by CP Smith
Logan nodded. No reason to lie to the best friend. She’d clearly pegged him and his intentions.
Her mouth grew into a dazzling smile. Some women who looked like Jamie came with egos and insecurities that had them competing with their friends for men’s attention. But Logan could tell her enthusiasm for his staying in Ennis was for her friend, and not some catty attempt to flirt with him. “Good.”
“What do you mean you can’t find Josh?”
Logan turned at Skylar’s outburst and moved her direction.
“What about the fieldhouse, Jake?” she questioned.
When he reached her side, he pulled the phone from her hand and put it to his ear. Skylar looked shocked at his interference and tried to grab her phone back, so Logan turned so her phone was out of her reach, and barked out, “Jake?”
Silence.
“Storm?”
“Talk to me.”
More silence, then, “Josh never made it to school.”
The front door opened loudly and light spilled inside. Logan turned his neck and found a police officer standing in the doorway with his arms crossed, and he was glaring at Logan and Skylar.
Christ. Ty must have filed a complaint.
“Keep looking around the school, and we’ll look in town. Call your sister in an hour and check-in.”
Logan disconnected and handed the phone back to Skylar, who was still looking at him like he’d grown two heads. She was used to carrying the world on her shoulders. Taking care of her brothers was second nature. But all that ended today. It was high time someone took care of her for a change.
“What’s up, Duke?” Jamie called out.
The officer scanned Logan from head to toe, then directed his attention at Skylar. “You need to come down to the station. I picked up Josh for possession of a controlled substance without a prescription.”
“For what?” Skylar cried out.
“Weed,” Duke answered. “The idiot was caught smoking a joint by Ethel Clyde. He also had a bag of weed on him when I arrived and he doesn’t have a medical license to use.”
Five
Battle Scars
LOGAN STOOD IN the corner of the one-room Ennis police station, watching Skylar argue with Police Chief Duke Remington. Drab gray walls and a standard-issue desk graced the office. It was housed in City Hall—a small spartan building just off of Main Street—along with the mayor’s office, zoning commission, library, and ambulance service.
Logan had passed through plenty of small towns over the last six months, and most worked the same way. The police force was small. Typically, only a few officers. It seemed this town was no different. The chief of police, and only officer in Ennis, Montana, was Duke Remington. In his late forties to early fifties, with a beer belly and thinning hair, the chief’s coloring matched the walls. Along with the shortness of breath he’d noted on their walk over to the station, Logan figured he was a heart attack waiting to happen.
“I demand you let Josh go, Duke.”
Remington hiked his leg on the edge of his desk and crossed his arms. He seemed unaffected by her demand, almost tickled with how she ordered him around. “I heard about Chance.”
Skylar stiffened her spine at his reply. “Then you know if the county CPS hears about this, Chance won’t be my only problem. Please, Duke, you and my father were friends. If the roles were reversed, he would help your son, not make an example of him.”
Remington looked over her shoulder at Logan and scanned him again with a shrewd eye. “Who’s he?”
Skylar looked back and blinked in surprise, as if she hadn’t known he was there.
When Remington had announced he had Josh in his jail, Skylar had marched out of the bar without saying a word. Logan wasn’t about to let her face the police on her own, so he’d left Max with Jamie and followed behind the pair as they’d argued all the way to the police station two blocks away.
Logan grinned at Skylar then stepped forward and offered his hand. “Logan Storm.”
Remington took it, pausing when he caught sight of Logan’s tattoo peeking out from under his sleeve. “You Delta Force?” the man asked, holding Logan’s eyes with steely focus.
Logan nodded. “Ex-Delta Force. I discharged six months ago.”
“Hell, son, glad to meet you.” Remington said this while he pumped Logan’s hand in a vigorous shake. “Her daddy was army. He’d be pleased to see she’s found a military man.”
Skylar had been watching their exchange, peering curiously at his arm, until Remington referred to Logan as her man. She jerked her head up at the implication they were together and stuttered, “He’s my new bouncer, not my man.”
