Stitched Up Heart (Combat Hearts Book 1)

by Tarina Deaton

  Her phone pinged incessantly in her hand.

  “I had it turned off, so all the text messages are coming in all at once,” she explained.

  “How many do you have so far?” Jase asked.

  “Far as I can tell, I have three from Denise, two from a couple of out-of-town friends, and eighteen so far from Chad.” She pursed her lips in annoyance as she waited for her phone to stop pinging.

  “What do they say?” Jase crossed his arms and leaned his hips back against the counter.

  “Same thing they’ve said for the last week. ‘I miss you.’ ‘I messed up.’ ‘Give us another chance.’ Blah, blah, blah.” Her phone stopped pinging.

  “You haven’t responded back at all?” Tim asked.

  “No. You’d think he’d have gotten the hint by now. I really don’t want to have to change my number. I’ve had it for almost ten years.”

  “When was the last time he texted you or tried to call?” Tim asked.

  Bree scrolled through the display. “Um, this morning around—” ping “—right now.” She glanced up from her phone at Tim. “Do you want me to call him?”

  “Yeah, if you don’t mind. See where he is.”

  Bree hit the button on her phone to call Chad and switched to speaker phone so Tim and Jase could hear. It rang once before Chad answered. “Bree, sweetie, I’m so sorry.”

  Bree cut him off. “What do you want, Chad?”

  “I just want to see you. If I can just explain, I know we can work this out.”

  Bree rolled her eyes and hit the mute button on her phone. “Do you want me to agree to meet him?” she asked Tim.

  “No,” Jase said, at the same time Tim said, “Yes.”

  Tim looked at Jase. “He may have information we can use.”

  Bree glanced at Jase as she put the phone back on speakerphone. “Meet me at my house in an hour. We can talk there.”

  “I can be there in fifteen minutes. I’ll fix you french toast and we can talk over breakfast.”

  Bree rolled her eyes again. “I’m not there, Chad. And I don’t like french toast.”

  Jase smiled at her irritable tone and stared at his feet. She’d obviously told her asshole ex that a few times.

  “Oh, well, I can let myself in and I’ll make you some eggs or something,” Chad said.

  Bree mouthed locks. Jase nodded.

  “You can’t. I had the locks changed.”

  “Why did you do that?”

  “You’re kidding, right? Look, I need to go. Meet me there in an hour. We’ll talk then and you can get the rest of your stuff.” She hung up without saying goodbye.

  “How long were you with that guy?” Tim asked.

  “Too long,” Bree said.

  She picked up one of the plates, taking a bite of omelet before continuing. “I’m going to take a shower. He’ll probably be there in about fifteen minutes and wait for me to show up. Denise is meeting me at ten to help me clean up my house anyway.”

  Jase raised an eyebrow. “When were you going to tell me you were meeting Denise?”

  “Probably around the time we ate breakfast.” She took another bite of eggs without breaking eye contact.

  Tim came away from the counter and drained the last of his coffee. “As interesting as I think this conversation is going to get, I’m going to head out. I’ll meet you at your house.” He snagged another piece of bacon on his way out the door.

  “I’m going with you.” Jase reached around her to pick up his plate.

  “I figured as much. I’ll be in the shower when you’re done eating.” Bree placed her plate in the sink and turned on her toes. She pulled Jase’s shirt over her head as she rounded the corner, leaving him with a glimpse of the elegant line of her back.

  Jase wolfed down the rest of his omelet and threw his plate in the sink.

  Jase pulled into Bree’s drive and parked along the side of the house. He rounded the hood of his truck just as Bree hopped down from the passenger side, leaving Charlie and Polly in the truck until they dealt with Chad. Bree closed the door and he pressed her against the side of the truck. His left hand ran up the back of her t-shirt, drawing her close, while the fingers of his other hand thread into her hair at the base of her neck.

  “You could wait for me to come around and open your door,” he said.

  “I could, but I’m a big girl. Been opening my doors by myself for a while.”

  Damn, he loved her sassiness. “I know you can.” He ran his nose alongside hers. “It’s a matter of me wanting to do something for you and you letting me do it because it makes me happy.”

