by Josie Kerr
Meghan heard Jason chuckle and offer a reply in a voice too low to be heard across the bar. She shot a death glare at him, but he just smiled and held a finger up, signaling he’d be just a few more moments. Dolly glanced in Meghan’s direction and gave her a sympathetic smile before turning back to Jason. As he promised, the two quickly wrapped up their conversation, and while Dolly exited the bar, Jason made a beeline for Meghan. He didn’t ask how she was or anything else; he just pulled her into his arms and held her tight.
That embrace was exactly what she needed.
Hiccup.
“Damn it!”
Meghan rested her forehead against Jason’s chest as he laughed.
“It’s not fucking funny, Richards.”
He continued chuckling. “Oh, it is a little.”
She looked up and regarded him through narrowed eyes. “It is not.”
“Oh, but it is. Just a little bit.”
“Jason . . .”
“Just a teeny, tiny bit,” he said, holding up two fingers measuring how funny it actually was.
She huffed a breath. “Okay, fine. The screaming and the hiccups are a little bit funny. Not the SUV-in-the-pub thing, though.”
Jason sobered. “No, that’s not funny at all.” He smoothed her hair back from her face and bent down to kiss her forehead. “I’d ask how you were holding up, but . . .”
She rolled her eyes at him and laughed, then hiccupped and groaned. “Ugh. This is so annoying. This whole thing is annoying. Just when I think I’m getting ahead, stuff like this happens.” She waved at the partially destroyed deck and the luxury vehicle.
“I know, darlin’.” He rubbed her back and she leaned into him. “Ryan and I are going to run and pick up some plywood so we can seal up that hole. The last thing you need is looters raiding the place. Dan and Junior will be here in a few to load the liquor and kegs into the storeroom.”
Meghan huffed a little laugh. “So bossy. Thank God.” Her eyes popped open. “My hiccups are gone!”
“Being distracted works wonders.” He winked at her, and the most adorable crooked smile decorated his handsome face. “Since you welcomed my other bossiness, I’m gonna push my luck and tell you you’re staying with me. I’ll feel safer knowing where you’re sleeping, plus it’s more practical than you having to spend money on a room.”
“Okay.”
“Now, don’t—what?”
“I said okay.” Meghan shrugged and exhaled a resigned sigh. “It totally makes financial sense, especially since the adjuster dude said they might not decide I have a valid claim. Plus, I kind of like the idea of you knowing exactly where I am because you’re with me.” She couldn’t really believe she gave voice to that last part, but the way Jason beamed at her completely overshadowed any second-guessing she might have done.
He leaned over and whispered in her ear, “I think you’re beginning to like this bossiness.”
“Don’t be an ass,” she whispered back.
Jason laughed and gave her a kiss. “I’ll be back, darlin’.”
“I’ll be here.”
He winked at her again and trotted out the front door. She watched him go, then went behind the bar and started pulling bottles down from the shelves.
Chapter 21
Hours later, after the Range Rover had been towed and all the alcohol, taps, and barware had been moved to the storage room, Meghan and the crew of Land & Sea Renovations, plus a few extra members of the Richards clan, sat in the front room of Foley’s and finished off the food that was the previous evening’s dinner service.
Johnny pointed to his empty plate. “Whatever that rolled-up thing was? That’s a keeper.”
“Chicken roulade.” Meghan grinned. “I’ll admit I was a bit skeptical. It sounded way too fancy for Foley’s.”
“Fancy schmancy—it was delicious.” Johnny patted his stomach.
“So much for watching your cholesterol.”
Johnny flipped off Ryan even as he laughed, then he turned back to Meghan. As his smile faded, she knew the break from talking about what was happening was over.
“Kyle and I were talking, and whoever did this knew exactly where you had surveillance and where you didn’t.”
“Yes, it certainly seems that way,” Meghan agreed. “I haven’t looked at the footage from the loading dock or the inside of the deck, though. But if we can’t find anything on those two sets of footage, we’ll know that someone who was intimately familiar with Foley’s is responsible. And yes, Johnny, I get the significance of this.”
