by Rebecca Deel
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“Nicole!” Mason raced into the kitchen.
“Someone was looking in the kitchen window. When I screamed, he ran.”
“Did you recognize him?”
She shook her head.
Linc ran into the room, a Sig in his hand. “Sit rep.”
“A man looked in the window and scared Nicole. Stay with the women.” Mason slipped out into the night. He noted boot prints in the dirt under the window and followed the trail of flattened grass through the yard to the edge of Linc’s property.
He grasped the top of the fence, hauled himself over the structure, and landed in a crouch. No grass or dirt on this side of the property line since Linc’s fence line backed up against an alley.
A figure dressed in black pounded the pavement in his haste to flee from Mason. Heading toward Azalea Street, he chased the guy, cutting between two homes, and darting toward the intersection where the peeper had probably parked for a quick escape. What did he hope to see at midnight? The only light on in the house was a lamp in the living room on its low light setting.
The runner banged into a trashcan and sent the neighborhood dogs into a barking frenzy. Mason’s lips curved when he spotted the figure heading exactly where he thought the guy would go.
Putting on a burst of speed, he veered to the left and slid in right behind the runner. Mason tackled him and took him to the ground. Felt good using those football skills from his high school and college days. The man fought to turn over, but Mason controlled him with a knee on his back, arm twisted behind him.
“Get off,” the man snarled. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Trespassing on private property and peeking into a window in the middle of the night isn’t behavior to write home about.” He hauled the runner to his feet, easily quelled another escape attempt, and propelled him back toward Linc’s. “Let’s go.”
When Linc opened the door to admit them, satisfaction filled his gaze. “You nabbed our rabbit.”
The stranger scowled. “Let me go, and I won’t call the cops on you.”
“Already done. They’ll be here soon. Escort him to the kitchen, Mase.”
“Where are the women?” Mason asked. He wouldn’t take this man near Nicole.
“Security room.” He sent Mason a wry look. “It was all I could do to prevent your woman from following you. She’s not happy that I refused to let her go or assist you.”
The dark-haired man with brown eyes glared at Linc and Mason in turn. “Let me go. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Tell that to the cops.” Linc inclined his head toward the kitchen. “Once he’s secure, go to your lady, Mase.”
“Nicole?” The stranger called out, twisting to free himself from Mason’s hold. “Come on, baby. Tell these thugs who I am, will you? You know I’m not here to hurt you, right?”
Baby? Mason wrenched the man’s arm higher up his back, causing him to curse. Who was this guy? Did he know Nicole or had he created a relationship that didn’t exist?
Nicole rushed into the living room. Shock was soon replaced by outrage on her face. “Why are you here, Ivan?”
Mason scowled as understanding slammed into him. “You must be Ivan Dannon.”
“Tell this Neanderthal to let me go,” Ivan groused.
“You didn’t answer my question.” Nicole moved closer, hands fisting on her hips. “Why are you here?”
A smug smile curved his mouth. “You know why.”
“I don’t.” Mason tightened his grip, his tone curt. “Spell it out for me.”
“To get her back, of course.” Ivan looked at Mason as though he were dense. “We’re in love. We just had a little misunderstanding.” He looked at Nicole again. “You’ll give me another chance, right?”
Linc snorted. “You’re an idiot if you think she’ll take you back.” He took over Mason’s hold on Ivan and steered him toward the kitchen. “Let in the cops when they arrive, Mase. I’ll keep our friend company.”
Wonder if that was a euphemism for persuading him to confess everything, including Riva’s murder? Mason tilted Nicole’s face up to his. “Are you okay?”
“I will be. He scared the daylights out of me,” she muttered. “What would make him think he could waltz in here and convince me to pick up where we left off? That wouldn’t happen if he was the last man on earth.”
“Did you know he was in town?”
When she hesitated, Mason stilled. “Nicole?”