“Bouncer?” The chief looked between them with a scowl. “I thought Ty handled—”
“Ty is no longer welcome at Big Sky Saloon,” Logan stated, interrupting.
Remington’s mouth pulled into a sly grin. “I see.”
Logan had no doubt he did. He also had no doubt Jordan had already called half the town, and Chief of Police Duke Remington already knew about Logan.
“Banned?” Skylar questioned. “But we’ve been friends since we were kids. I really don’t want to hurt Ty any more than he already has been. He just needs time to come to his senses, is all.”
Christ, she had a soft heart that would get her in trouble.
“Listen to me, Skylar. I know the type. He sees you as his property.”
“Well, yeah, but it doesn’t make it true. Today was just . . . him being protective. I don’t want to make things worse by banning him.”
He took a step closer to her. “You’re asking for trouble. He’s not gonna back down.”
She seemed to think about that, worrying her lip between her teeth. “Maybe I could talk—”
“No talking. Leave him to me.”
“I don’t think—”
“No need to think about it. That’s why you hired me. To protect you and the bar.”
She narrowed her eyes at Logan. He could see the sparks begin to fly behind her eyes and he bit his tongue to keep from laughing. She was a firecracker waiting to explode, and he wanted nothing more than to kiss her until she saw reason. Or light the wick and watch her explode. He was certain her temper would be fun to watch.
“As entertaining as it is to watch you two dance around each other,” Remington cut in, “can we get back to the matter at hand? I’ve got shit I need to do. Fish that need to be caught.”
Skylar blinked then turned swiftly on her heel as her cheeks filled with color. “Sorry, Duke.”
Duke watched her for a moment, his lips twitching as she regained her composure.
“I’ll consider letting him out, Skye, but Josh is gonna need a firm hand.” He looked at Logan as he spoke, so Logan nodded, agreeing without words he would be there to help.
“Yes. Of course. I promise with everything I am that if you return Josh to my custody, I’ll keep him out of trouble. Scout’s honor.” Skylar raised three fingers in the universal promise of a Boy Scout.
Duke grinned openly at the display. He glanced at Logan, who had covered his own mouth to hide his smile, then turned and picked up his keys from his desk, mumbling, “Scout’s honor is good enough for me.”
With a cry of happiness, Skylar launched herself at Duke when he turned back around and hugged him so forcefully, he had to take a step back. Patting her on the back in neighborly affection, Duke cleared his throat before leaving them alone to retrieve Josh.
Skylar smiled at Logan in victory, and it hit him straight in the chest. A man would do just about anything for a woman if she graced him with a smile like that every day of his life.
“I’ll drive Josh to school,” Logan stated, moving closer to her, “and have a man-to-man with him.”
Her brows pulled tightly across her forehead. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. He doesn’t know you, and my brothers can be difficult.”
He took another step closer until she had to tip her head back to look up at him. “
You’re paying me to look out for your safety, so I’ll take—”
“I’m letting you sleep there in exchange for looking out for the bar,” she corrected, but her tone had gone slightly breathy, and the sound of it floated around him like a soft breeze, causing the skin on the back of his neck to tingle. Her voice wasn’t deep and husky, but so damn sweet and innocent it was calming to his nerves that always seemed to be strung tight.
“You are the bar,” he contradicted, “so anything to do with you falls under my job description.”
She stared back at him with eyes so round he could have drowned in them. The need to reach up and run his finger across her cheek, to see if it was as soft as her hands, was nearly overwhelming. So much so his hand began to rise to her face, but he stopped when a hoarse voice behind him said, “Skylar.”