“Good, Meghan. Now, other than your ex-husband, can you think of anyone else who would want to hurt you? Any former employees, disgruntled neighbors?”
Meghan shook her head. “I’ve been thinking about this all afternoon. Neither Da nor I have ever had to let anyone go, so I feel pretty good in saying that it’s not someone who has worked here. Likewise with the vendors. We haven’t had to sever any ties in years.”
“Hold up, babe. What about the brewing company that Crabtree signed on for the Perfect Pour competition?”
Meghan got ready to protest but then stopped after giving the idea a second thought. Fort Inman Brewing lost out on a major opportunity when the Rollicking Pig Beer Company lowered the boom on Knoxtree Development for breach of contract regarding sponsorship of the Perfect Pour contest. Who knew how much money Fort Inman Brewing had already sunk into advertising?
“Yeah, that’s a definite possibility.” She chewed on her lip, nodding.
Kyle pulled out a small notebook from his front pocket and clicked a pen. “What’re the names again, please?” Meghan repeated the names of the breweries, and Kyle nodded before closing the notepad and pen. “I’ll do some investigation when I get home, which I need to do. Meghan, I’m going to suggest some new cameras that have motion detection and night vision. You can monitor them from anywhere using your phone, and they’re super easy to set up.”
“Whatever you think is best, Kyle. You’re the expert. Just bill me—”
He shook his head. “Don’t even think about it.”
“She’s going to argue with you.” Jason laughed.
Ryan joined him. “She is.”
“Hush, both of you,” Meghan groused. “I’m not going to argue right now, but I reserve the right to do so in the future.”
Kyle snorted. “It’s a deal. If you don’t need me for anything, I’m out.”
Kyle said his goodbyes and left, with the others following closely behind. Soon, Jason and Meghan were the only two left in the pub, and she began to feel sick to her stomach. Sensing her unease, Jason came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, swaddling her in his embrace.
“It’s going to be okay. They’ll find the jackass that did this, the adjuster will okay the claim, and we can get back on track.”
Meghan barked a bitter laugh. “How? How on earth will we be able to get this back on track, Jason? There’s no way you and Dan can get all this—” She swallowed hard. “There’s just no way.”
“Meghan. Meghan, look at me.”
Meghan turned her head, and even through her tear-blurred vision, she could see him gazing lovingly—What? Lovingly? Oh my God! —at her. Her breathing shuddered and shallowed, and Meghan thought she just might pass out.
“Darlin’, calm down. Calm down, sweetheart. Breathe deep, babe.” Jason coached her through her panic attack, modeling the slow, deep breathing she needed to be doing, until Meghan was back to normal.
“You good?” he asked, and Meghan nodded. “Okay, this is me being bossy again. When Bubba and I were picking up the plywood, I got a call from two of the guys from the platoon. Gunny wanted to know if I was still open to them coming down and hanging for a bit, maybe picking up some work like we’d talked about a few months ago.”
Meghan sucked in a shuddering breath. “These are two guys who were with your friend in Texas?”
“Yeah. Yeah, they were. Gunny was who called me to tell me the news.” She could s
ee him swallow hard and knew that he wasn’t as good as he was pretending to be. Jason was being strong for her and ignoring his own mental health. Meghan made a promise to herself that she’d make sure he got what he needed. Jason wasn’t the only person who could be bossy.
“With Gunny and Cash, we’re actually one person up from where we were with the original crew.” Jason pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “We’ll get it done.” He gave her a squeeze. “Now, let’s get out of here. The guys were in Oklahoma when Gunny called, but Cash was driving, so they’ll probably be here before dawn.” At Meghan’s skeptical look, Jason just shook his head and said, “Cash drives like a maniac. Hell, he’s just kind of a maniac in general, but you’ll get to see for yourself soon enough.” He kissed her again. “C’mon. Let’s go home.”
She nodded, and as she took his hand, she couldn’t help but feel optimistic.
Chapter 22
Just as he’d predicted, Cash and Gunny rolled in just before dawn after making what should have been a thirteen-hour drive in a little over eleven. While Jason was glad to see his two friends, the fact that Roper wasn’t with them, would never be with them again, made the coffee in his belly curdle.