“I thought I saw him a few days ago, but I thought I imagined him when I didn’t seem him again. I haven’t talked to Ivan since I dumped him two years ago.”
He considered what she said and what she omitted. “Has he contacted you recently?”
Another scowl. “He left phone messages and sent emails, all of which I deleted without responding.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because he doesn’t matter. Ivan is part of my distant past, one I have no intention of revisiting under any circumstances. I didn’t think he’d come to Otter Creek, especially since he received no contact or encouragement from me.”
“When did you think you saw him?”
“About the time Riva was killed.” She glanced toward the kitchen. “He couldn’t have killed her. Ivan didn’t have a motive.”
Mason could think of one good motive. To send him back to prison and get him out of Nicole’s life, leaving the field clear for Ivan. He brushed his thumb gently over her bottom lip. “If I wasn’t in the picture, would you take him back?”
“Never. I learned my lesson the hard way.”
Mason’s eyes narrowed. “What does that mean?”
“Nothing. I’ll go sit with Dawn. She’s watching the security screens.”
When she tried to free herself, Mason stilled her movement with an arm around her waist. “He hurt you?”
The stubborn woman remained silent, a mutinous glare coming from her beautiful eyes.
“I can find out the truth.” Favors he could call in at Fortress. “I’d rather hear it from you.”
“I don’t want you to overreact.”
Whatever happened wouldn’t be good if she worried he’d lash out. “Tell me.”
“He pressured me to give him money since he was strapped for cash, and I refused. I had plans even then to start my own business, and I’d set money aside for that purpose. Ivan accused me of being a controlling and selfish witch for refusing to help him over a rough patch.” She fell silent again, cheeks turning pink.
“Go on,” he prompted.
Nicole scowled. “The argument became heated and he….”
“What did he do?” Although he could guess.
“He hit me.” She grabbed his arms and held on. “An open-handed slap. That was the one and only time. I broke up with him the next day, and that was the end of it.”
“Did you file charges against him?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t want to press charges for assault since I punched his nose in retaliation. If I filed assault charges, so would he.”
That gave him a small measure of satisfaction. “Let me go, sweetheart,” Mason said evenly. He looked toward the kitchen. “I want two minutes with your ex.”
“No.” Nicole tightened her grip. “The police are up the street. You can’t touch him, baby. You’ll be the one who pays the price, not him.”
“He hurt you.”
“Two years ago. Mason, please don’t do this. He’s not worth the grief you’ll get from Ethan. I’m asking you to let it go for me.”
“Josh is here,” Dawn called from the security room.
Mason placed a gentle kiss on her mouth. “Go answer the door.”
“Mason…”
He laid his finger against her lips. “Trust me.”
She growled. “I better not have to bail you out of jail. I’d be tempted to leave you behind bars for not listening to your future wife.”
He grinned at her bad-tempered response.
“I hear you.” Mason nudged her toward the door. “Go. Keep Josh busy for a minute before you let him inside.”
With that request, he stalked toward the kitchen. Linc’s arms were folded, his attention focused on Ivan whose hands were restrained behind his back. “Give me a minute,” he murmured to the operative.
“No bruises.” Linc left without a backward glance.
Ivan glared at him.
Aware of the time constraint, Mason said, “Nicole and I are getting married soon. Congratulate her, and get out of town once the police are through with you.”
Belligerence gleamed in his eyes. “Why should I? You afraid I’m going to steal Nicole away from your sorry hide? You should be, man. She’s mine.”
Mason walked behind him and exerted pressure on Ivan’s shoulder exactly as Nate and Alex had taught him. Nicole’s ex gasped, blood draining from his face.
He leaned close to the man’s ear. “Listen carefully, Ivan. I’m only going to say this once. Nicole is mine to love and protect. I know what you did to her.”
“What are you talking about? I didn’t do anything she didn’t want me to.”
