hunter grinned.
“Yeah.” She rolled her eyes. “The only problem is that I need Justin’s key to get to my locker.”
They went another couple of miles before she pointed him onto a long, gravel driveway. There were several buildings off the drive. A large, stone house, a more modern brick ranch style home, and a two story…barn and dog run? Plus several outlying barns, pastures and what looked like a sizeable garden.
“Which are you?” he asked.
“Which do you think?” She chuckled. “The barn. Each dog has a kennel and run for when I’m not home, then I live upstairs. Sometimes I board dogs, too. Technically, all of mine can be kept together, but the younger ones often annoy my older dogs.”
“You said you keep six at a time?”
“Yes. I have three of my own, and I try to rotate three trainees in and out. When they’re done and pass all their certifications, I re-home them. Sometimes to other people who work with FEMA, sometimes to different police departments or disaster organizations. It’s a long process for me, but considering the time I spend with the animals, it’s important.”
“And you do that in your spare time?”
“Yeah. Those brothers I told you about?” She rolled her eyes again, a common occurrence when she talked about them, yet the smile was in direct contradiction with her annoyance. “They’ll let me do the demo, but the clearing is done by the crew, which means I don’t work a lot.”
What would it be like to have people so invested in his life that they dictated his work schedule? He could see the annoying factors. But he’d also never mattered that much to anyone before.
You’re only good for taking up space, boy.
“Pull in here.” Jesse already had her door open by the time he stopped the Jeep. “If you can help me get Sirius inside and throw some kibble out to the others, we can be gone in less than ten minutes.”
“Deal.” He rolled the windows down and left the engine running for Elsa. He hated leaving her here, but for the sake of time, they had to.
Hunter followed Jesse into the barn through a small side door. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but this barn wasn’t it.
The floor was covered in fake green turf. The left side was lined with large enclosures. “Kennel” wasn’t a good enough word for these plush dog habitats. The remaining open space was set up as an obstacle course. Or maybe a play area. He wasn’t sure which, but man, he almost wanted to be a dog. The next best thing would be to let Elsa play on this stuff.
“Food’s in the pantry. Give everyone two cups of the dry stuff.” Jesse guided Sirius into an enclosure on the far end without a neighbor.
Hunter jogged across the barn to the pantry and hauled a big, covered bucket down the line, doling out food to each dog. He eyed the water, but every metal basin appeared to be on an automatic system. He also didn’t spy any indoor accidents either, so no poop patrol. All of the dogs appeared friendly, excited and ready for their food.
“I’m grabbing my keys, putting on some jeans and then we can go.” Jesse sprinted up a set of stairs on the other side of the dog kitchenette.
He finished up feeding the dogs, took some water out to Elsa and waited on Jesse.
A loud bang had him peering out over the Jeep toward the ranch house.
Shit.
Three big men were headed his way. They were far enough Hunter figured he could get in the Jeep and peel out before they reached him, but not without Jesse. The guys didn’t look too friendly, either. Given what she’d said, he had an idea the hostility was for him.
“Jesse?” The biggest of the three men bellowed her name.
“Shit. Shit. Shit.” She thunked her head against the side of the Jeep.
“It’ll be cool. Relax.” Yeah right, those three guys looked like they wanted a fight, and he was willing to bet that would be with him.
“Yeah, Justin?” Jesse trudged around the Jeep.
Man, but her ass looked great in a pair of jeans.
Now was not the time to notice such a thing.
6.
Jesse trudged around Hunter’s Jeep, dread gnawing at her. This was all her fault. If she hadn’t stopped to put her hair up or slick on some moisturizer in some vain hope of improving on her looks, they could have been off scot-free. Instead they were about to face the inquisition. And by the looks of it, her brothers were pissed.
Her oldest brother, Justin, stared right through her at Hunter. But that was always how it was. Justin was too protective, too mean to ever be human. After Dad died and Mom split, it’d been up to Justin to raise them, to become their parent. He could never seem to turn it off though. She loved him, but damn he was a pain in her ass.