  Her eyebrows rose. “Opening my door for me makes you happy?”

  He wasn’t old fashioned, but there wasn’t a lot he could give Bree she didn’t already have. It was going to have to be the little things. “I think doing anything for you is going to make me happy.”

  She didn’t say anything for a few heartbeats. “I don’t know what to do with that.”

  “Don’t have to do anything with it.” He gave her a gentle kiss before taking her hand and turned to walk around to the front of her house.

  He’d seen the guy sitting on Bree’s porch when they pulled into the drive. He came down the steps as they rounded the corner and took the path that led to the wide porch steps. Pressed white dress shirt, khakis, and loafers with no socks. Jeez, if this was Chad, he even dressed like a tool.

  He ignored Jase and headed directly toward Bree. Jase let it play out until Chad made to pull Bree into his arms. She stepped back and closer to Jase, tightening her hold on his hand. Jase pulled her ever so slightly behind him, making it difficult to get at her.

  “Bree, honey, who is this guy?” Chad asked.

  “This is Jase.”

  Chad looked between Jase and Bree before asking, “Okay, but who is he?”

  Before Bree could answer, a silver sedan tore into the drive. The car screeched to a stop, a hair’s breadth from Jase’s truck. The driver’s side door flew open and a large man barreled toward them, losing a flip-flop along the way. Jase pushed Bree behind him and backed her up a few steps, but the guy went directly to Chad and laid him out with one punch to his face. He straddled Chad on the ground and continued to land punches as he shouted at Chad.

  “You killed her, you son of a bitch! You killed her!” Chad struggled to cover his face with his arms while the guy continued to pound on his face.

  “Jase!” Bree pushed on his back. Jase looked over his shoulder at the concern on her face. He stepped forward and grabbed the guy on top of Chad, pulling him off.

  Shit, he wasn’t going to be able to hold him without subduing him. Jase tapped the back of the guy’s supporting knee with his, causing it to buckle and taking him to the ground. Jase wrapped his long legs around the attacker’s torso and rolled onto his back, pulling the guy on top of him so he couldn’t brace himself on ground and push back up. Jase hooked one elbow around the guy’s throat and clenched his hands together, cutting off blood to his head.

  A Haven Springs PD cruiser pulled up behind the silver sedan, lights flashing. An officer jumped out of the passenger side and ran toward Jase and Chad’s attacker, still struggling on the ground. Tim stood from the driver’s side, talking into a radio.

  “Aren’t you going to help?” Bree yelled.

  “Jase’s got it,” Tim said.

  Jase looked up at Bree as he rolled Chad’s semi-conscious attacker off him with help from Tim’s partner. “I’m good, darlin’.”

  Jase stood as the cop rolled Chad’s attacker onto his stomach and cuffed his hands behind his back. Chad lay groaning on the ground, both hands holding his bleeding nose. Jase went to Bree and cradled her head in his hands, bending at the knees so they were eye level.

  “You good?” He peered intently at her to gauge her reaction.

  Bree grasped his wrists lightly as she leaned her forehead against his.

  “Are you going to think I’m absolutely nuts if I tell you that was really ho
t?” she whispered.

  Jase let out a bark of laughter before he hooked an arm around the back of her head and kissed her forehead. He leaned close to her ear. “You can show me how hot you thought it was later.”

  “I can do that.” She wrapped her arms loosely around his waist and watched over his shoulder as Tim squatted down in front of Chad. She glanced at the other guy, still lying on the ground.

  “That’s Steven,” she said.

  Jase pulled her tight to his side as he turned them to face the action on her lawn. “You know him?”

  “He’s my old neighbor. Jaelynn’s husband.”

  “Should I have brought popcorn instead?”

  Bree and Jase turned as Denise sauntered across the lawn holding two large iced coffees. Her SUV was parked along the curb, and a huge dog hung its head out of the rear window.

  “Oh! Love your face.” Bree pulled out of Jase’s hold and reached for one of the coffees.

  “I know. Right?” Denise replied with a smile. “So, what’s going on?”