“You hit her.” When he tightened his grip, Ivan moaned. “Nicole deserves to be treated with respect and gentleness. No man worthy of the name would hurt a woman. If you ever touch Nicole again, I will take you apart. Are you hearing me, Dannon?”
He nodded.
Linc walked in. “Time’s up, Mase.”
Mason released Ivan and moved away from him a second before Josh strode in.
Suspicion in his eyes, Josh’s gaze swept over Ivan. “What’s going on, Mason?”
“Ivan Dannon trespassed onto Linc’s property and looked in windows. He scared Nicole.”
Eyebrows rose. “You know this guy?”
“We’ve been getting acquainted. He’s Nicole’s former boyfriend.”
He glanced at Linc. “You pressing charges?”
“Depends.”
“Cut him loose, then you and Mason follow me to the cruiser. We’ll talk.”
When Mason followed Josh and Ivan into the living room and outside, Nicole was nowhere in sight. One less thing to worry about. He didn’t want her anywhere near Ivan. The less this guy saw of her, the better.
Once Josh placed the man in the back of his cruiser, he turned to Mason and Linc. “What’s really going on here?”
“Exactly what I told you.”
“And?”
“He’s been in town since the day Riva was murdered.”
“Interesting timing,” Linc said.
“He says he’s in Otter Creek to win Nicole back.”
“You believe him?” Josh asked.
“He’s convincing.”
“What do you want me to do with him?”
“Introduce him to Ethan or Rod. The timing of his appearance in town might be a coincidence, but with Nicole’s safety at stake, I don’t want to take a chance.”
“If he’s clear, will you press charges, Linc?”
“No point. Trespassing is a minor offense. As long as he leaves Nicole alone, I won’t press charges.”
“I’ll pass the word along.” Josh looked at Mason. “Do I need to worry about unexplained injuries?”
He shrugged. “I tackled him when he rabbited. Ivan might have a couple of bruises.”
Durango’s leader rolled his eyes. “Let me guess. You had a few private lessons from Nate or Alex on interrogation techniques.”
Mason folded his arms without confirming or denying the assertion. He wouldn’t rat out either man and get them in trouble with their team leader.
“Never mind. I don’t want to know. What I don’t know, I can’t testify to.” He slid a look at Linc. “I suppose you didn’t see anything.”
“I was with you.”
“Yeah, asking about my wife and daughters. If I didn’t know better, Creed, I’d say you were distracting me.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, boss.”
A snort. “Sell that to Ethan. I’m not buying it. Anything else I should know before I take him in?”
“The reason why Nicole dumped him two years ago is because he slapped her during an argument,” Mason said.
Linc and Josh scowled. “Did she report it?” Josh asked.
“No. Nicole punched him in response. She figured if she pressed charges, so would he. When she broke up with him, she considered the matter finished.”
“Good for her,” Linc said.
“Did she know he was in town?”
Mason relayed his conversation with Nicole on the subject, ending with, “Ivan thinks he has a chance with her. Although I don’t understand how anyone in Otter Creek would know about him, find out if he had an anonymous email.”
“Explain that.”
He told Josh about the encounter with Todd and Gage Fitzgerald earlier in the evening. “Gage received an email from an anonymous source. I asked Zane to trace it.”
Josh rubbed his jaw. “A smear campaign. Someone wants you out of the way.”
He’d arrived at the same conclusion. The question was, did they want him out of the way bad enough to kill him?
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Nicole fumed as she stared at the computer screen and watched the three men talking beside the police cruiser containing her former boyfriend. What gave Ivan the idea that she would take him back? She made herself clear the day she broke up with him. Ivan Dannon was the biggest mistake of her life, and she didn’t repeat bad decisions.
“What’s going on, Nic?” Dawn asked. “Do you know this man?”
“He’s a former boyfriend from a time when my taste in men was deplorable. Ivan Dannon is a selfish jerk who I thought I loved for a nanosecond. I wised up.”
“Why did you part ways?”