They both spun to find Josh standing in the doorway. The kid looked defeated. Like he was ready to cave under pressure. Logan knew if he lost it in front of his sister and Duke, it would make matters worse. He was a kid but he was almost a man, one who was carrying a heavy burden on his shoulders, so he moved to intercept him before Skylar could mother him to death and make matters worse. Logan was certain Josh wasn’t acting out in some misguided attempt for attention, but rather he was trying to numb himself in an effort to hide from a deeper hurt. From what pain was the answer to screwing his head back on straight, and Logan intended to get to the bottom of it ASAP.
He took Josh by the arm, turning him back before Skylar could get a hold of him, and rumbled, “You’re with me. I’m taking you to school.”
“Wait,” Skylar cried out, but Logan pushed Josh through the open door and kept walking with him.
“No time, school started already,” Logan replied over his shoulder.
“Leave Josh to Storm, Skylar,” Remington added, as Logan kept them heading for the staircase that would lead them to main door. “It’s a man thing.”
Josh looked back at his sister but didn’t balk at being manhandled, so Logan marched the kid down the stairs and out the front door while Skylar was detained by the chief.
“What’s going on?” Josh finally asked when they hit the street. “Why are you here? Why are you in our business?”
Logan pointed to his truck and kept moving. “Your sister hired me to watch out for her and the bar. Watching out for her means helping out with you.”
Josh stopped in the middle of the street with a dumbfounded look on his face, then sped up until they were side by side. “Cool. Were you in the military?”
“Yeah.”
“What branch?”
Logan saw Jamie watching from down the street with Max at her side, so he raised his hand to her then signaled the war dog to come. “Army,” Logan answered, while he kept an eye on Max as he crossed the street.
Josh turned and watched Max approach as well. When the German shepherd was close to the kid, he gave him a hand signal to sit. Max stopped on a dime and waited for another command. “Greet, Josh.”
Max turned into a puppy immediately, all wagging tail and lolling tongue of him, and Josh responded like the kid he still was. He dropped to his knees and gave as much affection as he received. When Josh turned a smile in his direction, Logan nodded. Max was working his magic again.
“Let’s get you to school.”
Logan opened the door to his truck and signaled Max to load. He drove a black Ford extended cab, so Max jumped into the second row, making room for Josh, who was entering from the passenger side. When Logan started the truck, he glanced at the diner and caught Jordan watching from the window. She waved and gave him a thumbs-up. Logan shook his head and grinned. Ennis was a nosy town, but it seemed they had a heart of gold at their core.
“That doesn’t look like any army tattoo I’ve seen.”
Logan glanced at his arm. The insignia for his unit was inked on his forearm in a simple design. A Yarborough SF combat knife surrounded by the delta insignia with a lightning bolt. And a date. He’d put it where he would always see it. So, he’d never forget 28 NOV.
“It’s the insignia for Delta Force.”
As he drove, he heard an audible intake of breath from the kid and looked over at him. “I’ve heard about Delta Force. Rumor has it you train here in Montana during the winter.”
They were supposed to be secret maneuvers, but Logan knew better than most that sometimes secrets got out. And when they did, it could turn deadly.
“We do.” He wasn’t gonna lie to the kid. He needed to earn his trust.
“Cool,” Josh mumbled.
“Which way to your school?”
Josh pointed up Main Street. “You’ll hang a left in about three blocks.”
Logan glanced at City Hall as they drove past. Skylar was on her phone, watching him leave with Josh. He flicked two fingers at her as he passed then cleared his throat so he could get down to business. He only had three blocks, so he needed to make it quick.
“You wanna tell me what’s eating at you?”
He felt and saw the kid stiffen. “Nothing. I’m good.”
Logan paused longer than needed at the stop sign and stared at the kid. “You’re far from good, Josh. I know a wounded man when I see him.”
The kid opened his mouth, thought about it, then withdrew further, mumbling, “Turn left up ahead,” as he leaned his head against the window.
At the next left, the school opened up in front of them. He could see Jake standing out front with a phone to his ear and a backpack in hand. Logan was out of time. The drive had been far shorter than he’d thought, so he’d have to go in hard rather than soft to draw out what was bothering the kid. “I know about Chance and the thirty days you’ve got, so when you’re ready to talk about it, I’m here. But don’t bullshit me. You’re in trouble, or you wouldn’t have been picked up for smoking weed. That much I can tell about your family already.”