Now the three men sat around the kitchen table, digging into the breakfast casserole Meghan had insisted on assembling the night before. Jason eyed the two men as they ate. Something was up with them.
Ben “Gunny” Anderson examined the portion of breakfast casserole he’d speared on his fork. “You make this?”
Jason shook his head. “Nah. Meghan did. It’s pretty good, huh?”
“It is.” Cash popped the morsel into his mouth. “Meghan, huh?” He cast a side-eye glance at Gunny.
“Yeah, Meghan.” Jason looked from Gunny to Cash. “What is going on with you two?”
With a grunt, Gunny put his fork down and pulled out his wallet. He took out a bill and handed it to Cash, who grinned at him and put the twenty in his own wallet. Jason arched an eyebrow in question.
“We might have had a bet about you mixing business with pleasure.” Cash turned his grin on Jason, who rolled his eyes.
“It’s not like that.” At Gunny’s snort, Jason revised his statement. “It’s more than that.”
“So you’re actually dating this woman and not just fucking her?”
“Good God A’mighty, Cash. I’m insulted.”
“There’s a reason your nickname is Thumper, Richards.” Cash shrugged and continued to shovel food into his mouth. “This is really good, by the way. So tell us about this job.”
“Well, we’ll be concentrating mostly on repairs to Foley’s Public House—that’s the biggest job and the one with the tightest deadline, but we also have a his-and-her-closet build-out and a few other projects.”
Jason spent the next half hour detailing the other projects, reserving the specifics of the Foley’s project for later in hopes that Meghan would hear from either the police or the insurance adjuster, or preferably, both.
“What about the bar? You gonna keep us in suspense about this bar thing?” Cash asked. “Oh, excuse me, this pub thing?” he corrected himself with an eye roll and a nod at Gunny. Gunny cracked a rare grin. “Gunny’s been busting my balls about calling it a bar.”
“The name is Foley’s Public House; ergo, it’s a pub.” Gunny placed his fork and knife neatly on his plate. “It’s a pub,” he repeated.
“See what I’ve been putting up with for three years?”
“And yet you insist on not going away,” Gunny shot back.
Jason chuckled. “You two are like an old married couple.”
“Oh no—you and Bojangles were the couple.” Gunny and Jason laughed, but Cash didn’t seem to be amused. Jason sighed. Cash was notoriously moody, and when they were in the sandbox, he and Dan had clashed more times than Jason could count. He didn’t worry about Dan keeping his cool. Cash’s volatile temper and mercurial moods were a totally different matter, and Jason knew the only way this collaboration would be successful was if the whole team was on the same page.
“Cash, are we going to have any problems?”
Gunny froze as Cash dropped his fork noisily onto his plate and leaned with his elbows on the table, getting in Jason’s space.
“Richards, I’m gonna say this one time and one time only: I didn’t care that you were fuckin’ a man. Where you put your dick is none of my business, except when it could fuck with things in the platoon. That was my problem with you and Bojangles. I would have had the same problem with you screwing a female squad member. Am I clear?”
Jason blinked, momentarily struck speechless at Cash’s surprising explanation. “Crystal.”
The two were still staring at each other when Meghan bounded into the kitchen, wearing nothing but Jason’s T-shirt.
“Why didn’t you get me up? You said the guys were going to be he—oh, wow!” She came to a screeching halt in the doorway.
☆☆☆
Deciding she’d rather show some ass than the good china, Meghan tugged on the front hem of Jason’s T-shirt, which didn’t seem to make him any happier. In fact, his face was such a storm cloud that she almost laughed. At least until he opened his mouth.
“What the hell are you wearing, Meghan? You can see all—you can see your—why the hell aren’t you wearing pants?” he blustered.
“You’re lucky I came down in a T-shirt.” She turned to the other two men at the table. “Hello, boys. Welcome to Atlanta.”