  “Well,” Bree took a long sip of her coffee. “The guy in cuffs is Steven, my old neighbor. He tore into the drive and almost hit Jase’s truck before attacking Chad. The cop talking to Chad is Tim, Jase’s brother, purveyor of illegally obtained address searches, and I’m guessing the other cop is his partner.”

  “You ever going to let that go?” Tim asked as he helped Chad to his feet.

  Bree shrugged as she sipped her coffee. “We’ll see.”

  Jase grinned. It was nice to see his brother getting shit from someone else for a change.

  “Why is Chad here?” Denise asked.

  “Mmm, that’s a little more complicated.”

  “You killed her, you son of a bitch!” Steven was struggling against Tim’s partner’s hold, trying to get at Chad even with his hands still cuffed behind his back.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, you crazy asshole,” Chad shouted back.

  “You screwed her and now she’s dead because of you!”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Chad held the bridge of his nose, trying to stem the bleeding.

  “Jaelynn, you bastard! She was killed because of you. They told me! They told me it was because you were sleeping with her.” Steven’s voice broke, a sob tearing through him at the end.

  “I never slept with Jaelynn,” Chad said. He looked at Bree. “Sweetie, I swear there was never anything going on.”

  Steven turned toward Bree. “I hired a P.I. I have pictures.”

  “Is that why you moved away?” Bree asked

  “I told her we either sold the house and left or I filed for divorce. But she kept seeing him. I filed a month ago.”

  “Bree, it wasn’t anything. You know it didn’t mean anything,” Chad said.

  “You carried on an affair with a married woman for how many months and it didn’t mean anything? A lot of things don’t mean anything to you, do they?” Acid dripped from Bree’s voice.

  “Bree…”

  “Why don’t you come over here with me so I can get your statement about what happened,” Tim said. He pulled Chad none too gently toward the police car.

  “I loved her. I still love her.” Steven sat heavily on the ground, his legs splayed out in front of him, torso hunched forward, as if he no longer had the strength to hold himself together. He shoulders shook as he sobbed quietly.

  Bree handed her drink to Denise and stepped toward Steven. Jase moved to follow her, but Denise stopped him with a cold coffee against his arm.

  “She’s got this.”

  Bree sat close to Steven on the ground, pulling her knees up and wrapping her hands around them. She leaned her head back and said something to Tim’s partner who stood over them. He shook his head at whatever Bree said. She placed a hand on his raised knee and he collapsed his head on her shoulder, his body shaking as he cried.

  She sat and talked quietly to Steven until Tim returned to talk to his partner. Bree looked at Tim, then whispered in Steven’s ear. He nodded a few times and wiped his face on his shoulder. Bree stood and helped Steven to his feet. Tim’s partner took his elbow, walked him to the cruiser, and helped him into the back seat.

  Jase and Denise joined Tim and Bree. “…didn’t want an ambulance,” he heard Tim say.

  “Doesn’t surprise me. I don’t think he has health insurance,” Bree explained.

  “Chad or Steven?” Denise asked.

  “Chad,” Bree replied.

  “He also wants to press charges against Steven for assault, so we have to take him in. Hopefully, the judge will go easy on him. Extenuating circumstances and all that,” Tim continued.

  “I hope he doesn’t get in too much trouble.”

  “We ran a background check,” Tim said.

  “On Steven?” Bree asked.

  “No, Chad.”

  “Oh. Shit. What don’t I know?”

  Tim hesitated.

  Bree closed her eyes and shook her head. “Just tell me.”

  “He’s two-hundred fifty thousand dollars in debt. Gambling,” Tim said.

  “What?” Denise and Bree exclaimed at the same time.

  “He apparently likes to bet on the games he covers,” Tim explained.

  “What a dumb ass,” Denise said.

  “Did he ever have access to your money?” Jase asked.

  “What money?” Tim asked.

  “You told him?” Denise asked at the same time.

  Bree answered Denise first. “Yes, I told him.” She looked at Tim. “I have a rather large inheritance.”

  To Jase she said, “Chad has never had access to my money. Other than conveniently forgetting his wallet if we went out. Most of it’s tied up with the estate or the foundation, anyway.”