“Where the hell have you been?” James reached out, grasping her arm and pulling her in closer, but not for a hug. He stared at her face, as though he expected to see something in her eyes.
No, she wasn’t coming home drunk anymore. Hadn’t since she was sixteen and suffocating under their thumbs, but it didn’t stop the looks. The suspicion that she was too delicate and about to fall apart on them.
“I went to the Arts Festival last night, remember?” She stared at James, willing him to back the fuck off. Instead, he slung his arm around her shoulder and kissed the side of her head. Where Justin was hard and unyielding, James had heart to spare. Sometimes too much of it.
Nicholas hung back, silent as always. He’d become something akin to family by the sheer coincidence that he’d lived next door to them growing up. He was the wild card, the anomaly. She could never guess if he’d fall on her side or her brothers’ in an argument. This time? She doubted he’d be a fan of Hunter. She might be oblivious, but she wasn’t that unaware of the murky waters between them. Maybe if she felt differently about him, if she was a different person, they’d have had a chance, but he was too much like Justin. Too suffocating.
“You never came home.” James’s concern dripped from every word. Christ, she loved him, but talk about smothering her.
“Who are you?” Justin took a menacing step toward Hunter.
Shit. It was starting.
“Hunter Shaw.” Hunter offered his hand, but Justin just kept staring at him.
“Come on, Justin. Stop being a dick.” Jesse glared at the side of her oldest brother’s head.
Justin slowly extended his hand and pumped Hunter’s palm. Judging by the white-knuckled grip Justin had on Hunter, this was another stupid male dominance display. Awesome. There was no doubt Hunter would lose all interest in her after this. Not that she’d ever had much hope where he was concerned, but a girl could dream, couldn’t she?
“Where were you last night? You never answered your phone.” James squeezed her a little tighter.
It was too hot to be all pressed up against her brother like that, worry or no worry.
“I helped pack up then went back to Everly’s.” She pushed James’ arm off her shoulders and took a step away. She’d hoped to coordinate stories with Everly this morning when she picked up the pup, but she hadn’t been there. Just her luck.
“Everly said she didn’t know where you were.” Justin crossed his arms over his chest and slid his stare to her.
Fuck.
They couldn’t mind their own damn business?
It wasn’t like she got nosey about who they were sleeping with, and she’d seen plenty of hot little sports cars in and out of their driveway over the years.
“Sorry I didn’t call and check in, mom.” She crossed her arms, mirroring Justin’s pose.
Like hell she was going to come out and say it to them. They were adults. They could speculate all they wanted, but in the end she didn’t have to say shit about where she was or who she was with.
“Jesse…” Justin growled her name.
“What?” Part of her wanted a fight. A knockdown, drag out thing instead of the whole go-to-your-barn act Justin liked to pull on her most of the time.
“We helped pack up last night, swung by Everly’s, then went back to my place.” Hunter hooked his thumbs in his belt loops and rocked back on his heels.
Shit…
It was almost comical how fast Justin, James and Nicolas did an eye-bulging, double-take at Hunter, then her. Except this wasn’t a scene in her head. This was real. And her brothers were anything but rational.
“You—what?” Justin’s voice rose, reed thin and brittle.
“Here it goes.” She groaned and massaged her temples.
“Who the fuck are you?” Justin swung his head toward Hunter.
“Hunter. Hunter Shaw, remember? We just shook hands. Maybe you forgot. You’ve got a—a vein thing here. Is that healthy?” Hunter wiggled his fingers near his temple.
Jesse sputtered, hand over her mouth.
In all her life she’d never had the courage to say that, though she wanted to a million times.
Sure enough, Justin had that brow vein bulge going on, and the way his cowboy hat was pushed back highlighted the pulse of it nicely. She had a single moment of victory before she felt things spinning out of control.
Justin took a step toward Hunter, hand up, grasping at Hunter’s shirt.