One man, the one with a serious expression, nodded and simply replied, “Gunny,” in answer to her greeting, while the other made no bones about giving her a full-body once-over before grinning and drawling, “Nice ink. I’m Cash.”
Meghan nodded and smiled at both of them. “Nice to meet you. I’m going to go get dressed before your buddy has a coronary.”
As Meghan fast-walked out of the kitchen, pulling the back of the T-shirt down as far as she could, she heard Cash laugh and say, “She is going to give you a run for your money, Richards. I like her already.”
She was throwing on her clothes when her phone began ringing. Noting that it was barely a human hour, she wasn’t surprised that the call was identified as coming from the police department. She crossed her fingers for luck and pressed the icon to answer the phone.
☆☆☆
Jason snickered at the shell-shocked look on Cash’s and Gunny’s faces. The three rode in silence until finally Cash exploded.
“What in the hell was that, man? Was that woman for real?” He squeezed his eyes closed and shook his head rapidly, as if memories of the meeting could be shaken off like water. “Seriously, Jason. Are all your clients like that?”
“Afraid so, Cash. It’s a circle of friends, and they all seem to share a personality type.” He glanced over at Cash, who was still shaking his head in disbelief. “They pay well, and they’re all pretty nice. There’s only been one member of that group who’s been unpleasant to deal with, but I don’t think there’s any danger of her hiring Land and Sea Renovations for another job.”
“Man, I thought small-town rich ladies were crazy. This was a whole ’nother level.”
Jason glanced in the rearview mirror. “Gunny, you okay back there?”
“Yeah, just taking it all in.” He inhaled deeply. “There a range around here?”
“Yeah, there are a few pretty close to the house.”
“Cool.”
Jason studied Gunny in the mirror. The sniper was as opaque as he ever was.
Gunny met Jason’s eyes. “I’m good, Jase.”
Jason nodded. “Good. Okay, boys, we’re here.”
Jason pulled into a space in Foley’s parking lot.
“Wow.” Cash peered out the window.
Jason bristled at the man’s tone. “What?”
“Honestly?”
“Oh, Jesus,” Gunny muttered under his breath.
Cash grinned over his shoulder before turning back to Jason. “I seriously thought this was going to be a total
dump from the way you described it. Then when you said a car plowed into the back, I was wondering if it would even be worth rebuilding.” Cash shrugged. “It’s got potential.”
“It’s got more than just potential, jackass. It’s awesome. Wait ’til you see the inside.”
“The damage doesn’t look too bad, either.” Gunny craned his neck, trying to see around the side of the pub.
“Ugh. Again, wait ’til you see the inside.”
Suddenly, the front door opened and Meghan appeared. “What in the world are you idiots doing out here? Get your asses inside—I’ve got news! Jaysus.” Then she disappeared as quickly as she’d appeared.
“Oh, I definitely like her. Good job, Richards.” Cash grinned in Jason’s direction.
Jason grumbled. “Let’s go see what boss lady has to say.”
Meghan was literally hopping up and down in the dining room of the pub.
“What’s your news, lady?” Jason pretended to be put out, crossing his arms over his chest, but Meghan wasn’t falling for it.
“My claim’s been pushed through! Insurance is going to pay!” She beamed at the men. “That means y’all are going to get paid!”
“That’s always good,” Gunny muttered.
“Calm down and tell us what you know, babe.” Jason couldn’t help but grin at her enthusiasm as she recounted what she’d learned at the police station, which had subsequently affected the outcome of her insurance claim.
First of all, the Range Rover used as a battering ram was stolen earlier in the evening from a parking lot in Buckhead some ten miles away, during which time both Meghan and Jason were in meetings. And while the security cameras attached to Foley’s didn’t catch the person responsible for crashing the vehicle into the pub, street cameras mounted in the parking lot of the recently built luxury apartment complex just behind the pub did. It was through these cameras that one Buster Waddell, a habitual visitor of the Atlanta Police Department’s drunk tank, was tracked stumbling into view from the back of Foley’s around the time of impact. Buster’s claim that a guy had offered him a lift home and had crashed into the back of the pub was suspect at best and unbelievable in actuality.