“He was more interested in my bank account than me.” She glared at the image of Ivan on the screen. “Ivan became angry during an argument about money and hit me.”
Dawn gasped. “What did you do?”
“Gave him a black eye and dumped him.”
Her friend grinned. “You’re my hero.”
“I just corrected a dumb move on my part.”
“You stood up for yourself. I admire that.”
“I’m lucky Ivan doesn’t have a spine. Otherwise, he would have mopped the floor with me. I’m going to correct that, though.”
“How?”
“The wives of Durango and Bravo train with the teams on self-defense skills. If they practice at a time when I’m free, I’d like to join them.”
Dawn’s mouth gaped. “You’re serious?”
“Oh, yeah. I don’t want to be caught unprepared again. Besides that, Mason is Rio’s cousin. Durango’s job isn’t safe at the best of times. If trouble follows them home, Mason and I could become targets, too.”
The other woman stared at her a few seconds, then sighed. “Sign me up.”
“Because you’re with me during the workday?”
“That’s one reason.”
A slow smile spread across Nicole’s face. “I knew it. You and Linc?”
“Maybe.”
She laughed, delighted at the blush spreading across her friend’s cheeks. “Definitely. You’re perfect for each other.”
“We’re still in the getting-to-know-you phase, Nic. This relationship might not work out.”
“And it might be exactly like I said. Perfect.”
Dawn shook her head. “You’re a hopeless romantic.”
“Only since I met Mason.” That brought her gaze back to the computer screen. What were the men talking about so intently? “He’s everything I’ve ever wanted in a mate. I can’t believe I’m marrying him in two months and two days.”
“I can’t wait to see Mason’s face when he sees your dress.”
“I hope he’ll be blown away.” The dress had been super expensive. But, hey, a girl only married the love of her life once.
When Josh broke away from Linc and Mason to climb behin
d the wheel of the cruiser, Nicole pushed back from the table and headed for the living room with Dawn close on her heels.
“Is Ivan under arrest?” Nicole eyed each man in turn.
“Not at the moment.” Mason captured her hand and kissed her knuckles. “Ethan and Rod will determine if Ivan has anything to do with Riva’s murder or the attempts on our lives. If he’s clear, he’ll be encouraged to leave town for his own safety.”
Dawn’s eyes widened. “You threatened him?”
“I explained the facts to him. The truth is being around me or Nicole isn’t safe.” His eyes twinkled. “I might have encouraged Josh to share that point with his brothers-in-law.”
He squeezed Nicole’s hand. “Go to bed. If anything happens overnight, I’ll let you know.”
“Same goes for you,” Linc said to Dawn. “You ladies have an early start to your workday.”
That was the truth. Their first four-legged baby would arrive at the shop at 7:00 a.m. Nicole glanced at the clock on the wall and winced. Great. That meant the alarm would go off in four hours. Two gallons of coffee, and she’d be able to function at peak efficiency. Maybe.
Dawn groaned. “Our first customer is Titan.”
Linc looked from her to Nicole and back. “Who’s Titan?”
“He’s a gorgeous American Husky. Titan has the sweetest personality but takes forever to groom.”
“Why?”
“He has beautiful, thick fur. No matter how many times we brush him, we collect a pile of fur, and he takes a long time to dry. He’s not a fan of the dryer, either. We’ll be wrestling him for an hour or longer.”
“He’s one half of a bonded pair,” Nicole added.
“Another Husky?” Mason asked.
“A gray cat named Elmo. He and Titan always come in together.”
“Why is that a problem?”
“Elmo hates both of us. We’ll be sporting scratches inside of fifteen minutes.”
Linc grinned. “Wish you had a camera in the workroom. I’d love to watch the show.”
“You wouldn’t say that if you were within striking distance of Elmo’s claws.” Dawn sighed. “Come on, Nic. If we don’t get some sleep, we won’t be able to outwit that stubborn feline.”