“Justin! Justin, stop!” Jesse moved before she could think, everything happening in a sort of slow motion, stop capture. She lunged at her brother, wrapping her arms around his waist and wedging herself between them.
James was only a second behind her. He used both hands to grab Justin’s right arm.
She had a bad feeling about this.
Justin yanked his arm out of James’ grasp—and his fist clocked Jesse right in the head.
The pain wasn’t instantaneous. First, her vision hazed. She stumbled sideways, disoriented and braced her hand on her knee. Then the pain started. It radiated down through her spine, trying to drill holes out of her toes. She hunched over, cradling her head, not sure which way was up or down.
“Jesse? Jesse?”
“Back the fuck up, give her some air.”
“This is your fault!”
“My fault? You hit her.”
Their voices were indistinguishable. Every sound another hammer driving nails through her temple.
“Shut up.” She forced herself to stand. She squinted at them in lieu of being able to glare.
Fuck, she was going to feel that for the rest of the day. And not in a good way.
Unfamiliar hands closed around her shoulders.
Hunter.
She leaned back against his chest, needing something to prop her upright.
“Guys?” Nicolas finally spoke up.
“Not now, Nick,” Justin snapped.
“Yes, now.” Nicolas stepped in between Jesse and her brothers. “Oscar is on the phone. Someone broke into the demo trailer.”
“My keys.” Jesse groaned and her stomach dropped.
They hadn’t gotten there in time.
Hunter turned into the Durcell Construction site and glanced at Jesse. She had her head tipped back, an ice pack against her temple and one hand on Elsa’s head. The pit bull was incredibly empathetic and was straining at her harness in an effort to comfort Jesse, who seemed to appreciate the dog’s attention. He was glad they hadn’t left her behind, though Jesse had suggested it. Truth was, Elsa had been cooped up inside too much lately with Hunter picking up a couple double shifts.
“We’re here. Arthur beat us.” Hunter shifted the Jeep into park and cut the engine. “How’s the head?”
“Throbbing.”
“I’m sorry,
I—”
“You were both being dicks. Shut up about it already.” She popped the seatbelt and got out, leaving him to scramble after her.
She was right. He’d seen the way things were headed and figured the best thing to do was divert her brother’s aggression at himself. After all, it didn’t bother him if her brothers hated his guts. He’d only meant to make things easier on her. Not harder. He could fend for himself. He hadn’t needed Jesse to jump in the way.
Man, he knew how to screw shit up.
Hunter unclipped Elsa’s harness from the back seat and let her out, not bothering with the leash.
“There’s that killer.” Arthur grinned and crouched in the gravel and dust, his hands spread wide. “How’s my killer doing?”
Elsa trotted forward and shoved her head between the detective’s hands for a good scratch. She knew who her admirers were, and Arthur was top of the list.
Hunter kept his gaze on Arthur, though he was keenly aware of the pick-up parked next to his and the three men climbing out.
“Detective Arthur Long, this is Jesse Durcell.” Hunter didn’t bother to introduce the other three crowding in around them.
“What’s the damage, detective?” Justin stepped forward, putting his back to Jesse, and crossed his arms.
Feeling some guilt, maybe? Hunter sure as hell did.
“Well…” Arthur glanced at Hunter.
“I’m Justin Durcell. I own the property.” Justin held out his hand, body stiff. The fucker was posturing, doing everything except pissing on the place.
Hunter had watched dick bags pull the same shit on the firehouse’s two female firefighters. He didn’t much care about a person’s pipes, so long as they pulled their own weight, but there were those who would always begrudge a woman in a “man’s world.” Whatever the hell that was supposed to mean.
“I was just talking to your man Oscar—”
“Where is he?” Justin glanced around.
“Right, like I was going to—”
“I’ll give him a call.” Justin whipped out his cell phone.
“I’d like—”
“We’ll have Oscar here in a second. I’m sure this was all a misunderstanding.” Justin pivoted, putting both Arthur and Jesse to his back now.
Up in Flames (Firehouse Three Book 1) Page 5