  “Could all this be connected to his gambling debts?” Jase asked.

  “It’s an angle we’re looking at,” Tim said.

  “Is what connected to his gambling debt?” Denise asked.

  Bree took a deep breath. “Jaelynn, Steven’s wife, was murdered. Somehow it’s connected to either me or Chad. Or both, they aren’t sure.”

  Denise looked between Tim and Bree. “Say what?”

  “I’ll explain while we’re cleaning.”

  “I’m going to need to take a statement from you both about the attack. Give me a minute to call in to the station,” Tim told Jase and Bree. “I may have to come back after we take Steven in. We still need to question Chad about Jaelynn. How long are you guys going to be cleaning?”

  “It shouldn’t take too long, but I need to go get a new mattress,” Bree said.

  “Hey, Tim. This guy is refusing to go to the station,” Tim’s partner called out.

  “Of course he is.” Tim left them to question Chad. Jase led Bree and Denise up the porch steps and unlocked the door before handing the new keys to Bree.

  Denise took in the mess in the living room as they walked through to the kitchen. “They only broke the pictures of you and Chad?” she asked.

  “Yup,” Bree said.

  “That’s just weird.”

  “Yup.”

  “I’m going to go talk to Tim before he takes off,” Jase said. “If you can help me get your mattress into my truck, I’ll take it to the dump while you’re cleaning, then we can go to the mattress store.”

  “Can you bring Charlie and Polly back in with you?” Bree asked.

  “While you’re out there, can you let my dog out of my car and bring her in with you? She’ll follow Charlie and Polly in,” Denise requested.

  “Sure.” Jase leaned down and gave Bree a quick kiss before heading back outside through the laundry room.

  Denise watched Jase leave through the kitchen. “I like him,” she said.

  “I hear a ‘but’,” Bree said.

  Denise leaned against the counter. “It’s been a week.”

  “Really, when you think about it, it’s only been two and a half days.”

  “That’s fast.” Denis
e raised an eyebrow. “It took you, what? Three, four months before Chad was this involved in your life? Although, given how that’s turned out, maybe it’s a sign Jase is involved so fast.”

  “It’s—” Bree shook her head. “I don’t know what it is. It’s a lot.”

  “How’s the sex?”

  A flush crept up Bree’s neck and she opened the cabinet under the sink to get the garbage bags. Why was she embarrassed to talk about how good Jase was in bed? Denise knew way more personal details about her.

  “That good, huh?”

  Bree stood and blew a strand of hair out of her face. “In a word, yes.” She tore out two bags and tossed the box back under the sink. “He kept Charlie while I went to Gran’s yesterday.”

  “Wow, really?”

  “Yeah. He was playing fetch with him when I got back to his place. And he changed the locks for me.”

  “That’s why he had the keys.”

  “Yup.” She twisted the bags in her hand. “Is it too much?”

  “That depends, sweetie. How much do you want?”

  Bree’s answer was delayed by the sound of the side door opening. Charlie, Polly, and Denise’s large English Mastiff mix, Sprocket, trotted in ahead of Jase.

  “You know, you’re supposed to be zoned for a farm to keep horses,” he said. Sprocket let out a groan as she sprawled in the middle of the kitchen floor and yawned.

  Denise reached down and rubbed Sprocket’s head. “She’s not a horse. The laziest dog in the world, maybe.”

  “I want to get the comforter off before we take the mattress out. I think just folding up the sheets around it will prevent most of the feathers from flying everywhere,” Bree said.

  Denise paused just inside the door and took in the carnage. “That’s a lot of feathers.”

  “No kidding. I’m going to be finding them for days.”

  They carefully bundled up the sheets and comforter and got them into the garbage bags without too many more feathers escaping. Jase grabbed one end of the mattress, and Denise and Bree grabbed the other. Between them they hauled it out of the house and onto Jase’s truck. Bree grabbed the vacuum out of the hall closet on her way back to the bedroom.

  “You rearranged your dresser,” Denise said, when Bree turned off the vacuum.