When he pulled the truck to a stop in front of the school, Jake waited for his brother to exit. Josh stared out the window at his sibling for a moment then grabbed the door handle and opened the door a crack. Logan expected him to exit without a word, but the kid turned back to him with guilt masking his features. “You ever do something that you can’t take back?”
Logan was instantly transported back to the night of 28 NOV. The night he watched half his unit die through the lens of his scope. They’d been on a reconnaissance mission. Gathering intel based off a transmission they’d intercepted. A transmission sent to draw them out. They were only supposed to verify an ISIS operative’s family lived in the village, so they could post a sentry if the man returned. It had been a setup instead, one that resulted in the death of six men. Three of them he considered his family. And a day didn’t go by that he didn’t wish like hell he’d seen both suicide bombers before it was too late. If he had, his brothers, his unit, would still be intact.
“Yeah,” Logan answered. “But the thing about guilt is, it’ll fester until you begin to fuck up. If you fuck up too much, then you’ll spiral out of control. It’s better to get it off your chest, so you can deal with it.”
Josh studied him for a moment. “Is that what you’re doing here? Did you fuck up and begin to spiral?”
Logan cocked his head. “Smart kid. I was consumed with guilt, couldn’t do my job to the best of my ability, so I got out before I fucked up and spiraled.”
Josh seemed to relax as he stared at Logan, but a shine of tears battled for dominance, until he blurted out, “It’s because of me Chance came after us. I ran into him two days ago and told him what a piece of shit I thought he was.”
Logan drew in a deep breath before he answered, trying to control his anger for the unknown half brother. “Kid, no one can make you do something against your will if you don’t want to. I don’t know this Chance, but from what I’ve heard in the short time I’ve been in town, it wouldn’t have mattered if you kissed his ass daily. He was still gonna fuck with your family, no matter what you did or didn’t say to him. The guy’s an a
sshole. You need to let that shit go. Confess to Jake if you feel you need absolution, but do it knowing that in the grand scheme of things, your actions did not force an asshole into being more of an asshole. Your half brother’s a dick, plain and simple. Don’t let him win by dragging you down further.”
Josh held still as he thought about Logan’s answer, then nodded and mumbled, “Thanks for the ride,” before exiting the truck without looking back, guilt still masking his features as he walked toward Jake.
The cab still reverberated with the anguish in the kid’s voice as he walked away. It was a feeling Logan knew well, and it was out of place on someone so young. He couldn’t wait to make the acquaintance of their half brother.
He watched Josh as he approached Jake with caution. After a moment he lowered his head and began to speak. When he was done talking, Jake studied him for a moment then handed him his pack and shoved him in the arm with a solemn grin. Josh seemed shocked by the show of affection, but he pushed Jake back after recovering, seeming less burdened after admitting to his sins. Logan figured that’s how a real family was. You bickered and threw punches, but at the end of the day, you were still family. They had your back no matter how bad you screwed up.
Before entering the building, Josh turned back and looked at Logan. He watched the kid morph into a man, as he stood erect, taller than usual. His expression told Logan Josh was considering something. He waited patiently, holding the kid’s stare while he decided, then let out a breath, completely caught off guard when Josh raised his arm sharply and saluted Logan like he’d done it all his life. Without thinking, Logan immediately returned the salute, whipping his arm up. The kid held his tribute until Logan lowered his hand first, just as you’re trained in the armed forces when a higher ranking officer was in your presence. Logan nodded once in appreciation when the kid lowered his arm, then he watched with relief when Josh’s whole demeanor changed before his eyes. Guilt melted from his expression, and he smiled full-throttle at Logan’s acceptance before he turned and headed inside the school, leaving Logan with a tightness in his throat.